It's amazing the things Santa can get down the chimney to surprise you on Christmas morning - hi-fi systems, televisions, oak chairs, book shelves, china dinner services. Each year his presents become ever more imaginative and ingenious.
Presents that will embellish and decorate the rooms in your house have become more and more popular in recent years. Shops stocked with all sorts of original, different, thoughtful, exciting and beautiful gifts, are attracting shoppers as never before. In the run-up to the big day, showrooms, craft halls, galleries and specialist shops will be buzzing.
It is worth remembering that there are gifts for every room in the house. Read on and prepare to be inundated with a slew of good shopping ideas from magnificent fabrics to table lamps to TV sets to pottery with a difference. From chairs, stools and tables to shelving, trollies, folding desks, wall-hangings and toy boxes, the list is endless.
In the sitting room, for example, one of the most popular ideas comes in the shape of a foot-stool. These can be purchased from the Sofa Factory and can cost anything from £125 to £175. Scatter cushions are also very popular at Christmas with the cushion itself costing £9, and you can then go to town on the 1/2 metre of fabric and really splash out and buy an expensive fabric. The shop has been on Millstreet in Dublin 9, near St Patrick's Cathedral, for the past 10 years. All the furniture is made on site, while the fabric is imported from every corner of the globe, and ranging in price also. There are up to 50,000 different fabric designs to choose from.
The Sofa Factory has 30 different styles of sofa, including armchairs, two-seaters, three-seaters plus larger and in-between sizes as well. There is a huge range of machine-washable fabrics. On average a two-seater, including the fabric, could cost £800.
Not everyone remembers how lovely it is to get a present of some china at Christmastime. House of Ireland, which has been trading on Nassau Street for the past 25 years, has a wide range of china from the fine Wedgwood brand to the sturdier Port Meirion pieces. This year Flemish tapestries are very popular with shoppers. They start from £60 to £75, and go up to £1,500 or £2,000. The smaller tapestries are generally cotton and come in light pastel shades. The heavier, more expensive ones tend to be woollen and very luxuriant and rich in style and texture. They all the tapestries come from Belgium and "compliment any home" as Lisa O'Rourke, marketing executive at House of Ireland points out.
For the kitchen, the choice is endless and exciting. Pieces of pottery and glass-ware are always welcome. A set of the new John Rocha goblets works out at about £100. The more traditional Waterford Crystal glasses are always popular also. These are both available at House of Ireland.
There's a festive air in the Kilkenny Design Shop outlets - on Nassau Street in Dublin, and across from the Castle in Kilkenny. This long-established company is a favourite with shoppers. Inside the door on Nassau Street there is a festive air. There are gorgeous displays on view, piled high on wooden shelves - cast-iron lamps, minimalist lampshades, storage jars, earthenware casserole dishes and big, colourful plates which have been glazed in the ovens of Irish potters around the country. There are fabrics, including tablecloths and napkins of every hue and texture, as well as books, candles, table-ware and china.
A painting will always be a valued and treasured gift. Brian Sibley, whose shop, Combridge Fine Art, has been in business for the past 90 years, will testify to the endurance of a painting. His shop, which recently moved from Suffolk Street to South William Street, is just behind the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. It stocks original paintings by Irish artists such as Colin Gibson and Gerry Marjoram. They range in price from £250/ £300 upwards. Sibley also has print and bronze reproductions. The shop also has a limited range of prints of paintings by Irish artists, such as Gerard Glynn, Gerard Byrne and Ross Eccles. These cost £130 each.
A range of unusual clocks and mirrors will definitely meet with approval and be welcomed as presents for a bedroom, a hallway, a bathroom or a sitting room. Rae Thomas, a fifth generation craftsman, using slate that has been recovered from old Dublin buildings, creates hand wrought slate mirrors and clocks. The colours of the slate range from black to the rarer olive green, and from almost purple through reddish to dark grey. Each piece is individually numbered and signed.
Thomas works in a converted stable and grainstore near Clanbrassil Street at 41 Blackpitts in Dublin 8. The original loft has been transformed into a bright exhibition space where his slate mirrors and clocks are on view. There is also a range of ceramic, leather and papier mache works by other craftsmen and women.
Peter Dand's shop in Clonskeagh is a special outlet for the Danish manufacturer, Bang and Olufsen. An "Overture" system, including a CD, radio and tape with speakers, is selling at £2,000. Another type, a Beosound Century, is cheaper at £1,775 because the speakers don't separate and the power is lower. The shop, which has been in Clonskeagh since 1963, has all sorts of goods. Speakers themselves come separately, e.g., KEF speakers which are compatible with other makes and there are Quad amplifiers as well as CD players and speakers. At Dublin's three Sony Centres, and one in Cork, there are walkmans ranging in price from £25 up to £90 and widescreen TVs from £699. Another outlet, Peat's The World of Electronics on Parnell Street, has been supplying Dubliners with electrical equipment since before the 1950s.
Retailers will tell you that this type of present - from a walkman to a wide-screen TV - is proving increasingly successful. Christmas time is the biggest sale time in the year for this kind of equipment. People want presents of quality and distinction, and the quality, range, make and style of today's tv, stereo and radio items is staggering.
And don't forget the long-established emporiums, such as Weirs & Son on Grafton Street, which is choc-a-bloc with ideas for the house also, as well as a huge range of jewellery. Ideal Bathrooms just off Holles Street in Dublin 2 is also a good place to step into for inspiration. What about a de luxe shower unit? Brown Thomas also has all sorts of things that would make excellent presents. Cushions in animal prints at £15 and matching throws at £40. There are beaded lamps at £50. A Gaggia coffee makers at just under £300. It's amazing what you can find to give as a gift on Christmas morning. And in many cases you won't even have to wrap it!
