Latest news with #homedecor
CNET
10 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Walmart Deals of the Day: Over $400 Off a Hybrid Ecovacs Robot Vacuum
You don't have to wait for a major shopping event to score big savings at Walmart -- which is great news since we're in between sales at the moment. The home and tech retailer offers bargains year-round, so you can always grab a new gadget or some home essentials for less. To help you make the most of these savings, CNET's deals team is rounding up some top picks daily. For today, July 30, those include a whopping $470 off a two-in-one Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus Ultra robot vacuum and mop, $40 off a top-rated Google Nest Doorbell and $350 off a 65-inch TCL QM6K 4K TV. Take floorcare off your to-do list for good with the two-in-one Deebot N10 Plus Ultra. It's a hybrid model that can vacuum and mop and boasts 3,800 Pa of suction for truly spotless floors. The device uses advanced lidar and dToF sensors to map and navigate your home for efficient cleaning and has a 180-minute runtime. It also comes with a self-emptying base station that can hold up to 60 days of debris for around two months of maintenance-free cleaning. Keep an eye on who's coming and going with this top-rated video doorbell. It has HD video resolution with HDR and night vision for a clear view and a tall vertical field of view to easily spot packages. Plus, it features built-in intelligence that can distinguish between people, animals and vehicles for accurate alerts. This model is also battery-powered, which means it's easy to install and doesn't require any existing doorbell wiring. Just note that only the ash color variant is sold by Walmart directly. This 2025 TCL TV deal is a great way to upgrade your entertainment setup without breaking the bank. It has a stunning 65-inch 4K QLED display with high-energy LED chips for superior brightness. Plus, it features support for HDR ULTRA with Dolby Vision IQ for sharp contrast, vibrant colors and crisp details. This model also has Dolby Atmos spatial audio for a seriously immersive viewing experience. Other features include a gaming mode, Bluetooth connectivity and four HDMI ports.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
First Bed Bath & Beyond Home store in Nashville to open this August
US home decor retail chain The Brand House Collective, formerly known as Kirkland's, will open its first Bed Bath & Beyond Home store in Nashville, Tennessee, on 8 August 2025. This marks the company's inaugural launch under its new identity following shareholder approval on 24 July 2025. This June, the company disclosed strategic adjustments to its operations and management. The overhaul includes a shift to become a multi-brand retail operator, streamlining its physical footprint, and enhancing core business processes to foster growth. The strategy involves consolidating properties and closing underperforming stores to reduce excess inventory, aiming for faster stock turnover and improved asset returns. Furthermore, the company plans to operate 290 stores, housing brands such as Kirkland's Home, Bed Bath & Beyond Home, and Overstock. The company said: "To celebrate our grand opening on 8 August, in honouring our brand's history, we're bringing back the beloved Bed Bath & Beyond coupon." The retailer has invited customers to redeem their legacy coupons or receive a new one at the store, with the first 25 purchasers receiving a free memory foam mattress. From today (29 July), The Brand House Collective will trade under the new ticker symbol 'TBHC', with no action required from shareholders concerning the change. Earlier in the month, the company revealed a series of executive appointments as part of its transformation into The Brand House Collective. Specifically, Andrea Courtois took on the role of senior vice-president and chief financial officer, succeeding Mike Madden. "First Bed Bath & Beyond Home store in Nashville to open this August" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I'm so happy with my cheap & easy council house bathroom makeover – I used a £2.50 Poundland buy & TikTok Shop tiles
A DIY enthusiast has shared how she gave her bathroom a mega makeover for less than £100. Eager to keep the costs down, Amber, who is currently on a mission to turn her ' council house into a home,' used bargains from Poundland and TikTok Shop to transform her space from drab to fab. 2 So if you want to add style to your home and aren't sure where to start, you'll be pleased to know that you've come to the right place. Posting on social media, the content creator uploaded a short clip showing off her bathroom prior to its overhaul, which she shared with the caption 'On a budget and need to upcycle your bathroom? I got you!' Amber then revealed how she transformed her council bathroom for less than £100 as she beamed: 'I am so happy with the final results of this and I'm gonna show you how I did it.' Rather than forking out for a new shower system and posh tiles, Amber used a multi-purpose spray paint from Poundland and peel and stick self-adhesive tiles from TikTok Shop. She explained: 'So I used these TikTok shop tiles and some £2.50 spray paint from Poundland and I sprayed the f**k out of that shower cause it was yellow as f**k.' As she stuck the tiles to her bathroom wall, she added: 'I am obsessed with these tiles - I also have them in my kitchen, they've been up for six months now and they're still perfect. 'These tiles are a little bit trickier to put up than the ones in my kitchen because of the pattern, but, you know, it is doable. It's great, I'm literally obsessed.' Showing off the finished space, which was given a fresh new look quickly, easily and on a very tight budget, the DIY fan continued: 'I love it, this is such a cheap and easy way to transform your bathroom or your kitchen.' While Amber spent less than £3 on the black spray paint, her 'game changer' Living And Home peel and stick wall tiles, which you can buy from TikTok Shop, were £19.99 for a pack of 10. There's plenty of colours and styles to choose from and Amber acknowledged that she bought six packs but has 'loads spare.' Trolls say council houses can't look nice but my stunning hallway will prove them wrong The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @ amberjw.x, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly racked up 130,500 views, 5,114 likes and 71 comments. DIY fans were impressed with Amber's simple but effective bathroom makeover and many eagerly raced to the comments to express this. One person said: 'Looks great!' Another added: 'Love it.' However, many had the same complaint, as one user begged: 'Please purchase a new shower head.' A second chimed in and asked: 'Why didn't you replace your shower head?' Whilst someone else wondered: 'Why didn't you do the shower head? It's still yellow.'
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
As furniture buyers turn to Shopee and Taobao, local brands struggle to compete
SINGAPORE: When first-time home owners Nurasheila Abdul Razak and Syakir Sabirin were searching for furniture to match the Japanese wabi-sabi theme they had in mind for their new flat, time was in short supply. Working different shifts as technicians while caring for their toddler, the couple found it difficult to shop for furniture. That changed when they discovered Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao. 'On Taobao, we can just sit at the table, browse and everything will come at the same time,' said Mr Syakir, 33. Despite the language barrier – they relied on Google Translate to navigate the site – the couple ended up buying about 90 per cent of their furniture on Taobao. They are part of a growing group of younger home owners in Singapore who are buying most of their furniture from online platforms for their lower prices, greater convenience and wider selection. Taobao, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has seen rising interest from Singaporeans for its home and furniture products, said Ms Miko Tse, the head of marketing at Taobao Singapore. While she did not disclose specific figures, she said the category has seen 'strong double-digit year-over-year growth', helped by the launch of the site's English version. Shopee Singapore has also seen rapid growth in the category. Its director, Mr Chua Kel Jin, said furniture and home living is now one of the platform's fast-growing segments. Over the past five years, buyer numbers have doubled and sales have tripled, he said, without revealing exact figures. TOUGH COMPETITION Prices on e-commerce platforms are often significantly lower – sometimes up to three times cheaper than local brands, home owners told CNA. Ms Nurasheila said a customisable electric sofa she bought on Taoabo cost about S$1,200 (US$940) before shipping. A similar item in a local store had a price tag of over S$3,000, the 29-year-old pharmacy technician said. Even after paying for shipping and hiring a handyman to assemble the pieces, the couple estimated they spent just S$6,000 to furnish their home. Local furniture brand Cellini said such pricing could lead to a 'race to the bottom' and put immense pressure on Singapore companies that struggle to meet these cost expectations. 'The pie of furniture sales is no longer exclusively divided among local brick-and-mortar stores but is now significantly shared with online powerhouses,' said its marketing manager Kerine Yong. Mr Joshua Koh, CEO of homegrown furniture brand Commune, said that the increased access to platforms like Taobao has changed the retail landscape. 'In the past, factories sold to retailers who would sell the furniture at a markup. But now, the factories have bypassed that middleman and gone online and started selling direct to consumers,' said Mr Koh, who is also the president of the Singapore Furniture Industries Council. Adding to the challenge, retailers in Johor Bahru are also aggressively courting Singapore consumers, with lower prices enabled by lower operating costs, he said. 'So we are being hit by many fronts, not only the Chinese e-commerce supply.' BIG SPACES, HIGH RENT Local furniture companies said they have to grapple with high rental costs for their warehouses and showrooms, even though most of them have offshored their manufacturing process to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Mr Ahmad Habshee, 36, the founder of woodworking brand Urban Salvation, runs a 4,000 sq ft studio and showroom in an industrial estate in Tampines. He recently downsized to one unit to cut costs. 'The location that I have is very secluded, because it's cheaper here. To survive longer, you cannot have high rent,' he said. Professor Lawrence Loh, who teaches policy and strategy at the National University of Singapore, said many local furniture brands are now in a 'precarious position'. 'Many might actually end up being free showrooms for people who want to go online,' he said. 'People can get a look and feel of what type of furniture they want. Then they check the dimension … and just go online and replicate,' he said. Account manager Lim Huiyi, 30, and her husband did exactly that when they were furnishing their new home a year ago, using local stores for inspiration before doing reverse image searches on Taobao. 'We will just snap a picture … and then put it on Taobao,' she said. 'Sometimes, it looks like basically the same thing for a fraction of the price.' Apart from a TV console that they purchased from Johor Bahru, all their movable furniture was purchased online. Affordability, variety and convenience are key draws for shopping online, home owners said. 'You can search for so many things, and you can see so many different options at once, versus in Singapore, when you go to a furniture store, you are pretty much bound to how much it can feature in that little space,' said Ms Lim. Getting to furniture showrooms, which are often in remote areas, can be expensive and inconvenient, she added. Another home owner who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan said she and her husband browsed local shops but couldn't find anything that caught their eye. 'Everything was very repetitive … We wanted to have something more unique,' the 32-year-old said. Buying online did not mean compromising on quality either, said Ms Tan, who works in sales. Having lived with mostly Taobao furniture for the past two years, she said the quality has exceeded her expectations. BUY AND THROW AWAY Ms Faezah Shaharuddin, co-director of family business Gamar Furniture, said younger buyers are more trend-focused, which platforms like Shopee and Taobao cater to. She added that slow furniture brands like hers have to 'straddle the line' between quality and trends. 'There's a sustainability aspect to it too. We don't want to become like fast furniture, because we do think it's a bit wasteful, and it's also very expensive and exhausting trying to keep up with the trend cycles,' she said. Mr Ahmad said brands like his that champion circularity are struggling to survive a "buy and throw" mindset. Still, he understands why people shop online. 'Renovation is expensive in Singapore. House is expensive in Singapore. Furniture is just pure aesthetics for some people. Can use can lah, right?' he said. Mr Morgan Yeo, director of family-owned furniture brand Roger&Sons, said many buyers see furniture as temporary – tied to the lifespan of a BTO flat. 'To them, they don't think that they will stay there for a long time,' he said. 'So why spend the amount of money?' Yet this mindset leads to significant waste, he added. 'We only worry about the straws and the paper cups and the plastic bags,' he said. 'But we don't think about the waste we generate when we move into a house.' A HUMAN TOUCH Dr Seshan Ramaswami, associate professor of marketing at Singapore Management University, said retailers need to be "extremely service-oriented" and offer customers a one-stop solution for all their furnishing needs. Assistant Professor Soo Kim from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) business school said homegrown furniture brands have to offer customers something they cannot get from online shopping. Physical showrooms should not just be a place to browse and buy, but a destination with a "human touch", she added. Gamar's Ms Faezah said her brand retains loyal clients who appreciate face-to-face service. 'There's a warmth to shopping in person, and we have a lot of long-time clients that we built personal relationships with. That kind of thing can't really be felt online,' she said. Some brands are also investing in their online presence. At Cellini, Ms Yong said enhancing the online experience while maintaining physical showrooms has become essential. 'It's about delivering meaningful value and an exceptional experience. It's never just about a product,' she said. Roger&Sons, however, has no intention to move to the e-commerce space. Making quality furniture takes time, Mr Yeo said. 'The only way you can digitalise carpentry is if you mass produce the same type of chairs … Every chair that we do is different.' Home owners Ms Nurasheila and Mr Syakir said they remain open to "all options" for their future furniture choices – depending on price and convenience. But they are not planning to replace what they have bought anytime soon. 'We bought this furniture hoping it would last,' said Ms Nurasheila. 'That's still the goal.'
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
That Instagram-Worthy Room Probably Cost $150,000. Here's How to Get the Look for Less.
Instagram is a torture device that makes you want things you can't have. That influencer's abs. Those Loewe shoes. That Amalfi vacation. I care about none of those things. It's high-end interior design that torments me. Specifically, Lucy Doswell's library in the 2023 Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach. Summer Thornton's master bedroom in her Sayulita project. Literally anything Rita Konig touches. You haven't known pain until you've realized the Christopher Farr fabric on the sofa in Isabella Worsley's latest seaside escape will cost you around $223 a yard—and you need 24 yards. For the past few years, I've devoted myself to decorating my San Francisco one-bedroom apartment in the style of something you might find in Architectural Digest—or better yet, the bible of eclectic British decor, House & Garden. Did I mention it's a modest rental? That I don't have an unlimited budget? No matter. Thanks to the intimacy of Instagram, the interiors I covet feel almost within reach. Plus: As a reporter, I have investigative journalism skills! Indeed, I blame that potent combo for convincing me that, armed with grit and a little hustle, I could approximate the sort of results one usually only gets from professionals who might require a six-figure spend. In pursuit of my mission, I've done some crazy and mildly annoying things, like requesting a quote for a rug that turned out to be $17,000, driving four hours to buy a banquette in a bank parking lot and messaging a designer about a chair, only to be told it was 'bespoke.' Which I think loosely translates to: 'You can't have it.' Yet, I wasn't totally delusional. Despite some challenges and aided by a bit of reasonably priced professional help, I've managed to conjure a space anyone would be proud to post. Would I still love for Lucy, Rita or Isabella to design my home head to toe someday? You bet. (And it would be worth every penny.) But today is not that day. In the meantime, if—like me—you're striving for aspirational while bumping up against reality, here's what to do. First, remember that many rooms on Instagram have been professionally photographed and lit. Commenters like to ask designers, 'What's that paint?' But chances are the color won't look the same in your home as it does in that photo. Take it from someone who painted her bedroom Farrow & Ball's 'Setting Plaster' after spying it in a post by Olivine Design. In my place the designer-favorite reads more 'Silly Putty' than soft blush. To avoid the same fate, bring the picture to your local paint shop and ask for options that could achieve the same look. Also: Ask yourself what you love in a room, and be sure it's a shoppable item and not a detail you can't replicate. It took my father pointing out that I don't have 14-foot ceilings and french doors to make me see that buying a pair of Schumacher bird-print chairs wasn't going to recreate a dining area I loved. Some generous designers occasionally do 'Ask Me Anythings' on Instagram. Find those pros and follow them. Chicago-based Alexandra Kaehler and Katie Rosenfeld of Wellesley, Mass., are two of my favorites. To improve the odds your question gets selected, choose one that other folks might also find valuable. When I queried Kaehler about pet-friendly sofa fabric, she suggested I just wrap my couch cushions in a Kantha quilt, and provided a link to a $28 Etsy option. While the colors didn't work with my scheme, her advice made me rethink buying a new sofa. You can also message designers directly—but consider how aggressive you want to be. On the one hand, designers have a right to be gatekeepers of their own hard work. On the other, you can't win if you don't play. Last year I reached out to the Atlanta designer Cate Dunning to find out more about a lovely painting she'd posted. It turned out Dunning had painted the piece herself. She sold it to me—already framed—and it's a showstopper. Can I tell you a secret? Some interior designers have junior employees sourcing furniture and art and saving it to public Pinterest boards. Others busily pin away themselves, giving you leads to track down their favorites. I've kept tabs on the finds of the staff of Redmond Aldrich Design, a firm in Berkeley, Calif., for about seven years now. You may be surprised to learn that many design teams source items from all over, including some eminently accessible retailers like Anthropologie, Serena & Lily, Restoration Hardware and even Zara Home. I hesitate to drum up even more competition on Facebook Marketplace, but to train the algorithm and score big, you must troll for goods beyond your zip code. I keep my search radius set to a cool 250 miles. My Samsung Frame TV, which displays digital art and spares my living room the black-box-on-the-wall look, enjoyed a previously unopened-life near Napa, Calif. I saved about $1,000 off the sticker price. For smaller items that pack up easily like draperies, lamps and cushions, widen your search nationwide. I like to plug in the zip codes where people with deep pockets and good taste are known to live—think Rye, N.Y., Greenwich, Conn., or Winnetka, Ill. Then I use search terms like 'custom' or 'designer.' Feeling ambitious? Bid on larger items and find someone on a service like uShip to deliver it to you. That's how my cousin got an Ilve range from Atlanta to Chicago and how I landed a vintage rug from a designer in Los Angeles who purchased it from A-list fave Nickey Kehoe. Every once in a while you hit the jackpot. For me that was stumbling on a Redmond Aldrich Design client who was downsizing and tasked their personal assistant with selling stuff, as one does. I scored a room-size rug usually available only to the trade and, for $450, a bed upholstered in a Christopher Farr silk ikat (new: around $6,000). But, beware: An incredible value can give you the design equivalent of beer goggles. That steal of a bed? After living with it for a while, I found the scale of the print on the headboard a bit too large. I think about recovering it all the time. Some designers tag everything from furniture to fabric swatches in their posts, making it easy to track down what you like. Many don't. When that happens, take a screenshot and run it through a Google image search. That should give you the language you need to hunt down a similar version. For instance, not long ago I became fixated on a dining table posted by designer Heidi Caillier, who has a cult following among the grandmillenial set. A Google image search revealed it was a French wine-tasting table. Caillier's was custom—but I found a near-dupe at an antique shop in Sonoma. If you fall in love with textiles that are sold to the trade but you don't have a designer on retainer, use image search to learn the pattern's name, then search for remnants on eBay, Chairish or other auction sites. My beloved burl ottomans are upholstered in Wicker, a $286-a-yard linen fabric by Fermoie; I found remnants on eBay and a U.K. discount-fabric site for one-third of that price. The downside: Random bits may not be identical. Because I purchased the fabric from different places, one seat is slightly lighter than the other. Design services are getting more democratized. On the online platform the Expert, prices for 55-minute consultations range from a few hundred dollars for lesser-known names to $3,600 for 115 minutes with my girl Rita Konig. But in my experience, the better route is to find a designer in your area who's open to small projects and sells hourly blocks. I worked with Alexis Smith, who runs an interior design studio and a lethally charming boutique, Shoshin, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Smith saved me a bananas amount of money by vetoing items that would have been mistakes, paying attention to scale and dimensions and sharing her knowledge of things like fabric durability. She also picked out one of my favorite pieces, a bone-inlay settee that sits in my bay window. This brings me to my last piece of advice: If you're planning to invest real money in your space—and thanks to a weakness for expensive lighting and designer fabrics, I did—there's no substitute for a little professional help. You can have great taste and be skilled at picking out individual items but the ability to envision how fabrics, furniture and finishes all work together (or won't!) is where Smith earned every dollar I paid her. Amateurs make mistakes and mistakes can be costly in the form of regret or actual dollars—both, more often than not. My next mission: Decide on a new sofa fabric. Because the other thing I've learned in this process is that you're never done decorating.
