Seasonal Concepts

Alice in Wonderland meets Paddington antiques? The Australian Taxidermists Association HQ meets Fancy Florist? Ignore the name, «Seasonal Concepts» is a red herring. Feathers, Fur and Frills might perhaps suit it better. Any expectations you might have from looking at the the outside of this store — toss ‘em. This is one bizarre shop.
At first I thought it was just a rustic, overpriced homewares store — you know, with cute baskets, garden chairs, wooden chests, and some lilies — all civilised and catered to the Redfern retiree set? But wait, isn’t that a bright red Cupie Doll sitting in that vintage birdcage?
Walk in a bit further — oooo, nice … there’s some appealing looking industrial antiques here — lamps, wooden cogs, and … oh, there’s a diorama with some stuffed birds. Curious.
(Try not to look at the price tags, and don’t get attached to anything Jesse, it’ll cost you a pretty penny if you do.)
Walk in a little further, through a narrow space, past the delightful vintage suitcases and hatboxes, and then — WOW. Seasonal Concepts opens out into a larger, sky-​lit room, absolutely jam-​packed with stuff. It’s a remarkable building, in and of itself, but that’s sometimes hard to notice amidst the painstakingly curated arrangement of kooky objects.
There are antiques of all mediums and dimensions — from vintage tea towels (packaged up and marked up, you bet); there are elaborate sets of glass jars, enamel vases, wooden chairs hanging from the ceiling, vintage billiard balls, roller skates and mannequins.
It’s not musty or dust-​filled — the smell of lilies fills the air — YES, they really do sell flowers, but to call this place a florist would be to miss the most extraordinary aspect: Seasonal Concepts is positively packed with taxidermy.
There are multiple peacocks, roosters, doves, reindeer heads, owls, antelope heads. The two most remarkable pieces are a stuffed giraffe head & neck, and an albino peacock. WTF? All of these items are for sale (mostly sales marked in the 4-​figure range). I considered the $ 8600 albino peacock, but it would probably clash with my Ikea bookshelves.
The folks who run this place are friendly enough, albeit in a «I know you’re not going to buy anything» sort of way. Still, the owners (and their enormous dogs) are a wonderful contribution to the eccentricities of Redfern.
One little gripe: I am disappointed to report that they don’t budge on flower discounts, even at 5pm on Christmas Eve.