My family has been coming here for years! Well before I was born. We're not local-we're Americans,…read moreand on every visit this was a must stop. There are many antiques from Alfies in my home that we inherited from my mother and smaller special keepsakes from my time living in London in my 20s. My husband & I spent part of our honeymoon in London, and it was his first time in the city (September/October 2024) and this was a nonnegotiable stop for me. Plan to spend a few hours wandering around and exploring-it's humongous! Also, generally speaking not on the inexpensive side but you can always find some gem's. I can remember on one visit when I was 19, we stumbled on a vendor that didn't realize what he had, it was a 20 year old authentic bubblegum pink Kelly (Hermes) and he had it priced under $1000. I still to this day regret not buying it for resale alone (bubblegum pink is not for me lol)

It would be an understatement to say that I am besotted with antiques. I love them. Can't get…read moreenough of them. Know London's antique and vintage purveyors like the back of my proverbial hand. And Alfie's is one of my favourites, a veritable antique market located in trendy Marylebone. With dealers selling clothes, fine and costume jewellery, furniture, textiles and collectibles, Alfie's should satisfy the needs of even the most ardent collector. And with a surprisingly accessible atmosphere at odds with the sometimes rarefied world of antiques and vintage, Alfie's is perfect for a browse for the expert and neophyte alike. I visited Alfie's just before Christmas last year and spotted cute as a button Mark Owen from Take That looking incredibly dapper. This is the place for vintage/antique fans to find unique Christmas presents without recourse to the high street.

Its pricey but fun for a browse, just to look at random stuff to add to your house for a fun…read morechange, or to get an eccentric present. That should sum up the variety of stuff that you can find in the store. I went furniture shopping with a friend, and we stopped by just to have a look as they had a wide range of furniture just outside the store front. We walked away with a small bamboo coffee table, that looks great to this day. It was a great buy, and there are many more to be found here. Something for everyone, like s suitcase for Felix, a mannequin for Prudence, or just some chutzpah for yourself.

Past Caring is a surprisingly cool vintage store on Essex Road, just a short stroll from Angel Tube…read moreStation. Filled from floor to ceiling with nick nacks galore, it boasts a great range of crockery, cutlery and other bits and bobs for your home. But it's the furniture out the front which always draws my attention - cane chair, awesome old chests and glass coffee tables are just some of the pieces you'll find out the front - rather reasonably priced too.

Oooh there are so, so many pretty things in this shop!…read more Some of it is just very expensive...and not that necessary...but there are also some really lovely items that are *possibly* worth paying a few extra pounds for. My husband and I popped in here to look at their "string" shelves. There aren't many places in London that stock them, so it was good to see it all set up. The staff were really sweet and helpful, and even gave us a string catalogue while we work out what colours will suit our flat... I really like mid-century and Scandinavian-esque designs...and while I'd prefer to get hold of vintage pieces...shops like twentytwentyone at least give me the option of ordering exactly what we'd like. Now we just have to save up enough cash to actually buy it all. Eep.

A lot of the stuff in Twenty Twenty One would look out of place in the average home. Although there…read moreare a lot of pretty and unique designs, I've never once felt my life lacking because I didn't have a neon orange vase shaped like one of the falling bricks in Tetris. Twenty Twenty One takes no prisoners in its drive to promote contemporary design. Nonetheless there are a few items in Twenty Twenty One which the more average soul might be interested in. I bought a small purse from here which was purple with red dots and very sweet. A few lamps and ornaments also caught my eye. Anything much larger than this however, was completely out of budget. Even the wooden duck in the window was £120. I would say that Twenty Twenty One is the perfect shop if you are a young, rich couple looking to deck out your first home in all the best designs. While there are a few items for the rest of us, this shop is likely to leave you feeling poor and uncool.

Zero communication, Zero for customer service - AVOID…read more Purchased a table from this company on their eBay shop. I sent an offer which the seller accepted, took payment then decided to cancel my purchase at 11.00pm that evening. No communication, no courtesy of an explanation, nothing. This wouldn't have been such an issue if I hadn't purchased a matching credenda unit. I'm honest in my dealings and honour my obligations, shame this seller doesn't share the same level of integrity.

After regularly visiting the shop replacing the florist in Herne Hill I am still not quite sure…read morewhat it is all about. It is filled with rather battered and individual pieces of furniture, art books and the odd broken object. Nothing is priced or has any indication of being for sale, instead the drawers and cupboards have more of these antiquities housed inside them, a few months ago even a collection of modern plastic sunglasses appear in the shop. The shop reminds me of the strange things you might find in a house left behind by an old rather senile person, but I love it. I love furniture and I love when you can see history and personality in it. Everything in here is unique and honest. Expect to find a deteriorating leather chaise, a large industrial tin locker unit, a 60's lampshade and an encyclopedia of African Art hidden behind a 1950's school photograph in a smashed frame. Everyone deserves to visit Bleu Furniture.

Kensington Church Street now has the greatest concentration of antiques dealers in London and it is…read morealways a pleasure to visit. There are many great dealers in the road but my favourite by some distance is Eddy Bardawil. Mr Bardawil deals predominantly in 18th century English furniture and those who subscribe to the lazy modern notion that all antique furniture is "boring brown" need to visit asap. Mr Bardawil is particularly interested in mahogany furniture with incredible colour and surface patination and will not buy anything that has had its original surface tampered with or repolished. He has helped steer me towards quality pieces for my collection and made sure that I have stayed away from poorer pieces that I might otherwise have bought. A visit to his gallery is highly recommended and, although furniture dealers in London are never cheap, he is much more "realistically" priced than most of his competitors. Whether buying or simply browsing you will certainly be given a friendly welcome.

I love this place because everything is arranged in size -- with vintage it can all be hard work…read moreand lets face it -- it is much easier just to see your choices and go for it -- No fuss no muss just start trying A really good layout and lots of space to see and wind around the room - with a small lounge area and a bag section and some clothing -- you can easily spend time here. There are also alot "special" cases scattered with "not for sale "signs - these seem to be the real vintage pieces - - but do not fret there is plenty to try and buy...

This is definitely the best place for vintage shoes. The choice is endless! There are shoes in…read moreevery colour, every size, and from all the eras. The shoes are also very affordable considering an average pair of heels will only set you back £15. Second in line are the bags. They also seem to come in every colour and size. Most of them come in leather and are once again, priced very generously. And last but not least, there are the clothes. I have never actually bought any clothes here. Personally, I think that they are not arranged in the best way and generally a bit messy or stained. I have flitted through the Menswear before though, and found it easier to navigate and generally better in choice. But really... it's all about the shoes here!

If the plague were to start ravaging the world tomorrow, I think I would probably gather a decent…read moreamount of food and water and then hunker down in Beyond Retro, because I'd want to spend the last of my plague-free days treating Beyond Retro as my personal closet. (Yes, I have been told that I need to reevaluate my priorities.) Beyond Retro is honestly the best thrift store I've ever walked into. It's tucked away on a side street just a stone's throw away from the bustling Brick Lane Market. My first impression was that the store was extremely well-organized and clean... like so clean that it could've matched the standards of a soulless corporate chain. But the clothing here was nowhere near as sterile as whatever you can find at your dime-a-dozen Zara. Every single item in here was high in quality and had its own vintage, retro character. Hands down, Beyond Retro has the most well curated, eclectic selection of clothing ever. A lot of thrift stores suffer from the musty, outdated '70s closet syndrome, where you'll have to do a godforsaken amount of digging to find that single diamond in the rough. That won't happen at Beyond Retro. I wish I could have had a shopping spree here, but I guess I'll just have to wait for the next plague.

I've lived in Shoreditch five years and it took a newly made Northern friend to introduce me to the…read morewondrous Beyond Retro not long ago. A sprawling vintage emporium with more of an emphasis on clothing than its obvious rival, Absolute Vintage, Beyond Retro sells vintage from the twenties through eighties at very reasonable prices. Its friendly staff are a breath of fresh air; its resident cat adorable; its stock varied and good quality; and its pricing so right on you'd be forgiven for thinking it was run by a philanthropist. Particularly noteworthy is Beyond Retro's premium vintage section which has a beautiful selection of vintage silk chiffon prom dresses and twenties beaded shifts and its astonishing Kimono rail which will not disappoint. As the name suggests, Beyond Retro is more than polyester sixties frippery and faux-vintage rock t-shirts. This place is the real deal and vintage fanatics would be mad to pass it up.

I once found a copy of 'Elle Decoration' on the train and asked my friend whether we were too young…read moreto care about the interior of our - rented - flats. Her response? An unequivocal yes. After visiting Heals on Tottenham Court Road, I'm afraid I'll have to agree to disagree. If expensive furnishings are your thing then you needn't look further than Heals. A more upmarket version of both Ikea and Habitat with a slightly different design sensibility and a lovely selection of beauty bits and bobs encompassing products by Korres, a natural beauty brand whose tinted lip balms are gorgeous and Diptyque, whose Fig perfume is to die for. The lighting section is divine, with gems including chandeliers rendered in everything from perspex to lead crystal; some rather lovely floor lamps with pure silk shades in de rigeur jewel-tones; and Tom Dixon's popular copper light shades which seem to grace almost every one of London's gastro pubs.

It has always been a bit tricky to figure out where Habitat ends and where Heals begins seeing as…read morethey often share a similar design strategy. Heals however, is decidedly more expensive and tinted with undeniable glamour. Heals houses designs from some of the biggest names. From Alessi to Phillip Stark this shops contains the finest of the fine. When walking in this shop you will find that everything from the beautiful golden globes, the comfy towel robes, the natural soaps and perfumes, the unconventional lampshades and the gorgeous stylish coffee machines will become an absolute necessity rather than a treat. As a lover of all gadgets, designer objects, storage devices, and glamorous furniture, I find myself wanting to wrap every object in store into a neverending Mary Poppins-style bag and immediately head home to live forever happy with my favourite objects. This store will probably bring out the worse of your materialistic nature, but after seeing these 3 floors of materialistic bliss, trust me it will be worth it.