F4A #7: By popular demand....

You asked for it....

One of the most popular items we’ve ever found

Something strange happened earlier this week: An otherwise unassuming bamboo bistro set in Liverpool inspired the most messages I’d received in a minute. People wanted it, and they wanted it bad – so bad! – but the seller backed out with cold feet. This happens often when there’s a high demand for a single piece. Sometimes, the listing vanishes from the internet, only to resurface a few hours later with another zero at the end of the price. Other times, it never reemerges – perhaps, the owners saw their old dining table or bookshelf in a new light after a dozen or so buyers eagerly extolled, “I’d love to take this off your hands!”.

It can be hard to reverse-engineer what it is about pieces like this dining set that strikes such a chord. Was it the price point (£55)? Or the novelty of cane furniture, carefully bent and woven to fit together in a single space-saving huddle? The messages weren’t just from locals in Liverpool who’d hoped to swipe up the bistro set – they came in across the U.K., each just as enthusiastic and eager as the one before.

When you read this, I’ll be scurrying around the city preparing for my first real break in a year. I’m turning off my laptop, silencing my phone and slapping on an aloe vera face mask – it’s my version of a factory reset. As such, Furniture For All will take it’s first short summer break (short! short, I promise!). In the meantime, feel free to browse this thread for a few alternatives to the much-loved bamboo bistro set above.

If you still want more, revisit a few of our older newsletters on the false promise of furnished flats, the politics of lifestyle writing and what happens when one club closes.