London on the Cheap, Part II

International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Tuesday, February 3, 2004
London, England

 

If you are trying to live on a dollar-based income in London, you'll have to find away
to live with sterling at $1.82, the highest it has been for years. Allow me…

More tips (see "London on the Cheap, Part I") on inexpensive furnishings in London:

Greenwich is a rather up-market town with a strong international presence, and if you're lucky, you can discover some real finds in the right shops. If you are willing to work your way through a real Dickensian Curiosity Shop mess, there is a second-hand store across Greenwich High Street from the Greenwich DLR (Docklands Light Railway) station. They are particularly good for garden furniture, statuary, and fireplaces.

A good source for quality drapes and bedspreads is a second-hand dealer in the Greenwich Weekend Second Hand and Handicrafts Market at Coombs Hill Street (Fridays and Saturdays only). This is not the main Greenwich market by the Cutty Sark ship, but another a few blocks southeast (near the Cutty Sark DLR and the ferry). A pair of deep red velvet drapes for your window looking out onto the perfect Georgian Square starts at £60 ($110).

Britain has 99-pence stores in many shopping streets. While most of what they sell is correctly priced, there are things to look out for: standard picture frames, toilet paper, party nibbles, orange marmalade, odd mugs, dishes, and serving plates with more pizzazz than the Ikea line. A two-for-a-pound deal got me an incomplete set of coffee mugs decorated with the signs of the Zodiac…and explanations in Hebrew! I only got six signs, but what do you expect for £3? And of course almost nobody knows what they are.

On December 23 I found a marvelous 18th-century print of Sir Christopher Wren standing across the Thames and gesturing at St. Paul's Cathedral (under construction). Wren is dressed in a superb red gown. I wanted it framed fast so I could show it off to guests coming to my London pad at Christmas.

But British framers had shut up shop for the holidays. Luckily, the Moslem framers on Brick Lane didn't take Christmas so seriously, and the framer, despite his pious demeanor, Moslem Yarmulka, and white beard, was sufficiently ecumenical to help me choose a mat and a frame for Sir Christopher. I could pick it up on Christmas Eve and pay him all of £15 ($27). He did as nice a job on St. Paul's Cathedral and its architect as a Christian would have done.

Vivian Lewis
For International Living

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