BARGAIN HUNTER:Among the many big-ticket items reduced in the January sale at Arnotts are the Italsofa Soleto sofas (01-8050400 Arnotts.ie).
The three-seater is reduced from €1,299 to €899; the two-seater is down from €1,099 to €799. The fabric design is available in two colour options, beige grey or blue. The two-seater sofa is 166cm long. The three-seater is 206cm long. A Calligaris extendable walnut dining table is reduced from €1,958 to €1,199. The table, which opens from 120cm to 240cm, can seat up to eight people and is 90cm wide.
This offer includes four Sandy dining chairs upholstered in a taupe-coloured fabric.
3 of the best: Space-saving kitchen devices
Hidden oven
The Capel C5100 Lift oven is a smart, space-saving device. Rather than blighting your kitchenscape, this oven is recessed into a countertop meaning that there is no oven on view. To use it, you just push a button that raises it up to countertop level.
It can do everything that a high-spec multi-function oven can. It has 12 features including a grill, fan and conventional cooking, defrost function, pizza and bread-making, and a salamander grill. It measures 59cm wide and 51cm deep, and has crush-prevention sensors to protect little fingers should they get in the way.
A-rated for energy efficiency, it is available from Potter Cowan (01-842 3666/ 021-4354560/ 048-90370050) and is expected in their stores in early March. Prices start from €2,720. Pottercowan.com.
Statement dresser
Round the House and Mind the Dresser was a popular reel at parties when wandering musicians used to call at houses in rural Ireland. That experience has been relegated to the mists of time but the dresser is making a fashion comeback. "If 2012 was all about home entertaining and the return of the cocktail cabinet, then 2013 is about being practical," says Sally Bendelow, head of design for home at Marks and Spencer ( Marksandspencer.ie). "The return of the kitchen dresser is the big new furniture story. It makes a statement but is also very useful. We've done it in pale grey with cupped or D handles and a white marble base so it feels modern." With the marble top it costs €1,199, without it, the dresser is €759. It can be ordered from MS stores in Liffey Valley, Dundrum and Cork.
Folding table
For several years, the white gloss kitchen has been the safest way to brighten and update your cooking space. The idea, once game-changing, now feels more than a little stale. Ikea ( Ikea.ie) has a cheap and chic way to freshen up the look however. Its Applad kitchen features a white gloss shell with pale turquoise countertops with a chocolate brown trim. There are pops of the colour in the Marius stool, a steal at €4.95, and the useful and stylish Raskog trolley, €60. The Norberg wall-mounted fold-back table, €40, is a great space-saving device if you're living in a small house or apartment.
The basic kitchen design, pictured, costs €1,755 and includes fronts, worktops, interior fittings, hinges, sinks, taps, décor strips, mouldings, legs, plinths, knobs, handles and drawer dampers.
Not half bad
Kashan Carpets (01- 2958154 Kashancarpets.ie) on Blackthorn Rd in the Sandyford Industrial Estate, in Dublin 18, has a wide selection of rugs with reductions of up to 50 per cent on some styles. Pictured is a modern Indian hand-knotted 100 per cent wool rug that has been reduced from €2,660 to €1,330.
The Yezd, shown here in navy and cream, measures 274cm by 183cm and is also available in other sizes. It also comes in pale green, dark green, mid-blue, rust and red.
Something for afters
Fash up your dinner parties with these DVF plates which have been discounted by 60 per cent at Brown Thomas, Dublin (01-605 6666 Brownthomas.com). The dessert plates come in sets of four and in three print options: cheetah, animal or sun stripe.
They have been reduced from €60 to €20. There is also 60 per cent off creations by potter-turned-designer Jonathan Adler.
Trending . . . Showcase
The focus at this year’s Showcase Ireland Creative Expo is on Irish home designers. Some of the names to watch include Tricia Harris, whose feminine creations featured on this page last week, and feltworker Jamie Lewis, whose Ovis stool is one of the highlights of the trade show. Donna Bates’s parlour light, which takes inspiration from glass jars found in milking parlours, forms part of the show’s Design Challenge, which paired designers together to create new products. Husband and wife team Cillían and Lisa Johnston’s Aran Beag lampshade featured cable-knit detailing in its base.
Their latest addition to this range is a series of coat hooks, pictured, that employ the same traditional motif. Cillianjohnston.com. Showcase takes place from January 20th to 23rd. Showcaseireland.com
Don’t splash
Versatile Bathrooms, Tiles and Interiors (046-9029444 Versatile.ie) at Beechmount Home Park in Navan, Co Meath, has a selection of floor models reduced to clear. A driftwood dining table by Riviera Maison is down from €1,570 to €1,099. It is 150cm sq. The table has a top made using recycled wood and a distressed matte white pedestal base. There are matching Cape Breton chairs covered in flax-coloured linen fabric reduced from €246 to €196 each. A Matki corner surround shower enclosure (pictured) is down from €2,205 to €750. This price includes the resin tray base and toughened glass sides. It measures 90cm by 90cm. A Metropolitan heated towel radiator from Zehnder Retail, in quartz orange, is reduced from €790 to €553.
Funky designs are reduced to clear
Lost Weekend (01-2140711 Lostweekend.ie), the design studio and shop at 2 Helen's Court, George's Street Lower, Dún Laoghaire, has a selection of Magis pieces from their pre-Christmas pop-up shop reduced to clear. A set of cool Bunky bunk beds designed by Marc Newson is down from €2,546 to €1,782. The orange beds are 191cm high by 142.5cm long and 101cm deep and come with mattresses. There are Pipe chairs by Jasper Morrison – one in light blue, another in mustard – reduced from €244 to €170. Venice chairs by Konstantin Grcic are down from €377 to €264. They are suitable for outdoors and come in lime green, orange or aluminium. There are two green Magis puppies, right, designed by Eero Aarnio. The large is down from €126 to €88; the medium from €93 to €65.
