A need-to-know checklist of five design stores to visit on Auckland’s North Shore.
The North Shore isn't just leafy suburbs, salted windows and quiet cul-de-sacs. The committed design hunter will find a handful of charming gallery shops, antique havens and eclectic design treasure troves, too.
1. Junk & Disorderly The second-hand shop with grunt. You have spent months curating your home interiors with the fine-toothed comb of a V&A gallery director. You have the polished concrete, the benchtop is marble, and the walls are white. But your house is not a home until it has those fuzzy heart pieces that make it 100 per cent yours, not some high contrast show space, ready for its Instagram debut.
Junk & Disorderly is exactly the place to veer off course, stocking an outrageous selection of new and vintage pieces, gifts, house plants, old toys, and neon signs. It's overwhelming, huge and is constantly reinventing itself, as the owners keep their devoted fan base up to date with via the Junk & Disorderly Facebook page. This place has got bric-a-brac down to an art form, and when you find yourself dizzy from the selection, make your way towards Caravan Coffee in the corner for a caffeine fix.
The jumble, dust and general havoc one tends to come across in standard antique stores is refreshingly absent at Northcote Point institution, Blikfang, Danish for "a trap for the eye". They've sifted through the junk so you don't have to, curating a gallery-like space that prides itself on an assortment of objects and artwork, both fascinating and mysterious. Antique mirrors reflect the silhouettes of sculptures, while contemporary New Zealand art, ceramics and graphics from the 50s and 60s are placed throughout. The space has energy, too, host to a number of themed exhibitions every year. The "shock of the old set against the gleam of the new" is what will invite you to linger here for a while.
• Corner of Queen St and Clarence Rd, Northcote. blikfang.co.nz
It's unassuming. One instant you're coasting down Barrys Point Rd, a loud proclamation to everything a DIY dad could ever need come Sunday, and the next you're pulling into the primped up warehouse space of Collect.Living. This is the home of soft stone-washed linens from Portugal, antique Turkish rugs, recycled Spanish glassware, natural hemp washing baskets and copper pendant lights from Marrakech. It's the type of place that will cause you to immediately buy pieces to give the beach house a refresh for summer, even if you don't have one.
A veritable treasure trove of European antiques, vintage, gift ideas and homewares, Romantique's North Shore location is the product of Tracy Rutherford's and Nic Holland's perpetual quest for truly exceptional finds. Frequent buying trips to Indonesia, India, Europe and Morocco keep the wares fresh. Here, you may see a large wooden horse that's escaped the shackles of the merry-go-round, or a whitewashed wooden partition plucked from a seaside abode in Corsica. You will also find metal antique signs, intricately carved stone angels, a selection of smaller homewares and an unfair number of French chandeliers.
This gift boutique may be small, but it appeals for its explosion of all that is bright and colourful, with an assortment of homewares, thoughtful gifts and things you didn't think you needed - until now. It's a refreshing addition to sleepy Birkenhead Village. We came across a posse of gold resin piggybanks by Areaware, plenty of graphic linen prints, and such soon-to-be treasures like The Great New Zealand Cook Book.
