Bargain Hunter: Cook out skillets, chairs with personality and wood-effect tiles

Ginger Brown Designs (tel: 01-5496790/086-0540738), is not for the beige brigade. The Clarendon Street shop is a riot of colour and texture and includes items of furniture and alluring accessories. To celebrate the new season, the shop is offering Bargain Hunter readers who present today’s column 15 per cent off these white trellised pouffes, 36x43x41cm, normally €195. They come in four colours, and this offer ends on September 10th.

J+B Hope (tel: 086-1705888,

[ jandbhope.com ]

), 24 Bridge Street in Cavan town, is a small unassuming shop modelled on the American styling of an Amish General Store. It carries several brands unavailable elsewhere, including Lodge (lodgemfg.com) cast ironware made in Tennessee. The range includes this Dutch Oven, which can be used indoors or outside and really enhances the flavour of one-pot stews. The pot with lid comes in two sizes; €102.39 for the large 6.6 litre and €70 for the 4.7 litre option. Bargain Hunters who present today’s column in store or mention it on the phone will get a 20 per cent discount. Offer ends September 10th. Post and packaging is extra.

Chaim Factor’s wooden cheese knives are the smartest dinner party gift to give. Originally designed in 2013, the walnut and sycamore and yew and sycamore knives will scythe their way through soft cheeses and butter. Buyers for the Museum of Modern Art shop (MOMA,

[ momastore.org ]

) in the US, recently picked up the knives, which means the Avoca-based company shares shop space with international design greats such as Alvar Aalto and Philippe Starck. Chaim Factor is located at Hillpicket Studio (tel: 0402-30581,

[ hillpicketstudio.com ]

), Ballymurtagh, Avoca, Co Wicklow. You can buy them online for €25

Hampton Brown, by Porcelanosa, is a new wood-effect porcelain tile that has rich tones and a textured finish that combine the warmth normally associated with real wood, with the practicality of a tile, making it ideal for those who don’t like the sterility of traditional tiles in a bathroom.

As pictured above, it is laid to create a pattern on the floors and walls, using a combination of two widths, but it can also be purchased in just one width only and laid to look like a simple wooden floor.

During September, TileStyle (tel: 01-8555200,

[ tilestyle.ie ]

) is running a sale and this design, which normally retails at €112.19 per square metre, is reduced by 25 per cent to €84.14, including Vat.

If you’re looking for sofas, chairs or footstools with lots of personality, check out the new Scan Design collection at Arnotts (tel: 01-8050400, arnotts.ie), on special offer while stocks last. The Mouse, down from €579 to €479, comes in a choice of four colours; the Nest is down from €979 to €799 and is available in six colours. The Drum footstool is reduced from €579 to €479.

This weekend another warehouse sale takes place at Arnotts’ Furry Park storeroom. A dining set with a table and four chairs is down from €2,653 to €1,199.

The Bradshaw desk, 77x90x45cm, is part of a collection by M&S (

[ marksandspencer.ie ]

) that has been designed for smaller spaces. It can be used as a desk or even behind a sofa to create a study area in smaller open plan rooms. It costs €239 from Marks & Spencer Home stores.

Encourage your child to knuckle down to homework with this desk by Nidi Woody. Designed with practicality in mind, it comes in a variety of sizes and a selection of wood and colour finishes. It costs about €410, ex-delivery from Go Modern (tel: 0044-20-7731-9540,

[ gomodern.co.uk ]

This desk with twisted barley sugar legs is a neat design that could double as a console or dressing table. Originally designed by Netherlands-based Zuiver, the white gloss, solid wood and MDF piece, 90x50x76cm, costs about ¤545, ex-delivery from 4Living (tel: 0044-

800-7565-199,

[ 4Living.co.uk ]

)