Homes & Property

Featured store: John Lewis

Everyone's favourite family store is undergoing a £61.5 million makeover. The Oxford Street shop is now dramatically lighter and brighter, with welcoming windows, and light flooding down the central escalator, which now provides an amazing all-round view. Here the merchandise message is almost low-key, depending on simplicity and quality at keen prices.

Often there is a huge colour range - for sheets, carpets and towels, for example. Designs for fabrics and furniture are fairly middle-of-the-road, but you can find treasures amid the more conventional styles. A haberdashery department is invaluable for ribbons and trimmings, and a good choice of furnishing fabrics off the roll can be cut to as little as 10cm

Unquestionably, service is John Lewis's trump card. Its team will make you curtains, blinds and covers within a week, after a friendly chat with an expert "furnishing adviser". Or you can have an interior and/or lighting designer visit your home to work out a complete scheme.

New electronic technology can provide an instant in-home carpet estimate, and your choice can be fitted within a fortnight. John Lewis will install your new TV and computer - and teach you how to use it. Furniture can be delivered within a week.

There is also lots of advice and samples to be had from friendly long-time staff - and a no-quibbles exchange policy.

Not surprisingly, this store also has an excellent online service, which includes everything from delivering flowers to a clearance section. It offers lots of sound advice for free, too.

John Lewis, 300 Oxford Street, W1 (020 629 7711).
John Lewis

John Lewis

Tel: 0845 604 9049

Web: www.johnlewis.com