Labour and Wait is a de-clutterer’s dream, founded on strong Slow Life principles. It’s an all-purpose shop selling everything you need for stylish and comfortable living, with absolutely no gimmicks or fuss. Instead of pushing the latest ‘must have’ household gadgets and fashion-led accessories, the store’s owners specialise in functional, timeless products, many of which will last a lifetime.

Browsing the catalogue, you’ll find all you need for everyday living, stripped down to the barest essentials. But the products themselves are far from boring, having been carefully selected for their individual beauty and utility. Many items are design classics: familiar, useful objects that have stood the test of time.

Take any item from the range – a milk pan or even a toilet brush – and think about how many times you’ve bought and replaced similar items in your lifetime. It’s certainly a sobering prospect to consider how much waste we create by relying on short-term fixes to lifelong problems – all of which can be adequately handled by the simple and stylish products you’ll find here! Prices are surprisingly reasonable, considering the quality and durability of the products: a large enamel roasting dish, for example, is priced at just £30, while a set of re-usable dishcloths is £7.50.

It’s never too late to re-think your approach to consumerism, and Labour and Wait is a great place to start stocking up on the tools you’ll need to ease the transition into a simpler and more honest way of life.

Visit Labour and Wait at 18 Cheshire Street, London, or their online store at labourandwait.co.uk

With not a multinational in sight, Unchained is an online guide to the best independent shops in London and New York (with more cities on the way). More importantly, the good folks who run it – Dave, Lea and Pedro – aim to help level the playing field between indie shops and the big chain stores they have to compete with.

There’s also the Unchained Heroes, an eclectic mix of high profile urbanites from political journo Polly Toynbee to ubiquitous yet fashionable Alexa Chung providing their favourite picks from the unique bunch of independent shops and services. (My personal pick is Bloomsbury shop Something, pictured.) It’s very handy, especially the function to create your own ‘shopping trip’, which lists all of your selected shops to visit on one map.

To some, slow shopping sounds like torture. They want their shopping like they want their plaster removed: quickly and painlessly. But there is a real pleasure to be had in buying something you need (or even just really, really want) by meandering to somewhere “owned by a real person with a passion for what they sell.”

And the list isn’t just kooky boutiques (although there’s plenty of those). The whole gamut is covered from world famous shops to essential services. And if you have a suggestion or happen to be an independent shop owner yourself, Unchained sweetly suggest you get in touch with them either via email or a for a cup of tea.

Now how many multinational chain owners will say that?