HomeSense, the UK's new homeware retailer is opening its fourth store in the country in Northampton on Wednesday (21) at 10am.

Located in St James Retail Park, shoppers will be able to buy a broad range of homeware accessories and furnishings sourced from around the world at low prices. The store, which is part of the TK MAXX company, sells a combination of one-off pieces, familiar brand names and designer products.

The products are offered at less than the recommended retail price and these savings are passed on to customers through a combination of opportunistic buying, established relationships with manufacturers and simple, no-frills operations.

The store at Unit 6B, St James Retail Park covers 14,085 square feet. Products are logically organised in category departments, for example all glassware products are displayed together, rather than the traditional convention of roomset displays and formats.

HomeSense local store manager, Sharon Tidd said: "HomeSense is all about unique finds at irresistible prices. Thousands of new items will arrive every week at this store, so we can offer customers a truly exciting and continually changing shopping experience."

Contemporary and classic ranges include glassware and tableware; cushions and throws; bedlinen; kitchen utensils and pots and pans; bathroom accessories, occasional tables and chairs; lighting, decorative ornaments including candles and vases; photographic frames; wall canvases and pictures; clocks; storage items; and seasonal products such as gardening accessories and Christmas decorations and gifts.

The store is one of just six in the country with others in Poole, Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester and Gloucester.

items on sale include mosaic lanterns for £9.99, a picnic basket for £29.99, a gold lamp for £29.99, a set of kitchen mixing bowls for £14.99 and a measuring jug for £3.99 which has a recommended retail price of £10.99.

But it is not the only discount homeware store in Northampton with BHS Home at St James Retail Park also offering good prices along with Au Naturale in the Weston Favell Shopping Centre. And then of course there is still Ikea at Milton Keynes which offers goods like sofa beds for as little as £89.

This month they also have an offer where customers get £200 worth of Ikea kitchen appliances for free when they send more than £1,500 on a kitchen, before June 15.

Meanwhile the best deals at BHS Home this month are six Egyptian cotton towels for £15 and a funky paisley king duvet set for £25.


We'll save you pounds on....kitchen renovations

The average price of a new kitchen now comes in at about £4,500 for a complete refit, but there are many cost-cutting measures which mean you can spruce up your existing kitchen without having to completely rip it out.

By simply replacing the doors of old cabinets the total cost can be halved, and another way to brighten the room up and make it look like new is to re-laminate work surfaces, which can come in at less than £250.

Try Doors & Drawers, which has a dedicated showroom in Kettering Road, Northampton, for replacement fronts to your kitchen cabinets, visit www.doorsanddrawers.co.uk

Changing cupboard door handles can also create the impression of a kitchen renovation, if used well. Chrome handles can give a modern look and cost as little as £2 each.

If you are looking to replace ceramic tiled splashbacks with popular glass tiles, you should consider using frosted perspex instead. This will come in at about a third of the cost of glass tiles, but will result in the same look. It's also possible to use acrylic or enamel paints over old tile splashbacks, eliminating the need to tear them down.

Repainting, especially with neutral colours such as white, beige or cream, can help refresh a room and make it cleaner and brighter, and for about £200 you can buy light fittings which match your kitchen cabinets to give the room a modern look.

To tidy up old and chipped appliances, find an appliance refinisher, who can re-enamel surfaces and remove any outdated colours, for as little as £200.

POTENTIAL SAVING BETWEEN £2,000 AND £3,000.