Wickes

Oooh! This shop is manly!
My boyfriend said we should go to Wickes to buy paint/​dust covers/​sand paper/​sugar soap/​a step ladder /​paint brushes and the whole huge list of DIY-​ish tools we need to make our flat look respectable. He mentioned that his Dad used to take him to Wickes up in Nottingham… and that is was cheaper than B&Q/Homebase, but just as good quality (just not in such pretty packaging)
This store is HUGE, full of men looking serious with lists… and had everything we needed to get decorating. Perfect!
They lose a star because the teenaged staff were pretty useless (busy flirting with each other while long lines of customers waited to be served.) Having said that… yay for young love, the shop may have lost one star, but I’m still a fan.

So living in central London there really isn’t a great choice of DIY Superstores. This branch in Seven Sisters is reachable from Shoreditch. Since becoming part of the same group as Travis Perkins the prices have been creeping up but the stock levels and choice is good.
The downside about this store is you have to fight off lots of labourers etc in the car park desperate for work and trying to help you load your van for a tip. They can be very pushy. Wickes goes through spells of having security at the car park entrance to keep them out but they are losing the battle. Be warned!

If you’re doing up the house, you’ll be well advised to pop your head in here at some stage, because whatever it is you’re looking for will be available here a little cheaper than your average DIY store.
A sort of hybrid between trade and consumer store, Wickes has quite a dizzying selection of bits and bobs that all go towards putting a house together. You can get bannisters, skirting boards, every type of fence or paving slab under the sun and all the tools you could need to put them together. God only knows how, but I find it a good place to find materials I’ll later hand over to a Man Who Knows to get jobs done a littler cheaper.