Where do you shop??

Hello, hello!
My DH and I have just moved to London and did it college style, just a couple of suitcases and ourselves.  We are moving into our new flat this week and I am not sure where I should start shopping, mainly for household items.  Kitchen gadgets, linens, cleaning supplies, furniture, home decor and the like! I would love to know some of your favorite shops.  I'm not against budget and am thinking most of our cleaning supplies may be picked up at Poundland, but I have been a bit spoiled in the linen department and want something more than Primark can give me in the bedroom.    Normally, I'd just go pop into a Macy's.  British equivalent? Also, any favorite antique/charity shops?  I'd love to pick up some pieces with a bit of character!  I have a thing for mugs and am sad all of my collection was left to collect dust!
Thanks!

Try John Lewis.

Oh boy, my favourite topic!

I have a few suggestions:
Robert Dyas: household goods, cleaning supplies, electrical bits (kettles, toasters, fans etc). http://www.robertdyas.co.uk
Argos: an experience in itself. Argos.co.uk
Marks & Spencer: some pretty good deals on bedding, pillows etc. http://www.marksandspencer.com
Selby's: this dated department store in N7 on Holloway Road has great deals on bedding/duvets/pillows.
John Lewis: Probably the closest to a Macy's; you can get absolutely everything here, pretty decent looking, if not sometimes pricey, furniture. All major appliances etc. http://www.johnlewis.com
White Company: ££ on the linen side, but if you are looking for classy stuff, here's where you'll find it. http://www.thewhitecompany.com

Poundland is a great place - don't knock it! Also, you could do worse than get an Amazon prime membership; they ship within one day and the delivery windows are usually 2 hours. Really slick operation over here. Oh, and check your local high street for an "anything/everything" shop. They look like they could be hardware stores but when you go in they literally have absolutely everything. And cheap.

Achica.com - one of those flash sale sites. Be careful: their delivery dates may be ages.
Made.com - if you don't mind waiting 10-14 weeks for your sofa.
Gumtree.com - go here for furniture finds and anything you might have searched craigslist for (including free stuff). Problem is you have to pick stuff up!
Freecycle - alive and well in London.
Zipcar: look into it. £9 van rentals to go pick up that cheap, vintage chest of drawers you find on Gumtree/Ebay/Freecycle/Ikea (<-- don't forget about them!)

Mugs: check out Emma Bridgewater. Her Toast range is awesome. There's an outlet store at Bicester Village (Oxfordshire - regular trains there from Marylebone) where you can get the usual £25 mugs for a fiver.

I think that should get you started

I am unimpressed with White Company quality as anything I have bought there has lasted less than 2 years before unravelling/falling apart/getting holes.  By comparison I have towels, bath mats, table cloths that I bought in the US before we moved that are still in great condition.

I am unimpressed with White Company quality as anything I have bought there has lasted less than 2 years before unravelling/falling apart/getting holes. 

I like the White Company, but find it too expensive for me. I generally order bedding from Whites of London. Really good quality stuff!

I generally order household things and even most clothing online because, out here in the far corner of the world, we don't have many big shops.

For kitchen gadgets, my choice would be Lakeland.

You can find nice mugs just about anywhere. I like the look of Emma Bridgewater's stuff but I hate drinking out of those big clunky things. I need nice bone china, and you can buy those all over the place.

Antique shops and charity shops are good, but also try car boot sales and auctions! You'll get much better prices than at an antique shop!

 

Ikea for a lot of the basics. There is one in Wembley that is not too far from you and you can have your entire purchase delivered the next day for about £15 if you don't have a car.

I like collecting vintage British ceramics and tend to go to local charity shops and markets, like Spitalfields, Portobello and Greenwich. I also recommend Old Cinema, a beautiful antique shop in Chiswick. I absolutely adore it, even though it's out of my price range! http://www.theoldcinema.co.uk/

For mugs, I get them from all over, including Cath Kidston, Ikea, Foyles for literary themed cups and Octavia Foundation charity shops for kitschy Britannia and Americana mugs. I bake, so most of my stuff has come from John Lewis or Ebay as gifts. I also get a few things from Whisk in Ealing. I get my pillows from M and S, my bedding from John Lewis (though I wouldn't recommend this as a long term solution as their fitted sheets become pilled and scratchy quickly). All of furniture is from Ikea or charity shops. I have an amazing 60s men's wardrobe with labeled glass shelves from the British Heart Foundation and a wicker tiki mini bar from a secondhand furniture shop. For other homewares, I love In Spitalfields, a boutique in spitalfields market with all sorts of quirky odds and ends. I'm there every Christmas.

Kitchen gadgets I love Lakeland and TK Maxx (te UK branch of TJ Maxx).

Lots of our furniture and household goods are from IKEA

Cleaning supplies - be careful where you buy them.  I find the really cheap brands don't work very well for me.

I've gotten a ton of various household items from Home Bargains. It's a bit hit or miss but you can really find some good stuff in there.

Nearly all of our kitchen stuff (pots and pans, baking sheets and gadgets- not cutlery or plates) comes from Nisbets.  It's a catering supply company, so it's catering-kitchen quality stuff and really good quality.  Some of it's a bit pricey, but we've not been disappointed with any of it.    We even asked for gift vouchers for Nisbets for wedding gifts.    You can order online or go to their store on Shaftesbury Ave.  Looks like they've also opened one near Spitalfields Market near Liverpool Street Station. 

https://www.nisbets.co.uk/

For small appliances like kettles, we usually just go to Amazon.

We really like our John Lewis bath towels, but they're not the cheapest.  They're one of our splurge items as it's nice to be cozy out of the shower in the winter. 

Normally for bedding we go to Debenhams.  DH got the bedding we have now from Debenhams several years ago and it's still good (basic fitted sheets, pillowcases, duvet and duvet covers). 

Most flats seem to come furnished in the UK (or at least in London) so we've not had to buy anything, but we do have an Ikea desk DH got when his company moved office.    It was free and we like it.    Plus it's easy to take apart if/when we move.    It's not anything fancy, but it's perfect for us.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S19806946/#/S99806947

Nearly all of our kitchen stuff (pots and pans, baking sheets and gadgets- not cutlery or plates) comes from Nisbets.  It's a catering supply company, so it's catering-kitchen quality stuff and really good quality.  Some of it's a bit pricey, but we've not been disappointed with any of it.    We even asked for gift vouchers for Nisbets for wedding gifts.    You can order online or go to their store on Shaftesbury Ave.  Looks like they've also opened one near Spitalfields Market near Liverpool Street Station. 

I second Nisbets, it's very good for pots and pans.

Amazing! Thanks so much for all these suggestions.  I popped into our local Argos for a few bits and was pretty happy about the few essentials I got.  Going to do quite a bit of damage this weekend.  This helped a ton!