today’s city guide is all about one of my favorite cities in the world: london! i studied abroad in london during college and will never forget the rainy (but beautiful) days, wonderful art galleries, and weekends spend hiking in the lake district. today’s guide was created by lynne of tea for joy and focuses mainly on great places to shop. like any huge city, it’s hard to catch every shop and favorite spot, so if you have a favorite that’s missing- please feel free to add them in the comment section below. thanks to lynne for her hard work on the guide!
CLICK HERE for the full london guide after the jump!
London is a huge sprawling city, full of villages with their own shopping streets. This is a roundup of shops in the areas I know best; mainly in locations where I would suggest shopping could be a treat rather than a chore, with good eateries nearby and a vibrant atmosphere. In the main areas I have highlighted below, there are lots of delis and cafes selling healthy and fresh food – there is a good roundup of them here.
If I was in London as a tourist, on a short design pilgrimage, I would go to Liberty, and spend a Sunday perusing the markets of East London, with a stash of headache tablets at hand, due to potential inspiration overload. Other particular favourites of mine are Mint, Unto this Last and the shop at the Royal Festival Hall.
Liberty – A department store; nonetheless this should be a must-see on the interior design trail; an ever-inspiring mix of vintage and modern furniture and with a particularly strong lighting department and a fabulous tea shop. It also has the most beautiful haberdashery (I recently said goodbye to c. £25 in exchange for 6 sparkly buttons) and Liberty’s iconic own-print fabrics. Around the corner is Lifestyle Bazaar, worth a quick peak for its ranges by young designers.
East London:
Columbia Road Flower Market: open-air Sunday market, from early until 2-3pm. Most of the shops are only open on Sunday and keep similar opening hours. A tip? Go to the market at near-closing time to buy flowers at knock-down prices. While in the area, walk to Spitalfields Market or the Sunday Up Market on Brick Lane (which has more unique and funky items than Spitalfields) and examine the surrounding streets. You will have guaranteed market fatigue by the end of the day – stop at traditional grocers A. Gold for a sugar mouse sugar rush, or at super-stylish Leon for a healthy fast-food option. Or, if the prospect of all-day shopping doesn’t quite appeal, spend part of your day at the nearby Geffrye furniture museum.
Ryantown – 126 Columbia Road, E2 7RG
Quirky papercuts, tiles and cards from Irish talent Rob Ryan.
Two Columbia Road – 2 Columbia Road, E2 7NN
Collectable vintage furniture and art, from designers including Charles Eames and Hans Wegner.
Vintage Heaven, 82 Columbia Road, E2 7QB
A well-chosen selection of vintage crockery and more, with a charming tea shop decorated with a gallery wall of tapestried flowers pictures.
Supernice – 106 Columbia Road, E2 7RG A huge range of wall stickers and decals, also available online.
Treacle, 160 Columbia Road, E2 7RG
Primarily a cupcake bakery, this shop also offers a great selection of new and vintage ceramics.
Nearby:
Squint – 178 Shoreditch High St, E1 6HU
Bold and beautiful patchwork furniture and accessories.
Unto this last, 230 Brick Lane, E2 7EB
Simple and affordable furniture made from laminate birch plywood.
Labour and Wait, 18 Cheshire St, E2 6EH
Functional homewares with an old-school edge; enamel saucepans, feather dusters and wooden brushes – no plastic here.
Caravan, 3 Redchurch St, E2 7DJ
Caravan is the ultimate girlie haven, selling items such as metal flowers, beautiful paper goods, and old suitcases. The owner, stylist and author Emily Chalmers has guest-blogged on Design Sponge. Want more? See some photos of her inspiring home here.
Timorous Beasties, 46 Amwell Street, EC1R 1XS
Featured here, this is a London showroom of the Glasgow-based designers, selling inspired wallpapers, with the sure-hit thistle design making the shortlist for my hallway.
Other shops nearby:
SCP, 135-139 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BX
One Deko, 103 Commercial Street, E1 6BG
Planet Bazaar, 397 St John Street, EC1V 4LD
Mar Mar Co, 16 Cheshire St, E2 6EH
Central London:
Marylebone High Street & vicinity: a very central location, not far from Oxford Street and Selfridges (which actually has a fantastic interiors section, with lots of concessions including Skandium and Design House Stockholm), this is the best street for browsing and eating if you are a major foodie; La Fromagerie is one of many amazing food finds. On Saturday mornings there is also a ‘Cabbages and Frocks market’ opposite The Conran Shop.
Skandium – 86 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4QS
High-end Scandinavian furniture and accessories, with prices to match, this shop stocks my favourite lust-have; the Cecilia Stoop for Hoganas teapot.
Mint – 70 Wigmore St, W1U 2SF
For most casual shoppers, this shop will be more of an exhibition space than a shop where you will want to (or afford to) buy anything – but this is my favourite shop for total inspiration and items to classify as a ‘maybe someday’ possibility.
Divertimenti – 33/34 Marylebone High St, W1U 4PT
Everything you need to kit out your kitchen, this shop has a great cafe for a healthy lunch break.
Brissi, 22 Marylebone High St, W1U 4PF (plus three other locations, also at the Kings Road, below.)
Purveyors of everything ‘greige,’ the colour palette of this shop will attract lovers of anything neutral and natural – it full of French-inspired delights such as linen napkins, zinc baths and antique mirrors.
Kings Road and nearby:
One of London’s best shopping streets, if your love of clothes and homewares are not mutually exclusive, this street has all the usual suspects such as Heals and Habitat, but also a good range of independent shops.
Sigmar, 263 Kings Road, SW3 5EL
One of my favourite shops, only because it often stocks my favourite Finn Juhl Poeten sofa (original and reproduction.) This shop is owned by two Swedes and reflects a Scandinavian and European Mid-Century Modern aesthetic.
Graham and Green, 340 Kings Rd London, SW3 5UR (and other locations.)
A mix of sleek modern (such as their Kartell range) and more decorative pieces, such as Indian white metal embossed furniture, this shop (and successful online operation) has an especially great range of lamps.
VV Rouleaux, 54 Sloane Square, Cliveden Place, SW1W 8AX
A truly amazing range of fabric trimmings and tie-backs, make sure you have plenty of cash in your pocket before you go here. (A more affordable option for pure haberdashery is MacCulloch & Wallis, off Oxford Street; used by and staffed by students from the London College of Fashion.)
After Noah, 261 Kings Rd, SW3 5EL
A well-sourced stock of vintage furniture, they also sell quirky gifts and smaller items such as reconditioned telephones. (also in Islington, see below.)
Few and Far, 242 Brompton Road, Sw3 2BB A selection of modern and vintage stock, selected by owner Priscilla Carluccio, sister of design heavyweight Sir Terence Conran.
Islington, North London:
A strong suggestion; plan your shopping around a mealtime, any one will do – and make a trip to Ottolenghi.
Atelier Abigail Ahern, 137 Upper Street, N1 1QP
“One of the most definitive, hottest places to shop in the UK” said Elle Decoration UK. Do I need to say more? Sumptious textiles, Italian glass pendants and hand-crafted ceramics sourced by stylist Ahern, whose home was featured as a sneak peek here.
TwentyTwentyOne, 274 Upper Street, London N1 2UA
A good destination for right up-to-date furniture and accessories, this shop is also a dealer for Le Corbusier.
Other shops nearby:
Fandango Interiors, 2 Cross St, N1 6BL
Aria, Barnsbury St, N1 1PN
Chest of Drawers, 281 Upper St, N1 2TZ
West London:
If visiting Portobello Road Market on a Saturday, muster up the energy for an early-morning start or you may regret it. Most of the shops are open during the week, and avoiding the heaving weekend crowds may be a well-advised move. It’s worth stopping for a cupcake at the Hummingbird Bakery.
Pedlars 128 Talbot Rd, W11 1JA
Their most appealing stock is their vintage range, including old Routemaster (London double-decker bus) blinds and French maps. Items are sourced worldwide, but there is a definite British vibe even with their more modern ranges, with Union Jack cushions, Newgate clocks and the ubiquitous ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’ prints.
Other shops nearby:
Hand, 11 Colville Mews, W11 2DA
Celia Birtwell, 71 Westbourne Park Road, W2 5QH
Couverture, 188 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2ES. Featured on Design Sponge here.
Museum Shops:
Some of London’s museums actually have superb design-focussed shops, selling original and one-off items. Not to be missed are the following:
Festival Terrace shop at the Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
V&A Shop, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL
Design Museum shop, 28 Shad Thames, SE1 2YD
Other shops worth a mention:
Central:
Joseph Joseph, Unit 1.21, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, SE1 9PH – colourful kitchenwares.
Aram, 110 Drury Lane, WC2B 5SG – stocks high-end designers, including Knoll, Vitra and Ron Arad.
The Cloth House, 47 Berwick St, W1F 8SJ – high quality fabrics, including a large range of felts and jersey fabric.
South West London:
Lisa Stickley, 74 Landor Rd, SW9 9PH
Floral retro meets modern at this stylish shop featuring homewares made with prints from textile designer Lisa – laundry bags, ironing board covers, cake stands and a desirable range of weather-proof bags.
Places and Spaces, 30 Old Town, SW4 0LB
I have been eyeing up this swallows wallpaper for years, shown in the sneak peek of its designer’s home, Absolute Zero’s Keith Stephenson; it’s stocked here, along with a range of other funky wallpapers and furniture. Across the road is a fantastic French patisserie, Macaron.
Lassco, 30 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LG
My local deli owner suggested I go to this architectural salvage showroom as ‘a day out.’ This showroom is full of large-scale items such as ‘grand entranceways and doors’ but also sells smaller items such as old glass bottles, signage and prints. Try searching on their website with the filter £low to £high for items you may actually be able to afford.
Tablemakers, 153 St Johns Hill‚ London SW11 1TQ – bespoke tables.
Tobias and the Angel, 68 White Hart Lane, SW13 OPZ – an eclectic range of vibrant fabrics, offering hand-printing fabric workshops.
Chiswick, West London:
Abode, 11 Devonshire Rd, W4 – modern homewares
The Old Cinema,160 Chiswick High Road, W4 1PR – huge range of vintage furniture.
Eco, 213 Chiswick High Road, W4 2DW – part-owned by actor Colin Firth, homewares with an focus on sustainability and an eco-consciousness.
Greenwich, South-East London:
The Junk Shop, 9 Greenwich South Street, SE10 8NW – antiques and ephemera
Northwest London:
Retrouvius, 2A Ravensworth Road, NW10 5NR – architectural salvage
Other Design Events to look out for:
Twice a year, there are open studios at Cockpit Arts, giving an opportunity to buy goods straight from the designer. British favourites usually exhibiting include stitched-wallpaper guru Claire Coles, retro-chic Petra Boase, textile designers Thornback and Peel and Tupperware-style Yoyo Ceramics.
The Mid-Century Modern Fair, held in the historic Dulwich College, has me reaching for my purse every time.
