The Apartment

Copenhagen, Denmark

There are some homeware shops so inviting that you wish you lived there. That’s no surprise with Tina Seidenfaden Busck’s Danish design den. Set in an 18th-century apartment in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, The Apartment is part shop, part gallery, part hotel and part Seidenfaden Busck’s actual home. Set up like a living space filled with a mix of contemporary design pieces and European vintage finds from the 1920s to 1970s, everything is for sale. Visits are by appointment only and if you can’t tear yourself away, Seidenfaden Busck rents out bedrooms on the top floor for a stylish sleepover.

CIBI

Melbourne, Australia

In a former industrial clothing warehouse on a side street in Collingwood (an inner-city suburb of Melbourne), there’s more than just one slice of Japan. Couple Zenta and Meg Tanaka have been serving up Japanese food, homeware and even grocery treats in their cafe-store for more than 10 years. Their motto: ‘We curate products that make your life richer by using them.’ In 2017 they opened a second site in Tokyo selling a similar range of pleasing minimalist design pieces, and managed to open a third cute ‘corner store’ nearby in May 2020 during the pandemic.

Voo Store

Berlin, Germany 

Set in the industrial ground floor of a former locksmith in Kreuzberg, Voo Store still feels as current as it did when it opened in 2010. Founder-brothers Yasin and Kaan Müjdeci’s passion for culture, design and craftsmanship is reflected in their progressive choice of international contemporary menswear and womenswear fashion brands. These sit alongside a smart selection of art, fashion and music magazines and coffee table books, as well as cosmetics and hand-picked homeware. If that wasn’t enough, last year the brothers opened Compact Market, which stocks a smaller selection of archive pieces and garments.

Amore Store

Berlin, Germany 

When an unassuming Italian foodie design store in Neukölln hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s Amore. Since 2015 German graphic designer and shop owner Kerstin Finger has been sourcing traditional Italian brands with beautiful designs for her small store on a side street. In the first room there’s a well-stocked pantry of all the Italian basics done right: pasta, tinned tomatoes, salami, cheese, panettone and wines from across the country. Meanwhile the second room is dedicated to colourful classic and often kitsch Italian design with homeware, kitchen accessories, stationary, cosmetics and, most notably, realistic candles shaped like Italian delicacies.

Otherwild

Los Angeles, US

Remember those ‘The Future is Female’ T-shirts? Otherwild remade those after discovering the original design by Labyris Books, the first feminist bookstore in New York City. Founded in 2012 as a queer community of artists, craftspeople and designers, Otherwild is more than just a shop – it’s a design studio and inclusive event space. In its LA store you can find everything from hot sauce to menstrual cups and political slogan mugs, all designed by independent makers. Part of the store is dedicated to Otherwild General, with a range of well-designed eco-friendly products and a refill station.

This article was first published in Courier Issue 36, August/September 2020. To purchase the issue or become a subscriber, head to our webshop.