All-time favorite discount home stores

My favorite home furnishing stores are The One and Zara Home, but sometimes I don't like their prices. So in an effort to create the look-for-less, I strike out to these discount shops. Sometimes it takes some digging and creativity, but other times the gems just pop right out!

Al Rawnaq - has branches on both C-Ring (essentially across the street from Al Ahli hospital - behind the KFC, you have to take an escalator downstairs to access the main store) or on Airport Road. I find the Airport Road store has more office supplies and crafty materials, while the C-Ring shop has more dishes and glassware. My favorite buys include: sparkly mosaic glass candle holder (28 QR), small silk bags that I use to wrap gifts in (.5 to 2 QR each), cut glass salad bowl (can't remember how much I paid, but it was cheap and beautiful). In addition to nice things, Rawnaq is a veritable treasure trove of the unusual. I have a bathroom door sign from there that says "Lanies" and one that says "Mans" - always garners a laugh or two.

The Daiso - Japan's Premier Discount Store - located in Hyatt Plaza above Homes R Us. Everything (well almost everything) is on sale for 7QR. What a steal! My favorite buys have included: small teapots with delicate bamboo painted on the side, greeting cards and post-it notes with hilarious misspellings, and small ceramic plant pots with lovely blue and green glazes that I use to hold pens on my desk and silverware in my kitchen.

Najma souq - not for the faint of heart. The Najma souq is a mixture of used junk, new fairly cheaply made furniture, and veritable treasures. The easiest way to get there is to go on C-Ring road towards the airport - turn left at the traffic lights by the Gulf Cinema. Go straight through the small R/A, and then turn right at the small traffic lights, take the first left, and then the first right. You will be smack dab in the middle of the Najma souq - to the right will be all the shops selling used and new furniture and to the left will be the carpenters and metal workers (who can make lovely things as well). My favorite three shops are right in a row at the end of the first street. They sell old TVs and washing machines, dinged up pictures, and broken telephones... But they have also sold me: an Iranian silk rug with the "door design" that is in exceptional shape for 500 QR, an Indian wood dresser with inlaid mother-of-pearl for 250 QR, and an antique Qatari brass coffee pot for 40 QR. Friends I've taken there have gotten a dining room table and chairs, a 6 ft. long mirror, and a walnut cabinet. The other nice thing about Najma is that you can sell them your household goods if you are moving or want to redecorate, a good way to get rid of the leftover bits after a moving or rummage sale. Bargain hard as they try to get it off you for cheap!