Shops Archives - Love Ireland

SCP Furniture

Jim McGrath — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 15:13:58 +0000

It’s hard to believe SCP has lived on Curtain Road for some 25 years: its creative, contemporary products feel entirely geared to the East End’s relatively recent influx of cool-hunters. But founder Sheridan Coakley has long championed functional and beautiful design and stocked the two floors of his store with statement items for every space in the home, from garden furniture to bathroom accessories.

Each cherry-picked product is designed meticulously, and aimed squarely at stylish homeowners who care as much about what their tape dispenser looks like as their dining table. There are textiles, furniture and homeware by guest brands, together with SCP’s own work, which often takes the form of collaborations with international designers.

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Heal’s

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:53:28 +0000

The king of Tottenham Court Road’s decor shops has unveiled an heir to the throne: a fabulous new lighting den in W2. The 200-year-old brand is styling its new branch as a concept store, but much of what’s on offer here – an interior design team, a bespoke joinery service, a vast lighting range – speaks of old-fashioned retail excellence rather than innovation. A glorious art deco cinema building is a fine setting for the stylish store, and it’s an ambitious acquisition in a market where so many are focusing online. That said, we’re told a flash new website will follow too.

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House of Hackney

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:03:44 +0000

House of Hackney has made its first home, unsurprisingly, in its namesake borough – with an ambitious flagship store in the heart of Shoreditch. It’s one of the most gorgeous retail establishments to land in London in years – bedecked in the deliberately over the top juxtapositions of print-on-print-on-print that have made the brand’s name. The entrance to the store is filled with flora – luxury florists Wild at Heart have sublet the front of the shop and filled it with specially selected HoH flower selections. That rather sets the tone for the place, as things get even more flowery once you’re gliding across black polished floors, with Dalston rose wallpapers lined up cheek by jowl with palm prints, bee prints and more. All of House of Hackney’s beautiful print collections are here – represented upstairs in rolls of paper, fabric, trays, mugs, fashion and collaborative designs with brands like Puma. Downstairs you’ll find furniture – with generously proportioned sofas and plump armchairs in more-is-more combinations of print and texture. But House of Hackney isn’t just about hot-right-now prints – and their nods to local charms (see their Hackney Empire and Dalston Rose prints) extend to more than just names – products are made in England, and as far as possible in London.

House of Hackney has all the makings of a new Liberty – with whom they’ve already collaborated. This store is likely to become a stop-off destination for in the know fashion tourists from all over the world. Buy your future design classics now, we say.

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Darkroom

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:51:12 +0000

Darkroom is not somewhere you go to develop 35mm film. It is in fact a concept store, which opened at the start of 2010, adding further credence to Lamb’s Conduit Street’s claim to being one of London’s most intriguing shopping destinations. The shop is quite literally dark (the walls and lampshades black), creating a blank canvas for the carefully chosen selection of unisex fashion, accessories and interiors items on sale. Designer items include Borba Margo bags, DMK glassware and Solomia ceramics. The space doubles up as a gallery, with displays (such as etchings by artist Marcus James) intermingling with a range of sculptural jewellery by Florian, Scott Wilson and Maria Francesca Pepe. Each piece begs the question – do I wear it or hang it on the wall?

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Twentytwentyone

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 13:15:47 +0000

New and vintage design meet in this design store beloved of, and frequented by, Islington’s substantial coterie of architects, designers and other assorted trendies. Quality, beautifully-designed homeware is carefully sourced and advice on investing in classic retro furniture (or splashing out on a contemporary piece) is always on hand. If money is tight, hold out for one of Twentytwentyone’s many sample sales, often offering up to 75 per cent off ex-display and discontinued items.

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Atelier Abigail Ahern

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 13:07:15 +0000

This tiny interiors shop may not have a huge range, but what it lacks in quantity is more than made up for in quality. The selection is both inventive and original, with much of it from emerging international designers. A beautiful Kathy Dalwood concrete cast, part of a collection that focuses on historical characters, reinterprets 18th-century haute porcelain but retains mould lines from the casting process, indicating contemporary concerns about texture (from £320). British graduate Andrew Oliver is similarly playful, but with very different results; his lighting range (from £700) is a delightful addition to his drunken table range, unique one-off furniture pieces inspired by practical experimentation with salvaged furniture. Textiles are particularly strong; as well as some striking merino wool ottomans (£755), there are Impressionist paintings transposed on to linen by Argentinian-born artist Haby Bonomo (from £65). Colour ranges are muted but striking, summing up a store that’s a delightful departure from the sparse lines of many design stores.

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West Elm

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:13:20 +0000

Anyone who has nipped across the Atlantic and sampled the delights of American homeware stores such as Williams-Sonoma, Restoration Hardware and Ethan Allen will lament the lack of affordable equivalents over here. The wide selection of beautiful design available at reasonable prices in the US has for some years been responsible for British tourists doubling the return weight of their suitcases. As a result, the arrival in London of West Elm, owned by the same brains behind Pottery Barn, has sent out a ripple of excitement among home décor lovers.

In a particularly brave move, the brand have chosen to position their first UK store just a few metres away from their British competitors Heal’s and Habitat. 12,000 sq ft on Tottenham Court Road has been dedicated to inducting the British public into the brand’s New York understated chic. Across two levels the space houses everything from cushions and cookware to bedding and furniture an emporium of tasteful quality at an accessible price. The shop atmosphere is a relaxed and friendly one, where shopping is made easier by attentive staff and a beautifully curated selection of stock that makes you want to chuck out everything you own and start again.

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Liberty

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:38:35 +0000

Liberty was founded in 1875, but the present Marlborough Street site, with its ships’ timbers and leaded windows, was built in the 1920s. The interconnecting jumble of rooms, with the odd fireplace and cushioned window seat, makes for an intimate feel – as if you’ve strayed into a private room in a stately house. It’s not an accident, founder Arthur Lasenby Liberty wanted customers to feel as if they were exploring someone’s home, keeping the shopping galleries small, albeit linked to three rather grand atriums.

Although Liberty trades well on its history, it constantly squeezes innovation into its wood-panelled rooms. Alongside one of the best edits for fashion shopping in the world, in 2011 it expanded its men’s floor, adding a huge tailoring and accessories chamber packed full of posh undies. The Paper Room soon followed on the ground floor with micro-floral Liberty print stationery and gifts, and then the Dining Room opened – quirky cookware and gadgetry in a space modelled on the kitchen in Downton Abbey.

French publishing powerhouse Assouline opened its Literary Lounge on the ground floor, where you can flick through fashion, art and photography coffee-table books (which are, oddly, the size of coffee tables). The Beauty Hall then doubled in size with ten new brands – their counters manned by an eerily beautiful staff. And five new treatment rooms are set to open.

Unapologetically eccentric and truly innovative, Liberty is a London icon.

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Pitfield London

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:45:49 +0000

Stylish and accessible interiors shop Pitfield London is spread across a big double-fronted former office block, and is the retail arm of celebrated interior designer Shaun Clarkson. Clarkson (and business partner Paul Brewster) fill the space with pieces procured at home and abroad (the resourceful pair travel every month and raid local markets and manufacturers) and you’ll find all manner of stylish homewares, from brightly coloured 1970s sofas to vintage glasswear.

Stock is replenished constantly, giving passers-by every reason to make a daily stop, if only to linger in its café which serves stacks of meringues and cakes with the papers. When we visited, an arty local sat by the window with a designer dog that we suspected might have been brought in for aesthetic effect.

In short, it’s the kind of lifestyle space you could imagine in the Meatpacking District of New York, or El Born in Barcelona.

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Pentreath & Hall

Jim McGrath — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:35:34 +0000

It’s always a tight squeeze in this petite boutique just off Lamb’s Conduit Street. But despite its diminutive scale, there’s plenty packed in at Ben Pentreath, from kitchenware and stationery, to cushions and candles. True, this place is an ideal gift destination, but as you’re buying your mate a gorgeous glass tray lacquered with a vintage map of London, you just might find yourself stocking up on those trendy Kilner jars you suddenly need.

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