The Old Cinema in Chiswick is more of an institution than just an antique furniture store. No, that would be selling it short: leaving out their lighting and jewellery, and 'upcycled' and retro stock, and the crazy Frankenstein wonders of old and new that clever furniture designers have come up with and display here – fuelling the fire of your indecision about how you want to dress your home.
This isn't just a furniture emporium, this is the warehouse of numerous collectors, sellers and specialist buyers. That's the trick to the quality and variety: different segments of the Store are rented by different stockists – so it's like visiting a mini art and design fair.
The pieces on offer are broken up into antique, vintage or retro, and range from Victoriana, to period French to 70s Danish, to Art Nouveau and Art Deco and industrial bits and bobs. In the
antique category you'll find your Early and Late Victorian and Arts and Crafts wood furniture, oak chests, mahogany cabinets and teak tall boys. And the wonderful stationery accessories that go with them.
At the
vintage department you'll see more stainless steel and circa 1950s furniture. There's also recycled timber topped tables – which you can have made to order – and some nice looking reproductions, including a very convincing range of leather armchairs.
The
retro department is a bit more eclectic. There are 60s treasures that you may have thought were awful in your childhood but love now, and an interesting collection of Scandinavian odds and ends that seem to be in excellent repair. The polar opposite of Ikea.
It's difficult to begin to mention all the treasures that you might find here, but if you're building a nest of unique treasures, or just like your things with a bit of character to them, then this is the kind of department store that you'll want to browse regularly. And if you're not sure you can handle the temptation, or you're not sure if you can warrant a trip to Chiswick, they keep their
website updated with their wares – though they do tend to leave things on for a while after they've sold.
If you were wondering about the name you'll be interested to hear that it's not just the stock that's been upcycled – this building really was an old cinema – but in the 1890s!
