the final countdown

Well. the time is nearly upon us.


Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have all existing stock of pine and oak furniture cleared out completely, along with the few remaining rugs, light fittings and pictures.


Many customers have snapped up bargains over the last two weeks as we have been reducing prices, but there is still a little way to go yet to get the shop completely empty.


This means further reductions across the shop on all pine and oak furniture.


Yes, it is cliched, but everything really must go!


With our Pine and Oak department closed down and emptied out we shall prepare for a relaunch at the end of this month, with new stock, new displays and some very exciting offers and announcements due very soon.


So take a look at what we have left before it is all gone, and be sure to check back for more news on our new direction very soon.

- Glen

James Allen Bedrooms join the 21st century

In recent years we have seen a change in our displays and a change of name.

Formerly, House of Pine and quite clearly specialising in pine furniture, modern tastes has seen us expand our specialty market to include displays of solid oak furniture and contemporary fitted bedrooms.

And thus, we became James Allen Bedrooms, so as not to confuse those that thought we strictly stocked pine (although we don't strictly sell just bedrooms either, but that's another story).

Following these new directions, we have now finally taken a step into the modern world of interactive social media.

Our blog and website will still provide a main hub of information on the ranges we run and images of our bedroom collections, but apparently we need to be EVERYWHERE to survive in the 21st century.

So, you can now 'like' us on facebook
(where we are currently feeling rather unliked)


you can follow us on twitter
(where we promise not to spam you, but instead provide short messages and news of special offers)



you can 'check in' with us using foursquare
(where we will... i'm not really sure to be honest)



and you can watch us on youtube
(where we will introduce ourselves, our shop and our offers)





our first video is up already, presented by my good self so that you can now put a face to the name, giving you a quick run through on our range of pine blanket boxes and ottomans that are currently at a special price





but, rest assured, for those that are perhaps a little more old-fashioned and would rather be dealing face-to-face than with interfaces, we are still open 7 days a week, with both our Enfield Town and Crews Hill branch manned by friendly and helpful staff (that haven't found the time to tweet too often yet)

the morning after the night before

part one here

Thankfully, our second day in Germany didn't start with too many sore heads.

Although it did start rather sooner than I actually expected, having set the alarm the previous night I gave full consideration to the country's time difference, but awaking from slumber it had slipped my mind completely, and satisfied that I still had plenty of time, turned off the alarm and set it for an hours time.

Of course I didn't get another hours sleep, as shortly after I was woken by a phonecall to let me know that our taxi would be departing from downstairs in ten minutes.

A quick dive in the shower, teeth brushed, smart attire back on and then my previously organised packing went straight out the window as I bundled my possessions back into my holdall in a rather ragtag fashion.

In good time I was back downstairs again and back en route for a factory tour of the huge operation, seeing the furniture develop from it's initial boards, through the process that adds the finishes we order and the machines that sort and weigh bags of screws and fixings, right up to the point that customer orders are loaded up on the back of the lorries that come out to us retailers.

Having had first hand experience of placing bedroom orders and also unloading them as they come off at our Crews Hill warehouse, it was fascinating to witness so much of the furniture's journey that I had never seen before.

The rest of the afternoon before our flight back was spent finalising the details of a new display that should be on show in our Crews Hill branch by July, a beautiful new range that has only just been introduced and we are very proud to be one of the very first places in the UK to see it.

- Glen

one night in Milternberg

Well that certainly wasn't an average working week.

Instead of the normal 9 to 5, Wednesday morning started at 5am, waking up, getting washed and dashing out and very nearly missing the 7.25am flight to Frankfurt from Heathrow.

All of this was in aid of a business trip to visit the factory and main showroom of our fitted bedroom supplier.

Surviving on just a few hours sleep, a mini sandwich mid-flight and a rather rubbery wurst from the German canteen, we dived straight into the lengthy business of perusing the new prototype bedrooms in order to gage what designs and what colours appeal and what bedrooms will actually make it through to the production stages.

Once business was done with we returned to our hotel in the sleepy little town of Milterberg and decided to take a wander and enjoy the area we were staying in, despite almost everything being shut past 6pm, it was still a beautiful place to stroll around and take in as the sun continued to beat down in a way it was most likely not doing back in England.

The night wore on far too quickly as we sampled plenty of Milernberg's very own beer, Faust and dined on ostrich and a traditional local recipe for beef, before moving onto sinking a few spirits as members of the party gradually dropped out of draining hospitality's expense account.

part two here

- Glen

back to work

Many of our customers shall now be settling back into their jobs after all the excitement of the Easter bank holidays, but other than allowing staff to be with their families on Easter Sunday, and to watch the Royal Wedding last week, we have still been here working hard.

Our Easter Sale saw a number of ex-display models reduced and cleared from our shop floors, and it has taken us no time at all to fill the gaps with our latest range of beds that we have been rolling out across both of our stores.

On display in the window of our Enfield Town branch is a brand new pine bunk bed that we are introducing since we so often get asked for them, and although we have them available from suppliers, we do feel that many people would like to see them for theirselves before buying.

Joining the bunk bed is a beautifully modern chrome bed that sits wonderfully alongside our contemporary fitted bedrooms and is has already sparked interest amongst those that couldn't fail to notice it while browsing.

And for us now, we have a few choices of new bedrooms displays to order in that shall be fitted in our showroom by summer, we have a London based furniture exhibition to attend, as well as a trip to Germany in order to visit our supplier's huge factory, view their latest lines and hear their plans for the future.

- Glen

I assure you that we're open

Blanking out two large windows for a week as we prepared our brand new display away from prying eyes seems to have had a rather adverse effect.

Despite large signs in each window declaring that a new range would be in the window soon, some people seemed to have got the wrong impression and simply assumed that we were closing down.

Some people muttered to their other halves as they strolled past that 'another business had gone under', whilst other, more concerned, citizens have come into the shop or even rung us to ask if we would be shutting down.

So today, the windows were wiped clean, unveiling our Enfield Town branch's new display of Altro furniture that has already proved successful when installed at our Crews Hill branch.

And joining the stunning, modern looking range of wardrobes is a rather classy looking bed from a new line that we have just started running, other beds available include metal framed bedsteads, leather bedsteads and also children's cabin and bunk beds.

All of these we shall be rolling out across both branches once we have cleared a few more ex-demo beds, so there is also bargains to be had, and available for immediate collection.

In summary then, no, we're not closing down, yes, we're staying exactly where we are, and now have even more new ranges than ever before.

- Glen

mirrors, mirrors, on the wall

What people don't often see when they are just casually strolling through Enfield Town is quite how often the inside of the shop is changing.

It is changing almost constantly.

It could be changing to make way for new stock or new displays, it may be changing if we have just sold off ex-demo pieces, and sometimes we just end up changing it around because either we're unconvinced or just plain bored of seeing it the way it is.

Just last week, we transformed our range of mirrors that we have been showing since November and created a new dedicated gallery section that shows of the pieces that we have in stock beautifully.

Where once we had a handful of mirrors above beds and the rest were stacked for browsing, we now have almost our entire stock hung on custom built walls that are well worth a look at.


And talking of change-arounds, today we shall be blocking out one of our most prominent windows as work gets underway to deconstruct our Roma overbed that has been the shop's main focal point for a handful of years, and a brand new window display should hopefully be installed by the end of the weekend.

So keep your eyes out for any other changes we may have going on, and keep checking back for more updates.

- Glen

dark evenings

Now that the clocks have gone back and we are now plunged into darkness before the end of the working day, we have been busy trying to rearrange and brighten the shop up in order to reflect the seasonal shift.

As mentioned last time, the 'Order Now for Christmas' signs have been dusted off and hung up in our windows, and a couple of dining ranges are proudly displayed at the front of the shop, alongside the continually popular Corona bedroom range.

We have also had two other new additions to our ranges joining us recently, at our Crews Hill showroom we have installed a display of the modern and stylish Altro-B furniture, and just last week our Enfield Town branch gained a new range in the form of Dimension 3 Elegant.

And the Bean Bag areas in both of our branches have also had a little bit of a make-over to make them feel more cosy now that the winter chill is starting to set in.

- Glen