Nice little florist with a good selection of flowers for most occasions, better to get there…read moreearlier in the day as the most popular flowers could already be sold out. Has a good selection of bits and pieces to go with your flowers. Very friendly and helpful service.

Tucked away from the bustle of Sydney road is the no car traffic street of Sparta. A little oasis…read moreof small unique stores, cafe, and artists hangout. The design store sits here, and sells a range of handmade kids clothes, blankets and other crafts. They also stock amazing Marimekko collection and small collections from independent jewellers, cards, and other things. It's a lovely little shop that you will surprisingly spend Way too much time in.

At first I was afraid if writing a good review would make this little jewel get popular but it…read moredeserves it. Organised chaos is the perfect expression of how this place is. Everything is in its little spot and tagged. You just have to manage to find it within the 5000+ square meters of individual 200+ stalls all managed and then paid for at the little counter at the front. It's great! Strangely none of the stalls have their owners there and you haggle with them over the phone! Where you then pass the phone to the front counter so they can take on the new price. It's different but great! If what your looking for is in a locked cabinet, you just head to the counter and tell them the cabinet number and being organised they find it and open it for you. It's lovely. If your looking for those old trinkets or antique decorations to give a little life to your place, this place is the place to go.

Wow! This place is huge. If antiques, second hand, vintage or used is at all your thing then you…read morewill be enthralled and possibly overwhelmed by this place. You'll find all kinds of things from furniture to kitchen wares, vintage clothing, coin collections, books and so on. It's a huge warehouse with many stalls owned by different dealers. Each item has a price tag with the stall number, a description and price attached. Some of the stalls have the dealers phone numbers displayed so you can call and haggle over prices. No phone number means fixed prices. There's a register at the front where you pay for all you finds. Staff are friendly and helpful. At the entrance you'll also find carry baskets to collect as you walk in and a selection of beverages and snacks such as ham and salad rolls. Note, if you're here in winter remember to dress warm as there is no heating and you may find you can't tear yourself in a hurry. The warehouse is set off the street but it's well signed and easy to find. There is off street parking which is necessary as it's a very busy street. I sure I'll be a regular here.

Every suburb needs a knick-knack/gift store that isn't naff. For Port Melbourne, Mister White is…read moreit. This designer homewares store offers the usual suspects of small furniture items, mantelpiece adornments, scarves, bags, cushions, giftcards, saltwater sandals, happy socks. If you've seen one, you've seen them all, but that doesn't mean that Mister White is not worth the trip in - it means there's a good chance if you know the type of gift or item you're after, you know that you'll find it here. Nice layout, quality products and good range across price ranges makes Mister White a cut above the competition on Bay St.

Mister White has a really lovely range of gifts and homewares and I used to shop here whenever I…read morehad to find a unique birthday present. I purchased a homeware product for myself though and when I got it home it just wasn't right for the space. I had spoken with the assistant when I was purchasing and she had said that I could bring it back if it wasn't right. I returned the product the next day, expecting that I could get a refund. I was told however that they won't refund any products - only a store credit. Whilst the woman I spoke to when I purchased it did not specifically say I could have a refund, it definitely wasn't made clear that it would only be a store credit. The assistant I spoke to when I was trying to return the product was also quite rude during our entire interaction. Given they are a homewares store and that some of their products really need to be placed in situ to see if they are really right, their store policy seems quite unfair. In any case, if that is the store policy they wish to enforce then they could make it a lot clearer before purchase. A small sign near the register doesn't really suffice. For this reason I won't personally be shopping there again as it's a deal breaker for me. It is a real shame though as they have the potential to be great.

Living in the CBD it is sometimes hard to find everyday services, so when needing a print framed I…read moresearched for a local framer. The entrance off Hardware Lane is up a dingy staircase shared with a restaurant storage area, not a promising start, but persevere. Greg Mahoney runs a great service, lots of choice and good advice. The work was ready in good time and perfectly done. Last but not least, cost was very good!. If you don't want to brave the stairs there is an on line service. I have used the service again and only good things to report. I had bought two artworks from an art gallery for a Christmas present and the gallery's favoured framer couldn't do the job in time but Mahoney's could and did! Well done!

Melbourne City is full of gallery spaces, most of them good, most of them easy to find…read more One such place that goes surprisingly unnoticed by tourists and locals alike is the City Gallery. Sharing an entrance with Half Tix, a box office for several theatre shows, the small space is a roughly six metre cube that every couple of months gets a facelift. The group responsible for the task - whose name escapes me - rely on the city archives for their information and visual knowledge base. Thus the exhibitions held here target an often unseen part of the city's history. Currently (October) detailed is an investigation into the unknown printers and lithography businesses of Melbourne of old, looking at the stationary and letterheads of old companies and how they have evolved over the years. More insightful is the content on the letters - from circuses, grave diggers and more - offering another layer to the city. The exhibition will often involve an interactive element, and will provide brochures to take away. Well worth the money you don't pay to get in. That's right, it's free!

In part of the Melbourne Town Hall on the ground floor there is the City Gallery. I was walking…read morepast so stopped in to see what was on. It is a small gallery space run by the City of Melbourne with good program of history exhibitions about aspects of life in the city. I have been to some great exhibitions here but this time it was not very exciting, an exhibition about letterheads. The exhibitions change every month so next time it might grab me. This is also a Half-Tix outlet here for booking shows, tours and other events. And it a good place to pick up copies of Melbourne's free papers, festival programs and flyers about events.

What an unexpected alley filled with the crowd of people and eateries!…read more It seems so hipster to be huddled in refined cuisines and it's full of culture! It was quite happening on this street to my surprise! I adore the graffiti and sight of Darth Vader in yoga pose form. The artwork is daring and innovating. I enjoyed my time here! Moment captured and lived.

Degraves Street was one of Melbourne's first laneways. Laneways are narrow streets, like an alley,…read more that support diversity in public spaces. Love the cute cafes and shops along this passage off busy Flinders Street.

The last time I walked past Yen Concept I was shocked to find enormous amounts of Christmas…read moredecorations and lurid green, silver, gold and red items crammed into the front window. Usually it isn't this in your face. Yen Concept offers simple and affordable home décor options for the locals in the Hawthorn area. Inside you'll find interesting decorations and functional household accessories: vases? Tick. Cool clocks? Tick. Eccentric items to hang on your wall? Tick. It is all here - and there is plenty more crammed into this little shop. Bonuses? Great service that is genuinely friendly and warm, as well as decent prices. This is a destination where you can pick out something for yourself or a friend and not clench your teeth when you look at your bank balance. That's as long as you opt for the smaller items and don't buy a day bed or giant set of shelves.