Infamous Tea & Honey show
Another cold and damp Shanghai winter is approaching, and many local apartments, with their insane-asylum white walls and lousy insulation, are seriously lacking in welcome-home warmth. We’ve enlisted three interior designers for tips on kitting out a flat in all things cozy on a budget.
Karen Wilson normally has multi-million RMB budgets to deck the halls of posh homes. But she swears that savvy, simple solutions make the biggest impact.
Light the mood
“Get rid of that nasty, harsh fluorescent lighting by replacing cool-toned LED bulbs with softer, yellow lighting. And I swear by dimmer switches! When I moved into my flat, it looked like a local hospital, so I immediately found someone to install dimmer switches. It was a cheap, 10-minute job.” Dimmer switches cost RMB72 - 258 at B&Q (aisle 24, to be exact). Energy-saving yellow light bulbs by Osram cost RMB27-99 per bulb.
Add soft decor
Small area rugs shouldn’t be relegated to the bathroom. Instead, place one beside the bed. Stepping out onto soft, warm carpet instead of cold, hard floor is a way to start the morning off right. B&Q has a mix of inexpensive area carpets, including ones with cheerful prints inspired by Missoni for RMB29 and imitation Persian rugs for RMB169. Or tap into your wild side with fun, fluffy sheepskin shag from IKEA for RMB299.
Over in the living room, ensure that chill-fighting fabric is just a grab away. Instead of lingering by the space heater, get snug-as-a-bug under a big, fat, faux fur blanket. Tailors at the fabric market have a menagerie of faux furs – from beaver to arctic fox – and can whip up a caveman-meets-classy throw for RMB400. If wrapping yourself in fur doesn’t feel deluxe enough, add more ooh-la-la with a cashmere lining for an extra RMB200.
Make it personal
Bare walls and empty shelves are depressing, especially when it’s cold. Wilson says, “It’s easy to get down in the dumps in the winter, so people should surround themselves with things that make them happy, like memorabilia, family photos, personal knickknacks and things you just love to look at.”
Cheryl Watson Cooney has already done the legwork to find the city’s best shopping treasures. She says, “Shanghai is rich with intriguing items to acquire and appreciate in your home.”
Collect
It’s easy to get carried away acquiring trinkets. To avoid feeling cluttered, Cooney advises to “trend your shopping around a theme, such as a color. For example, you can buy glasses, bowls, platters and old fans in different shades of green. Or theme around an era and collect vintage fans, oil lamps and tea tins from the same period.” Cooney says Dongtai Lu is a good place to hunt with “a great selection of rustic Chinese items.”
It has earned a tourist-trap reputation, but bee-lining to the right vendors can alleviate stress. Cooney’s sure bet is Jiasheng Artwork Shop, owned by Deng Jiasheng. She speaks excellent English and starts bargaining lower than most vendors. Cooney scored a pair of antique-looking Chinese chairs for RMB400 and a suitcase, which she fashioned into a coffee table, for RMB300. Read: “antique-looking,” with the operative word being “looking.”
Shop around
IKEA has brainwashed too many Shanghai residents into thinking furniture only comes from IKEA, but there are many stylish, affordable home decor stores right in the heart of the city. Cooney’s first choice is BFF. Just outside of Tianzifang, BFF has three huge floors stocked with simple, modern furniture that’s moderately priced (RMB2,000 for an armchair and RMB8,000 for a large sofa). BFF’s giant assortment of contemporary housewares is more affordable – from pillows (RMB200) to wine glasses (RMB30).
Another modern design gold mine is Cheers Furnishings, which carries a variety of locally designed furniture along with unauthorized reproductions of European and American classics, like Eames’ cheerful DSR chairs (RMB580) and legendary LCW lounge chairs (RMB1,100). Cooney says, “Buying a new set of dining room chairs is a relatively inexpensive way to spruce up an apartment. At Cheers, prices and quality are fair.”
For one-stop shopping, go to the Jinsheng International Home Deco Market. Jam-packed into this five-storey monster of a market are over 700 stores selling everything a home could possibly need, including flooring, furniture, appliances, house wares and decoration. Whether you want to overhaul your home or just jazz up your flat with a few items, this is the place to go. Best of all, vendors sell at wholesale prices.
Fur blankets, fluffy rugs and fresh furniture do wonders, but nothing cooks up that cozy feeling better than a home-made meal. Saeed Granfar advises to invest in your kitchen by shopping at his favorite local market.
Iron Chef upgrade
For the best prices and most variety, Granfar goes to Qilong Hotel Equipment Market. “It’s a maze of little stores filled with amazing, original crystal-ware in every shape imaginable and items catering more to commercial kitchens – which makes everything more interesting. Prices are reasonable and foreigners are nowhere to be seen.” There’s everything from espresso machines (both cafe and domestic sizes), KitchenAid mixers, heavy-duty knives, cookie cutters and every cooking vessel imaginable, including copper hotpots from Xinjiang.
WHERE TO SHOP
B&Q
Dongtai Lu Antique Market
Jiasheng Artwork Shop
