THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
HOMEWARE
FØREST LONDON
After the success of her ten-day pop up in 2010, Scandinavian design collector Eva Coppens set about to establish a permanent base, and Førest London was born. Mid-century Dutch and Swedish furniture by Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen are among the vintage finds, while collaborations with contemporary artists gives shoppers fresh and affordable options.
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115 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5BY.
020 7242 7370
LIBERTY
Venture past the signature silk scarves and new season It bags to the very top of this iconic department store to be rewarded with a warren of high-end homeware. Its famous haberdashery department is bursting with Liberty-print trimmings to transform your sewing box, or ascend to the quiet ceramics-filled rooms in the rafters and you may just have the place to yourself.
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Regent Street, W1B 5AH.
020 7734 1234
JASPER MORRISON
Influential industrial designer Jasper Morrison opened up shop within his office on Kingsland Road as ‘an idealistic showroom’. And while everything in it is designed to put functionality ahead of aesthetics, that doesn’t stop the space from being exceptionally beautiful. Everyday items from mostly anonymous designers are arranged in ever-changing and OCD-neat displays.
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24B Kingsland Road, E2 8DA.
No phone.
PITFIELD LONDON
A trip to Pitfield is like visiting a globetrotting great-uncle – it’s always on hand with a slab of cake and a haul of exotic treasures. Shaun Clarkson and Paul Brewster travel every month to fill their vast visual paradise with vintage crockery, Indian rugs and attention-grabbing kitchenware, while its spacious café provides a pit-stop while you ponder whether you need another Victorian jelly mould.
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31-35 Pitfield Street, N1 6HB.
020 7490 6852
SCP EAST
Three decades since SCP first sprung up on Curtain Road, this interiors institution continues to deliver cutting-edge and creative homeware to East London’s cool-hunters. Employing the talents of designers including Terence Woodgate and Konstantin Grcic, founder Sheridan Coakley has long established SCP East (and its sister store SCP West on Westbourne Grove) as pioneers in the furniture industry. Stylish, statement items are this store’s raison d’être. Whether you’re in the market for a new three-piece suite or a bath mat, each piece has been painstakingly selected for its modernist sensibility and compliment-attracting aesthetic. Head upstairs to browse the furniture, rugs and ‘chair wall’, while the ground floor is a haven of technology and contemporary lighting. It’s particularly good to visit in September, when the store hosts international exhibitions during the London Design Festival.
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135–139 Curtain Road, EC2A 3BX.
020 7739 1869
PETERSHAM NURSERIES
Whether you’ve got a backyard or a window box, this glorious garden centre is a must-visit with more than just sacks of soils and potted nasturtiums on offer. Get lost in the greenery or pick up a planter for your green-fingered friend. Its restaurant and teahouse are also idyllic spots for a bit of posh nosh or a slice of cake.
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Church Lane, Petersham Road, Richmond, TW10 7AB.
020 8940 5230
HOUSE OF HACKNEY
For those who crave a statement wall or a lamp shaped like a pineapple, your search ends with House of Hackney. Javvy M Royle and Frieda Gormley – partners in business and life – launched their brand in 2011 and their flagrant disregard for minimalism has resulted in a print-on-print-on-print approach. Head there for OTT wallpaper, a set of save-for-best guest towels or simply a good gawp.
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131 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JE.
020 7739 3901
OLIVER BONAS
A high-end boutique with a strong high street presence, Oliver Bonas brings accessible luxury and a touch of chintzy kitsch to the homes of London’s sensibly-heeled. With stores sprinkled across the capital and around the UK, High Street Kensington is home to its largest outpost and offers velvet chaise-lounges and patchwork cabinets alongside its cookbooks, scented candles and flamingo-print wrapping paper.
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129 Kensington High Street, W8 6SU.
020 7937 4686
THETHESTORE
Actress Meryl Fernandes (aka Afia Masood to Eastenders fans) found her footing in retail with Found, a vintage fashion shop on Hackney Road. After a quick renovation with the help of Swedish design brand Nonuform, she rechristened the space as thethestore, a lifestyle boutique full of things that she loves (and that you probably will too). The stark white shop is stocked with seemingly random objects, from Italian toothpaste to hand-thrown ceramics, but good design is the thread that unites them. There’s also a good line of workwear-style separates by London based brand Otho and an impressive stack of niche magazines. One thing is certain, you may not know what you came in for but you won’t leave empty handed.
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205 Hackney Road, E2 8JL.
No phone.
FUTURE AND FOUND
With a nostalgic take on thoroughly modern design, Future and Found offers Scandanavia-meets-Shoreditch homeware in the heart of North London’s Tufnell Park. Housed in an old piano factory, owner Andrea Bates – who cut her design teeth as a buyer for Heals – chooses every item in the shop for its understated yet striking aesthetic. True to its name, stock includes pieces sourced from makers around the world and vintage treasures, alongside items from its own ever-expanding collection. Big ticket furniture items are quirky but not gimmicky, like the Eames rocking chair and horse-shaped wooden farm stool. Those with shallower pockets can brighten up their abode with a colourful coat rack or pair of geometric print tea towels. The spacious courtyard is home to plants and patio furniture, and houses a coffee hatch for a side of caffeine with your shop.
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225A Brecknock Road, N19 5AA.
020 7267 4772
