In My Room

There’s not a lot of stuff in my room. I’m not talking about the shop, I’m talking about my room. My room room. There’s a chest of drawers, an uncomfortable mattress, a heater, and two spider webs. Needless to say, some more furniture needs to be placed in my room.
Unfortunately for me, the furniture they sell at In My Room is out of my price range. They sell fantastic vintage furniture: Charles Eames armchairs, school chairs, airline seats, G-​Plan armchairs, office chairs, Danish sideboards, industrial desks, ice buckets, jugs, dining tables, bedside tables, and tons more. It’s all very interesting, but the items in here don’t last very long. If you find something you want and have the money to afford it, it’d be best to pick it up, otherwise it may be gone the next time you come in.

The owner of In My Room, Ollie Learmonth, seems to have watched too many episodes of The Avengers at an impressionable age. His shop pays homage to all things ‘space-​age’ from bug-​eyed television sets to G-​Plan cabinets.
Aficionados of Bond movies may be amused by Learmoth’s reworking of the classic E Gomme-​designed wing chair, from which Donald Pleasance glowered menacingly as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice; I shall look forward personally to exterminating you, Mr. Bond.
Now that’s not nice.

This shop stocks retro pieces from the 1930s onwards as well as quirky modern items by the shop owner — although it’s way out of my budget, there’re some really cool things here and it’s well worth a browse. To echo the last two reviewers — this place succeeds where many neighbouring furniture stores fail, managing to effortlessly combine charm, use and taste — you’ll find no overpriced tat here! Whether you’re looking for an art deco desk, a rubik cube cabinet, 60s typewriter or telephone — get there now, as many of the best items go fast!

Eames chairs? Check
Atomic sofa? Check
Ericofon telephones? Check
Keracolour TV in round white plastic shell? Check
Pair of British airline seats?
Yup, the thing that distinguishes In My Room from all the other hip vintage furniture and antique stores is that alongside classic and sought after pieces by big designers they also sell unique and quirky pieces. Everything is lovingly sourced by the owner including original film posters and pieces of art. Right now, there’s Cuban film posters and limited edition pieces by Banksy and Shepherds Fairey.
And yes, anyone interested in the last pair of aircraft seats should pop in quick. They’re from a British plane and come complete with seat-​belts and ashtrays!

In my room has the coolest stuff. It’s not that easy nowadays to run a contemporary design/​furniture shop that doesn’t just seem like a carbon copy of many others. This one makes it look effortless. They sell iconic design pieces from the thirties onwards– with particular focus on the fifties, sixties, seventies, but everything is either unexpected, forgotten or very famous. They often have museum quality design pieces in the window– right now a bright red Paulin ‘ribbon’ lounge seat and footrest. Incredible. It was also here though that I first saw G-​Plan armchairs, signalling a rising trend. They often have large signs, shop lettering and bubble tvs, as well as great strange Disney ephemera or vintage posters. Right now they also have two economy class, seventies, airplane seats that would make a great sofa style addition to an eccentric home. They have that kind of lateral thinking which makes you look at things differently. The only reason I am hanging back on the five star rating is because it is pricey– often rightly so but sometimes perhaps a little unnecessarily. They will haggle a little though.