London shopping: Shelf

Some shops just seem to sum you up in one go. You love everything in it. You want to spend many, many minutes in it. You feel inspired by it. Heck, you even want to buy it. For me, Shelf is the ‘it’ place.


Another little sparkling gem on Cheshire Street in East London, Shelf stocks an exciting collection of unique products that have a strong illustrative/folk/craft element, combined with a touch of vintage aesthetic. They are sourced from local craftspeople as well as from abroad.


One of the hero products is their amazing collection of vintage enamel white letters, as well as reproduction letters from a collection the owners sourced in San Francisco. Apparently they were used as signage and titles in silent movies in the 1930s and 1950s. The letters proved so popular that the original versions ran out, so Shelf has designed a range of vintage reproductions, with an unusual and distinctive font.


Other delights in store include German laser-cut wooden wall designs, cloth-bound notebooks in vintage and illustrative fabrics, and traditional hand-carved unpainted Russian dolls. I love the graphic simplicity of the “naked” wood grain, but you can also get creative and paint them yourself. Check out the amazing designs created by talented Melbourne stitch-n-bitch collective, Kaotic Kraft Kuties, here, here, here and here.


Another thing I like about Shelf? Apart from great design, they like all things ornithological. Combine the two, and here at Wee Birdy, that’s a very fine thing indeed. In fact, birds are a recurring motif throughout the store, with ceramic versions by Masahiro Moria for Hakusan, Danish 1950s wooden birds by Vedel, Robert Ryan bird prints and cushions, and minimalist screenprints of birds by Berlin artist Frerk.




Other fabulous finds include tiny wooden lambs on wheels (£3); rolls of packing tape with a London double-decker bus design; and “ephemera packs” (kinda like a grown-up lucky dip) stuffed with bits and bobs like stationery items, twine, tags and labels (£8). But the “most unique” award would have to go to the lichen-covered twigs with crocheted mushrooms growing out of them.


Shelf
40 Cheshire Street
London E2 6EH
Tel. 020 7739 9444

Click here for a Wee Birdy map.

Opening hours:
Friday afternoon by appointment only
Saturday 1pm-6pm
Sunday 11am-6pm

Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

For more shops on Cheshire Street, click here.
For more shops in East London, click here.