Shopfront: It has no connection with the American chain of Pottery Barn stores, but a shop with the same name sells furniture and accessories in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, mixing Indian, Mexican and Indonesian styles.
It's the kind of chunky, solid furniture somewhat similar to that sold by the recently-closed Warisan shop in Dublin.
The Pottery Barn store has been so successful that owner Paddy Kehoe plans to open another much larger store over three floors in a building in Tullamore. Pottery Barn has dining tables and chairs, beds, shelving and storage units.
Visit its website www.potterybarn.ie for a better idea, although only a fraction of what's available is displayed there. The rustic leather pieces look most interesting: a tub chair costs €995 and a bed with stitched leather headboard and end costs €2,000.
As you can see this isn't particularly cheap stuff. A mahogany chest of drawers costs €745 and 4'6" bed frames in the same wood are from €645 upwards.
Meanwhile, over in Meath, is Delvin Farm. Although it's been around since the 1980s, it's a little-known resource for country-style furniture, architectural salvage, old plank pine floorboards and ceiling beams ripped from old houses.
Just outside Gormanston, Co Meath, what's amazing about the place is the volume of furniture held in 10 outbuildings.
If you visit, set aside a day to shift through the ramshackle jumble. It's all of a particular farmhouse look so don't go if that's not your thing.
Some of the furniture is a few decades old, some is antique (a corner cupboard from 1820, for example) and some is newly made from old naturally "distressed" timber.
Dressers, sink units (complete with old fashioned Belfast sink) and bed frames are plentiful.
Some are in poor condition but, if it's what you want, owner John McGrane will quote a price for restoration.
They will also custom-make and fit a kitchen, again made from a selection of old treated woods.
Pottery Barn, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. Tel: 044-45225
Delvin Farm Country Furniture Specialists. Tel: 01-8412285
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