Go plain or go colourful. Whatever you do, the Dawson retro swivel chairs at Habitat are perfect for kicking back after a tough day.

This is Habitat doing what, for me, it does best these days. Retro furnishings without the ‘vintage’ price tag. Habitat used to be a pricey destination, but since it came under the Argos umbrella, the price points have dropped. But the designs are still interesting.

And every now and again, it will produce a retro gem that’s great value for money. Enter these swivel chairs.

There’s something really cool about a swivel chair. Everyone gets in one and fancies themselves as a Bond villain. Especially if you happen to have a cat on your lap too. Some swivel chairs are really expensive. Way back in 2020, I did a top 10 Bond villain chairs round-up, mixing seats from Bond movies with alternatives that could have been used. All were on the pricey side. Less so these.

Habitat has three colour options. Or rather, two colours and one natural finish. There was a chair in black, but that has recently been replaced by a vibrant red. The natural one does have the option of a matching stool, though, as does the new red one.

An in-house design, this is a micro-cord swivel chair with chunky seating and wide arms, as well as that lovely chrome base for swinging and swivelling to your heart’s content.

£200 for a statement retro chair isn’t bad at all, with the stool just £60 extra. No one will know it’s not an original. Also, there’s 20 per cent off the original shades too.

Find out more at the Habitat website

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Nothing transforms a home like statement lighting. And this 1970s-style hanging lamp cluster at La Redoute is such a thing. Big discount in the sale too.

I do love La Redoute. Essentially a high-street retailer (despite being online), it has a habit of producing some amazing retro designs across its range – many of which are featured on these pages. You might recall I did a round-up of 1970s-style table lamps from this retailer a while back.

And that 1970s vibe seems strong at La Redoute right now. And I am here for it. Finding lighting inspired by this particular decade seems like a difficult and expensive task right now. So, having it pushed here at a reasonable price is a massive plus.

Going by the name of Merisa, this is the kind of fitting that would have graced some of the more stylish homes of 50 or so years ago. A statement then and still quite the statement now.

The fitting combines opaline glass and chrome-finish metal—a heady mix. The result is a collection of ‘soft, subdued light’ that’s all about atmosphere and getting your attention. Imagine this hovering over your staircase or anywhere with enough clearance to show it off to its best.

The cluster light is exclusive to La Redoute. It has five shades and fitted power cables covered in cotton fabric. The only ingredient missing is the bulbs—you’ll have to provide your own.

Originally £249.99, you can get this one at just £99.99 in the sale right now. Note that there’s a matching floor lamp too, but sadly, that’s not in the sale.

Find out more at the La Redoute website

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I was looking for a Monopoly board print, but I found these Custom Monopoly street name prints by My Inspired Life. Which might be better.

The reason I was looking for a Monopoly board point is that I spotted one on the wall of this modern house and fell in love with it. If you know where to find this exact one, please do let me know (although it might well be a one-off).

But from despair to joy, finding this rather lovely and affordable alternative for anyone with a love of the imagery of the iconic board game. And even better. You can tweak it for your home too. Or someone else’s home.

The independent maker does Monopoly space posters of the actual places on the board. So if you want a Water Works or a Liverpool Street (for example), do check those out. But I think the personalised prints are next level.

Good for two reasons. First off, wouldn’t it be great to have a Monopoly space for your very own house? Because you can do that. And just as good – wouldn’t it be great if you could buy one for someone else? Perhaps someone who has just moved home. It’s a great gift idea. And, as I said, reasonably affordable, too (depending on the size you go for).

You can tweak the street name and house number, as well as the colour at the top. Yes, all the classic colours (and more) are available here. Not just that, you can also opt for different sizes too, although the bigger you go, the higher the price. Which is probably stating the obvious. Sizes are A6 through to A1, so they should be easy enough to frame in a standard high street frame.

Want one? I know I do. The price varies between £6.99 and £52, depending on the one you want.

Find out more at the My Inspired Life Etsy website

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One is usually enough, but the 1970s Adidas Paris City Series trainers have returned in three eye-catching colours.

Even better, two are new colours, but the original colour combination is pretty much half price in the sale. So worth checking out if you fancy a bargain.

The original is the blue and red, which was reissued after a lengthy break a few weeks back as an exclusive with the Size? retailer. Most sizes, as I write, are still available too.

But if that’s a bit too bold for you, Adidas has helpfully added two versions in retro shades that are very stylish additions to the range. One in a maroon with white detailing, the other a green, which again contrasts with white. But the design is much the same. A classic of the 1970s.

I say that because the design is pretty much the 1970s Adidas Rekord, which itself was reissued back in 2020. But Adidas also reworked that design for this City Series shoe around the same time.

Almost identical to the Rekord bar the colours, this is a slim leather shoe with gold Paris branding to the side, Adidas branding on the heel and the suede toe that’s distinctive to this design (and its spinoffs). A slim sole to match up too.

A good-looking option and the kind of design Adidas did so well back in the day. The green or the maroon sells for £90. If you want the original blue and red version, that’s a more affordable £50.

Adidas Paris trainers in green

Adidas Paris trainers in maroon

Adidas Paris trainers in blue and red

Via Modculture

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Feeling nostalgic for Apple’s first-generation iPod? Perhaps the Innioasis Y1 MP3 player can fill the gap.

It’s worth pointing out immediately that this isn’t connected to Apple at all. And it’s also worth pointing out that music playback has changed over the years with the arrival of Spotify, Apple Music and more. But there’s something nostalgic about the iPod.

It was groundbreaking at the time. A stylish piece of technology that pretty much stored your entire music collection. When music was largely limited to CDs (and the vinyl revival was still in its infancy), this was the perfect way to have your tunes to hand. You just needed to put the work in transferring the tracks to a digital format. Think of it as the halfway house between physical and non-physical media.

But times moved on, and by and large, phones took over in terms of storing your tunes on the go. Unless you reverted back to buying music. That’s a big thing right now, with a revival for pretty much every format. You might recall I have featured a round-up of portable cassette players and portable CD players in the past. Vinyl is a given.

So it’s not surprising to see someone bringing back the iPod in light of other retro hardware successes.

The Innioasis Y1, available in various colours, has a colour screen at the top, along with the classic click wheel below to scroll through various menus. So far, so good. What it doesn’t have is huge storage, but it does offer a healthy 128GB in total, as well as USB-C for charging, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for adding in some wired headphones. It also promises Bluetooth connectivity as well. Playback is between 25 and 30 hours per charge.

Formats for playback are pretty much endless (see the retailer’s page for the full list), with video formats too, via that mini screen. You can also compile your own playlists via the software.

Fancy one? £59.99 gets you this throwback music machine.

Find out more at the Amazon website

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Dating back to 1963 and still a design that is always a talking point. The 1960s Mathmos Astro lava lamp.

Yes, it really does go back to 1963 and one of those designs that defines an era. You think the 1960s, and you think the lava lamp. Although I always think of my grandparents’ house, early adopters of this light, which was in constant use years after it first appeared on their sideboard. As a child, it amazed me each time I visited.

The one at the top of the page is based on the very first design, although you can get variations on the theme from Mathmos as well, including the Baby Astro, the rocket-shaped Telstar, the Fireflow and even a wall lava lamp. If you have a winning formula, you might as well make the most of it. Some of those are pictured below.

This Edward Craven Walker design is also available in a variety of colours and finishes, so if you don’t like that one at the top of the page, scroll down to find one you do like. Or check out some of the limited editions, including the black and copper finishes that are new to the range.

But at the end of the day, all are pretty much the same, with a base and cap hand-spun and polished by British craftsmen, a halogen bulb for light and that same bulb to heat up the ‘lava’ and move it off the base and up for that full-on swinging sixties vibe. Or just something to watch when there’s not much on TV.

If you fancy one in your home, you can get them from most places, but Amazon has a wide selection, selling the standard versions for £95 each.

Find out more at the Amazon website

Oh, and if you can’t find those limited editions, you can pick them up directly from Mathmos. They tend to sell pretty quickly and have, in the recent past, featured designs associated with the Rolling Stones and Duran Duran. You can see one of the new limited edition range at the bottom of the page – the Astro Vinyl lava lamp, based, as you might have guessed, on vinyl records. A bit pricier at £105.

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