What did you take back to the UK?

[to the op]

my sense of humor.

[sma]

The stuff we took back looks downright ugly, black and depressing out of place and did not work in our UK home so we flogged it all off on eeebay.  Someone mentioned 'cobbled' - that is exactly what it is. Just thrown together, mistakes are heavily packed out with low grade wood filler and nails everywhere made by the side of the road. On top of that it splits.  Go with well made european oak furniture looks fab against a real wood, amtico/polyflor or laminate.

[std]

herpes

[On the other hand]

visited a friend just recently who moved from Singapore back to the UK about 4 years ago. They now live in the Cotsworld in a sandstone cottage and have managed to blend their Asian teak furniture and pictures in really well with the house and the new stuff they bought. It looks absolutely amazing and surprise, surprise nothing has split or warped!They did buy good quality though1

[sma]

Avoid the shophouse stuff.  All of ours was shophouse from a little place near our condo.

In a cotswold cottage or older style of home it would look good probably.   

Our home is a newer type, big windows, timber floors, high ceilings etc.  With so much light in the house, the dark stuff looked pretty brutal and got heaved out pretty quick,