Counter attraction: We hit the streets for interiors buys

As kerbside shops re-emerge after a long period of online browsing, we're loving trying products for size 

Michael Wall, furniture enthusiast and owner of Salvagem.

Remember when Cork’s MacCurtain Street was an interiors hub?

It’s not long ago you could pop into the sort of shops you might find in London’s Burlington Arcade and the Saint Germain district in Paris, until recession saw floral artists, antique dealers and design retailers disappear.

Salvagem on Cork's MacCurtain Street is a treasure trove of vintage, antique and interiors curiosities.

Now the street is a foodie destination where fish and chips are gourmet, but I’m thrilled interiors are making a comeback on this Victorian thoroughfare.

Just a few doors away from the recently arrived florists To Have and To Hold, Michael Wall signed the lease on 6/7 MacCurtain Street to open his shop Salvagem selling vintage, antiques and interiors curiosities.

Describing himself as restorer, repairer, buyer and curator, he quips, “I’m like Victor Kiam. He loved the product so he bought the company. I love furniture so much I opened a shop.”

After ripping out 1980s and 1990s décor and exposing original Victorian plate-glass windows, he took the interior back to what it was. But successive lockdowns delayed the shop getting off the ground until this summer. Now it’s a destination, according to Michael, for anyone who appreciates that not everything has to be thrown away.

Helle Moyna, owner of interiors shop Nordic Elements. Picture: Ruth Maria Murphy

“I get artists, interior designers, the man in the street looking for a gramophone; a woman looking for vintage Indian silk curtains,” he says. “I hand-pick everything; the art, the furniture, the fabrics, minding them and giving them love and attention. They’re not necessarily all old, but items that appeal to me.”

His eclectic stock is sourced from an equally eclectic range of places — auctions, online, car-boot sales and house clearances. Some pieces he restores and repairs using parts from other objects of the same period.

“I’ll stop at the side of the road if I see something battered and bruised in a skip,” he says, “but I’ll also don a suit and tie and go to an auction.”

So when you go for a nose around, expect to see furniture, lighting and Chinese and mid-century ceramics; French bronzes, and art by Crawford College of Art and Design graduates.

“It’s lovely to look at things on Instagram,” Michael says, “but when you come into the shop you can look at the lustre on a bronze, the polish on a table or the texture on a painting.”

I’m curious about the price range and Michael gives me two examples.

“At the moment I have a Victorian leather-topped, shamrock-shaped reading table in oak. It would have been used for tarot cards and crystal ball readings. It’s €2,500.

“If you’re starting out with your first house or apartment, I’d never be shy of kitchen chairs. Some are rustic, art deco, art nouveau, Edwardian, starting at €40.”

Verner Panton's Move Table (€2,020) and the 430 Series dining chair (from €650) from Nordic Elements.

Meanwhile, in Dublin, Nordic Elements has just opened its new premises.

Owned by Danish-born Helle Moyna, who moved in 2013 from London to Dublin with her Irish husband, two sons and her business, she set up in the basement of her new home and stayed there until it became clear the business needed to move out to a bigger place of its own.

“We were exploding out of the basement,” says Helle, “but I wanted to stay local.

Royal System shelving unit in walnut by Paul Cadovious (1948) produced by Dk3. From Nordic Elements (€8,018).

So last week she opened her new showroom doors at 38 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin, selling things like furniture, lighting, rugs, vases, candles and stoneware with an emphasis on quality and timeless styles.

“Our brands were made in the ’50s and ’60s and are still in production. They’re not copies,” she says. “They work with other styles and periods so you’re creating a home rather than a show house.

“Someone might come in thinking they have to have a complete change because they have all brown furniture, but you don’t have to do everything at once.”

To focus her clients, she advises them to have some idea of what they want, even if it’s images and boards on Pinterest, but to take their time and buy things they can move from room to room.

And she’s even noticing how the pandemic is a positive influence when it comes to buying.

“People have been sitting on their sofas more and are understanding the need for quality,” she says. “My advice is always to buy the best you can afford. Buy less and buy better, but leave space in your home so when you spot something you really love you have somewhere to put it.”