Your flat will never have to be dark and dull with the amazing selection of lights, table lamps and…read morechandeliers Michael Connell has to offer. They buy and sell antiques, and have not only a nice selection of lights, but also mahogany bookcases, rosewood tables and Galle bowls and much more.

Great selection of antiques and curios. Well worth a visit .read more

When you want to refurnish your house but have a special antique item in mind, the best place to…read morestart your search is Dublin's Antique Quarter on Francis street, where you'll find an array of shops filled with rare and unique items. Johnston Antiques is one of those treasure-chests, a family-run antique shop located a few steps from Oxfam Home (if your walking from The Coombe in the Thomas street direction). This shop is a good place to start browsing, as here you'll find the big stuff. Johnston stocks authentic Irish and English Georgian furniture: bookcases, drawers, marble pieces, bookshelves, cupboards and wardrobes and much more. And the staff is a real antiquepedia, filled with information about the furniture's history.

Rude, rude, rude. Look guys, I'll be the first to admit I…read moreknow jack about running an antique shop - but I'm pretty sure I've got a good idea about customer service. Between me and the fella running Brooks, that makes one of us. Stopping into the crammed, musty shop I was interested in finding out about an imposing black lacquer jewellery box in the window. The owner seemed less interested in greeting me than roaring down the phone to a potential customer. Once he was finally willing to receive audiences, I asked where the box had come from (was it Korean, Chinese, Japanese?) I was only told it had come from a private vendor. That's all. Judging from the mix of real antiques and gussied-up (or is that down?) tin prints and novelty plaques, I wasn't ready for the price tag hanging off the box: €395 Yikes. Between the cost and the dealer, I couldn't leave fast enough. After a quick look online, I found a possible reason why the answers weren't forthcoming: that jewelry box retails for as little as $30 plus shipping. One more time: Yikes.

You know the saying: "One man's junk is another man's treasure". That's exactly what comes in mind…read morewhen standing outside Brooks and Co and looking at all the random stuff displayed in the window. When inside, you can pretty much say goodbye to any appointments you have in the next hour or so, you will easily get lost while looking at beer-cans and hand-painted dinner plates, trying to decide if you truly need another funky lamp in the living room or flipping through the vinyl selection. There's lots of junk allright, but also some rare and amusing items, perfect as gifts for those who have everything.

Bazaar or bizarre..... nope, definitely says Bazaar over the door…read more Wander in and you are greeted by such an eclectic collection of odds and ends its hard to know where to start. There is a bit of everything here from modern fishing rods to Georgian furniture. The overall feeling is of a shop that has been there for so long that it has sort of collected or inherited its stock and perhaps the owner just opens the place up every day because that's what he has done for the last 40 years....not so though! Harold's Bazaar has been in situ for a mere 2 years and this fact alone makes it worth wandering in to.

If you love antiques and old junk this is the place for you. Tom the owner is such a nice and…read moreknowledgeable man. His shop is tiny the packed with so many inexpensive treasures. You can browse in here for hours. He has fabulous stuff from all over. I warn you you will get a bit dusty and dirty. But it was absolutely worth it.

Well. If this isn't like stepping into a Judy Garland movie!…read more Trinkets everywhere, prints from the 50s, skirts from the 70s, and jewelry from the naughties. There are lampshades, cocktail rings, architectural chairs, and prom dresses. There are wild psychedelic prints, muted classic colours and 8-bit designs. Honestly it's been a long time since I've been so excited about a shop in Dublin. It's one of those places that hits you with so many emotions that it's difficult to stay contained. Sheer, unbridled jealousy that someone has created my dream shop, that I should have thought of myself. Mixed with ridiculous hyperactive joy that I've found this place. Coupled with resounding fear and premonition of my future bank balance slipping away before my very eyes... Some interesting points to note about this place: - They have pop up 'shops within shops' in every month or so, so the stock and content is constantly changing - The have vintage and new, homeware and clothing - There is also Locks & Lashes - a vintage styling lady who does hair from the 20s to 60s - You can host events here - perfect for a hen do I did think! If I was you, I'd make a Sunday out of it. If it's the last Sunday of the month, you can wander up along Francis St, taking in all the cute little antique & charity shops, skip into Cat's Meow on the way (saving your money for here of course!), then ending up in the Flea Market for more perusing and food. Grand little Sunday!

Lovers of vintage hairdos, be happy!…read more The Cat's Meow on Francis Street of Dublin's famed Liberties area is a fitting addition to a street that specialises in things old. But this vintage shop is not for the lovers of fine antiques but of a more affordable kind of pleasure - clothes, bric a brac, homeware, pictures. And fabulous hairdos! Not to mention vintage make up. I was there for the hair bit, but had a good rummage around the shop during curler warming. Some lovely dresses and accessories including a stunning silk kimono style top that was a tad too small otherwise I would have snatched it up (size 38 if you're interested). Run by the artistic Maureen, a famed hairdresser on film sets across Ireland, this lady seriously knows her finger wave from her victory roll. And, as she says herself, she likes to give things an individual touch, too. Perhaps not unusually for me, I wasn't entirely sure exactly what I wanted. And how helpful is 'old-fashioned' to a hairdresser, really? Plus I'd forgotten my dress, which was my plan for inspiring her with a vintage look for a non-vintage head. Anyways, fair play to her, she remained undaunted as she set about placing all kinds of rollers in my hair followed by stuff I don't recall the name for but which thickens it all out a bit in the subtle deceit of a 'natural-looking' up-style (honestly, it took me five minutes, I just threw it up any old way). Followed by approximately four thousand gently inserted hairpins that would have set off more than one alarm at airport security but strangely didn't make my head feel tight at any point during the day that followed. In fact, as I walked in the breeze later, I was amazed at how this strange immovable mass that was my hair, now a single unit as opposed to thousands of free-moving follicles, could remain so comfortable and not budge as much as an inch. A great find! Well worth a treat, and I'm pretty sure this lady can do whatever it is you want, strange, rare or unusual, for your hair. There's a pop up section of the shop and a general all round feeling of much creative energy by all involved, and a love of the arts too - so yes, quite a find and next time I'm going to treat myself to the make up bit too, which by all accounts is great. Vintage hair and make up is a different thing altogether than what you get in the regular hairdresser - I speak from experience - plus at €45 this was reasonable value (cost me €60 I'm pretty sure at Peter Mark and lovely and all as they were, it didn't hold for long). So book in advance as I've a feeling word is going to spread and fast. Locks and Lashes is the hair and make up part of Cat's Meow, by the way.

This store is ADORABLE! We were looking for unique gifts to bring back home and this ended up being…read moremy favorite store in Dublin. We found some beautiful jewelry pieces! Roughly 25 euro so not cheap but not too expensive either. There were tons of cute items all over the store and I'd recommend this to anyone who is looking for pieces made by local artists. Some of the necklaces are made with lava rock and brass. Those were my fave!

Like a big giant ice cream sundae; the ones you get in America with loads of different sauces and…read morenuts and chocolate dolphins etc .... Delicious, packed full of goodies,with all sorts of treats to find once you really get stuck in. I found leather satchels, a 1973 bowling bag WITH bowling bowls inside, some amazing fur rugs, gorge jewelry, a quirky looking cabinet and some super sweet paintings. The place is absolutely tiny but packed to the rafters, highly recommended for a good rummage and chat with the lovely staff. Also, what a good freakin name for the place that's in it!

Meadows & Byrne is a pretty cool home and garden shop in Dun Laoghaire. It's one of those places…read moreyou walk into with no intention of buying anything, and then leave with a whole range of interesting items you never knew you'd ever want or need (but you need them now!) They sell all sorts, from kitchen furniture to glasses, to 'slurp' soup mugs, to banana leaf trays and garden settings. My favourite item in store is the wall-mounted wine opener, which comes in at a pretty 139 euro (ouch, but once you see it no price is too great!) A good place for some Sunday shopping if you're of the inclination. They also have an Insomnia cafe attached for those who tire of their partner's browsing habits.

This is a nice big open store with plenty of ideas if you are furnishing your home...at a price…read more Good selection of cooking and kitchen gear and they are mostly where I go when I am looking for something in particular as they generally have it. Think Ikea but more expensive so keep an eye open for their sales as they generally have a good bargain to be found. When you do bite the bullet and buy something you generally still love it even after a few years and their stuff is always good quality so perhaps they may be expensive but worth it.

How was I looking last night?... homeless, but in fairness that's because I always look that way;…read morescruffy as hell and really not the sort to be taken home to your mother (thankfully someone did and after mother stopped shaking and throwing her purse at me saying "just take it, it's all I've got" and realised I was just popping over to introduce myself as the daughters new beau, we all had a little laugh). Anyway, I know I looked thusly as I was walking past Benezet Antiques which specialise (in this shop) in Mirrors - all sorts of old, huge, ornate mirrors - some really beautiful pieces too. The shops opening times are fairly non existent 10 - 6 on a Saturday and strictly by appointment after that, There is, inexplicably, a huge trombone in the window of the shop as well, not sure what the tie-in with mirrors is!

The first thing that drew me to Benezet's window was the inexplicable big 'ole tuba perched on a…read morechair at a table that looked like it was set up for a fancy mid-afternoon tea party. Seems a bit eccentric indeed, but I suppose that's what you want in an antiques dealer. That way you know they'll always be looking out for the most intriguing objects. Tuba aside the other items in the shop really dazzled. It's worth a browse if you're out on a Saturday walk and need a bit of entertainment.