The internet is my go-to for inspiration to action – searching and shopping smart to find my Everything pieces

Strategist and content creator Francesca Swan is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on the concept of 'Everything' and what makes a home special to you. See the rest of her articles here.

Welcome back to Part Four in our Fantastic Things That Are Everything and Where to Find Them series.

This started as a quick hit list of my top sourcing tips. But once I started digging, I realised there was A LOT more to it than meets the eye.

To recap, or if you are just joining us (and you can find all these articles here):

Part One = Why shopping should be an Everything experience - enjoyable, not excruciating. Part Two = The Primer - prepping the essentials to shop effectively with focus.

Part Three = Making the internet work for you as a source of informed inspiration and curated content.

Now, Part Four = The Internet, from inspiration to action — searching and shopping smart to find Everything pieces, from discounts to conquering resale sites.

Herein lies infinite potential for the deep, meaningful connections of joy and creative fusion with our homes and possessions – our holy grail that is Everything.

The internet is clearly our easiest starting point for sourcing. Billions of products at our fingertips - convenience, prices for every budget and speedy delivery.

A gamechanger when time and money are often in short supply. And you can shop in your pants with a facemask on, whilst your false tan dries. Multi-tasking at its finest.

But it can harm us as much as help us. With endless options and gorgeously styled clickbait, we can lose hours and still not find what we want. Or worse - find ten different versions we can’t choose between.

It can be overwhelming out there, sometimes scary, and often pressurised.

Yet, I do think internet shopping can feel calm, safe, even joyful - but only if we step back and look at it clearly. With the right mindset and tools, you can shop securely, creatively, and mindfully.

As always, a caveat; this is not an exhaustive guide. I’m not Martin Lewis.

But I will share my experiences - gleaned from years working in retail and managing my ADHD and anxiety, which loves to soothe itself with hours of mindless scrolling and shopping.

What’s Your Poison?

The pressures and pitfalls of online shopping come in many forms: not finding what you want or finding too much. Time and budget constraints. The drive to secure the “right thing at the right price.”

Then the risks: fakes, poor-quality products shipped cheaply but at huge environmental cost. Retailers vanish, guarantees and refunds disappear. Add scams, unsafe resale sites and non-delivery. It’s clear we need to be on our guard.

This isn’t about fear - it’s about awareness and preparation. Most online retailers are

established, verified and responsible. We just need to spot the ones that aren’t.

The other tricky aspect? Online shopping is designed to fuel compulsion. It’s dopamine driven, always there, and after a bad day can be a quick feel-good fix. If that’s manageable for you, great. But if not, maybe it’s something to think about.

If we are shopping for a specific item on deadline, then often the option in front of us is the easiest. Other times, we are so determined to get that bargain, we literally get locked in - especially with countdown clocks and the carefully designed psychology of sale marketing.

I’m not a psychologist, but I know my own patterns. In the past, shopping was an outlet for my anxiety or depression. Now, awareness, budget, and a lot of hard work mean I know how to step back.

For me, wine, a credit card and the internet? Just say no. One day, I’ll invent alcohol breathalysers for devices as the ultimate blocker against drunken shopping.

I’ve set my own guardrails: lock-out apps, screen-time limits, and no endless tabs from three years ago (chaos for your brain and your computer). These have helped shift my behaviour, filter out the worst and keep the best.

Smart guardrails keep us mindful, safe and sane. And save us from explaining questionable late-night purchases when they land on our doorstep.

View this not as a handbook, but the next step in our exploration of Everything. Reframing habits, spotting new angles, and sharp wins.

Because when you really win at the internet, it’s SO MUCH FUN. And that is most definitely Everything.

Enter, The Stalk & Score Play (eBay, Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, Vinterior).

Everything also comes from the deep satisfaction of waiting for the right thing, not just buying at the first click.

This is my favourite way to shop intentionally and creatively. The slow build, not instant gratification. Pure joy when the piece I’ve dreamt about finally appears.

For me, this means online marketplaces. Yet for every slightly smug success story, there is another equally horrific, head-in-hands story.

We’ve all heard them (and likely experienced them) and all offer important lessons. Here are a few of mine:

Slow Searching - Design Icons and Luxury Must Haves

We all have a wish list of design classics, and they do frequently pop up on marketplaces, especially eBay. So set alerts, bookmark searches. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Stick with it and you’ll score brilliant pieces at brilliant prices.

I wanted Charles Eames chairs for our office but just couldn’t afford full price. I stalked them until I found them in great condition at an amazing price.

Another score? My Tom Dixon lamp. £150, after a year of waiting. Perfect condition and forever mine. Design classic, bargain price. Even though the seller did leave it outside in the rain for collection. *Eye roll*.

Deep, Broad Searching for the Perfect Thing You Just Can’t Find

The new living room light was a tricky brief. Huge room, high ceilings and a big, beautiful ornate ceiling rose. It needed something spectacular and sizeable.

I started with the luxury brands I love, added images, then went broader. Be prepared to go DEEP!

Eventually, I found the Arteriors chandelier on eBay. RRP £3.5k. I paid £250. Brand new. Incredible. One of my proudest moments.

Etsy for Bespoke Makers

Can’t find what you want? Consider getting it made. Etsy is a treasure trove of incredible makers.

My office desk was impossible to source at the right size and price. The solution came in the unexpected form of a brilliant maker on Etsy, who made me a huge bespoke oak desk with a live edge.

It was cost-effective, beautiful, unique - a true Everything piece I will treasure forever.

Proof bespoke doesn’t always have to mean more expensive - and infinitely better than another flat-pack compromise, where the instructions inevitably make zero sense and end in full-on failure and/or divorce.

Marketplace For Basics

The wins can be huge, but only if the numbers – and the logistics – make sense. A few tips:

• Use specific search terms (and common misspellings).
• Filter carefully (local radius, seller rating, photos, measurements).
• Run the maths first (hidden fees and import costs, petrol, van hire, time).
• Check quality, condition and authenticity. Find an original online listing and zoom small details, like logo placement and design.
• Don’t dismiss imperfect treasures. My vintage Jasper Morrison for Vitra marble coffee table was cracked but easily fixed. £85 vs £1k RRP. Just make sure the flaw doesn’t compromise function or can be repaired.
• Check seller ratings and returns policy.
• Buy safely: keep transactions on-platform, do profile checks, public meetups, no bank transfers to strangers.
• Negotiate politely and respectfully. Fairness, honesty and kindness, and a dash of community spirit go a long way.

How to Make the Internet Work Harder for You

Last time, I explored AI for inspiration. Now, shopping smarter with AI, Google and old fashioned patience and detective work.

I know AI isn’t for everyone. It’s a very fast-moving and complex area - both ethically and from a sustainability perspective (it’s very energy-intensive.) There is no one-size-fits-all approach; it all depends on how we like to engage with technology.

My ADHD means I sometimes lose focus, get easily distracted and lost in internet holes. Knowing this, I try to keep up to date with AI developments and test and learn new things. I use it to collaborate and support, not lead. For me, it’s been a productivity, efficiency and focus gamechanger.

AI can be a highly effective personal shopper and cut out a lot of grunt work with product searches, but ONLY with a very clear brief.

Clear prompts need to describe the item in detail, add references, set constraints, explain what you do and don’t want.

It’s especially useful for things Google or Pinterest can’t find - the right AI prompt can surface options otherwise missed. You can also use it to refine search terms before heading back to Google.

But it comes with a big health warning: there’s nothing quite as convincing – or as misleading - as an overly confident AI let loose. People-pleasing, grand gestures, sweeping statements – check what’s in that cocktail before you drink it, or you’ll lose hours of your life with nothing to show but a big credit card bill and an overwhelming sense of regret.

Cross-referencing and sense-checks are non-negotiables to filter out inaccuracies, baked-in bias, gaps and lack of transparency.

Ultimately, AI is a tool, not a solution. If you put the work into understanding it, used well it can open a lot for you. Used badly, it can lead you down a rabbit hole of errors, wasted time and money.

Quick-Fire Smart Online Shopping Playbook

You likely know these already, but it never hurts to be reminded, especially as we approach the seasonal madness and stress of Christmas shopping.

Smart Search

• Ask Google Help how to use its tools effectively for search (image and text), bookmarking, alerts and price tracking.
• Use AI and Google to get objective top tips on how best to use each other. AI can distil pages of help into simple tips, tailored to your requirements. Google can find validated references and expertise on using AI well.

Timing Big Buys

• If you can wait to purchase, there is big money to be saved with seasonal discounts.
• Not Black Friday - it’s mostly hype. Which? found in 2024 that 9 in 10 Black Friday deals were no cheaper than at other times. So, if you don’t need that third air-fryer, maybe step away from your device?
• Bank Holidays and special events are smarter bets. Retailers tend to annualise offers, so watch for patterns through emails, socials and search.
• This tactic saved me 30% on flooring by waiting two months to buy on Bank Holiday promotion. A very welcome and much needed saving.

ALWAYS cross-reference prices

• Found your perfect item? Do your price checks. Paste the item in search to check stockists and prices, especially for appliances, branded and big-ticket items.
• Check resale marketplaces. I found the exact Feather and Black bed I wanted, brand new on eBay for a third of the RRP. It did mean a ten hour round trip to pick it up, so you could query the economic and psychological efficiency. But for me, the saving was worth it.

Voucher codes

• Always worth a quick search. Most are duds, but you might get lucky. And nothing feels quite as good as seeing “code applied” knock £50 off your basket.

Trustpilot

• The final step before checkout. If if a price seems too good to be true, it often is. Trustpilot has saved me from major catastrophes, especially with newer retailers.

Last but not Least…Find your Experts!

• I’m not an expert and you already know the basics. In truth, whilst I have my tricks, I’m also a bit hopeless when it comes to things like cashback.

These are just a few of my wins, which might help you find your Everything piece at a brilliant price without getting stung by dodgy retailers.

There’s so much more information out there on how to shop smartly. If you’re so inclined, do some quick research and explore more for yourself.

Because really, the goal is to win at the internet and relish that delicious moment of smug satisfaction we all aspire to.

“Oh, this old thing? eBay. £20.” Nothing better!