When it comes to refreshing a British home without blowing the monthly budget, a handful of online retailers keep popping up in money-saving Facebook groups and TikTok hauls. Online Home Shop — usually abbreviated to OHS — is one of the names that shows up the most. Bedding from £2, curtains from a fiver, fleece throws and weighted blankets at prices that make the high street look silly.
But is it actually any good? Cheap homeware is a minefield: thin fabrics, packaging damage, sizing that doesn’t match what you expected, or a returns policy that eats half the refund in postage. I’ve ordered from OHS half a dozen times over the last year — two duvet sets, a pair of blackout curtains, a teddy fleece throw, towels and a couple of cushion covers — and kept track of what arrived, how it fared after washing, and how the customer experience felt.
This is the honest version.
What Is Online Home Shop?
Online Home Shop is a UK-based homeware retailer headquartered in the North West. The catalogue runs wide rather than deep — bedding, curtains, cushions, throws, towels, rugs, weighted blankets, garden furniture, luggage, loungewear, pet accessories, even novelty character products (think Disney, Harry Potter, football licences). If it’s soft furnishings or household goods and it can be priced under £50, OHS probably stocks it.
The market positioning is clear: value over luxury. You’re not going to find 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton or a Loaf-style designer sofa. What you will find is polycotton duvet sets for £10, teddy fleece throws for £8, and blackout curtains that cost less than a Nando’s but actually block light properly.
The OHS site is the main direct-to-consumer channel, though you’ll occasionally see their products on Amazon and Wowcher at similar or higher prices. Buying through onlinehomeshop.com directly is almost always cheaper.
First Impressions: The Site Itself
The site is functional rather than pretty. Navigation is organised by room (Bedroom, Living Room, Bathroom, Kitchen, Kids, Outdoor) and by product type (Bedding, Curtains, Towels, etc.), which makes it easy to browse. Filters work — you can narrow by size, colour, price and sometimes fabric — and product pages include a decent number of real customer photos and reviews.
Two minor gripes:
- The homepage is busy. Every carousel has a red “SALE” banner, every product tile has a “WAS £XX / NOW £YY” comparison, which after a while makes it hard to tell what’s actually on a good deal versus permanently marked down.
- Fabric descriptions are inconsistent. Some duvet sets tell you “polycotton, 144 thread count”, others just say “soft-touch fabric”. You sometimes have to read 10 reviews to work out what you’re actually buying.
Checkout is standard. Guest checkout is allowed, Klarna and Clearpay are available for splitting payments on bigger orders (like a garden furniture set), and the final basket page is transparent about delivery charges.
What I Actually Bought and How It Held Up
Over the last year, my OHS orders broke down like this:
Order log
- Teddy fleece duvet set, king size — £18. Exactly what you’d expect: thick, cosy, warm for winter. Held up through 10+ washes, pilled slightly after six months but nowhere near worn out.
- Blackout eyelet curtains (66 x 72″) — £19.99. Properly blackout — I’d put them at 95% light blocking. Thermal lining has also made the bedroom noticeably warmer in winter.
- 6-piece towel bale — £22. The one miss. Felt fine out of the bag but rougher than expected after the first wash. Not terrible, but I wouldn’t re-buy at this price — I’d stretch another £15 for a better set.
- Polycotton duvet set, double — £12. The bargain of the lot. Survived 15+ washes, colour barely faded, ironing is minimal. I bought a second set in a different colour three months later.
- Chunky knit throw — £15. Genuinely looks like something you’d pay £40 for at Dunelm. Heavy, warm, photogenic.
- Pair of scatter cushions (covers only) — £9 for two. Fabric is thinner than I’d like, but at £4.50 each they’re basically disposable when the baby wipes chocolate on them.
The pattern is what you’d expect at this price point: bedding and soft furnishings punch well above their weight, towels are the weak spot. I’d happily buy more of the duvet sets, throws and curtains. I won’t be re-ordering towels from there.
Pricing: Are the Discounts Real?
This is the question people always ask. OHS runs near-constant “sale” pricing, so the “was £X / now £Y” tags feel theatrical. To sanity-check, I did two things:
- Checked the Wayback Machine for three products over a 6-month period. Two had genuinely been sold at the “was” price at some point in the last year. One had been at the “sale” price the entire time I could track.
- Compared like-for-like items against Dunelm, B&M, The Range, and Amazon basics.
Outcome:
What I liked
- Duvet sets are consistently cheaper than Dunelm equivalents
- Blackout curtains beat Amazon on both price and quality
- Klarna split-pay available at checkout
- Free delivery threshold is achievable (£55 at time of writing)
- Good range of sizes — especially super-king bedding
What could be better
- “Was / now” pricing feels permanent — harder to judge real deals
- Towels are notably thinner than the price suggests
- Fabric descriptions are inconsistent
- Returns aren’t free — you pay postage unless item is faulty
- Delivery can be slow at peak (Jan sale, Black Friday)
Overall, the discounts are largely theatrical but the absolute prices are genuinely low. You’re not saving 60% versus some imaginary £30 benchmark — you’re paying £12 for a product that would cost £18–25 at Dunelm. That’s still worth it.
Delivery, Returns and Customer Service
Standard delivery is around £3.95 for smaller orders, free over the threshold. Big items (furniture, weighted blankets) have their own shipping cost. Delivery speed is 2–5 working days in my experience, which is fine for homeware.
Returns are where you need to be careful. You have 30 days, but unless the item is faulty, you pay return postage. On a £12 duvet set, that’s potentially £4 out of your refund, so only return things that are genuinely wrong for you. Opened bedding is returnable as long as it’s unwashed and in the original packaging.
Customer service is email-based with a 24–48 hour response time. I had one duvet set arrive with a tear in the packaging that had snagged the fabric — they replaced it without asking me to send the original back, which was better than I expected.
Who Is OHS Best For?
Clear recommendation for:
- First-time home movers — you can kit out a full bedroom (bedding, curtains, throw, cushions) for around £50–60.
- Rental and Airbnb hosts — the “good enough, won’t cry if it’s ruined” price point is perfect.
- Parents of young kids — cheap duvet sets and throws that can be replaced without pain.
- Seasonal refresh shoppers — swapping light bedding for teddy fleece every winter without spending £60 each time.
Less ideal if you want hotel-grade bedding, minimalist Scandinavian aesthetics, or towels that feel like the ones at a spa. For any of those, look at The White Company, Soak & Sleep, or John Lewis.
Ready to have a browse?
Start in the “Mega Value Deals” section if you want the biggest cuts, or head straight to bedding — it’s their strongest category.
Klarna and Clearpay accepted • 30-day returns
Verdict
After a year of ordering, I’d describe Online Home Shop as a dependable budget homeware retailer that’s best at bedding, throws and curtains. The sale pricing is theatrical but the underlying prices are genuinely cheap, and the quality for the money is usually better than Amazon basics and in the same ballpark as Dunelm’s own-brand lines.
Treat the towels with caution, use Klarna for bigger orders to test before committing, and don’t buy anything you’re not 100% sure of the size on (returns aren’t free). With those caveats, it’s earned a permanent place in my homeware bookmarks.
FAQ
Is Online Home Shop a legitimate UK retailer?
Yes. It’s a registered UK company with a warehouse in the North West, accepts all standard UK payment methods, and operates under UK consumer law (14-day cooling-off period applies).
How does OHS compare to Dunelm?
Broadly cheaper on bedding and throws, roughly equivalent on curtains. Dunelm wins on the in-store experience and on higher-end ranges; OHS wins on pure price-to-quality on entry-level products.
Do they deliver to Ireland/Northern Ireland?
Yes, to Northern Ireland as standard. Republic of Ireland shipping is available at an additional charge — check the delivery page at checkout.
What’s the best thing to buy first?
Either a polycotton duvet set (safe bet) or a teddy fleece throw (highest satisfaction for lowest outlay). Both are ideal test orders to judge the brand.