twentytwentyone

Oooh there are so, so many pretty things in this shop!
Some of it is just very expensive… and not that necessary… but there are also some really lovely items that are *possibly* worth paying a few extra pounds for. My husband and I popped in here to look at their «string» shelves. There aren’t many places in London that stock them, so it was good to see it all set up. The staff were really sweet and helpful, and even gave us a string catalogue while we work out what colours will suit our flat…
I really like mid-​century and Scandinavian-​esque designs… and while I’d prefer to get hold of vintage pieces… shops like twentytwentyone at least give me the option of ordering exactly what we’d like.
Now we just have to save up enough cash to actually buy it all. Eep.

You can shop here and, if you feel like it, pay £350 for a varnished log! And there’s nothing special about this log, it’s just a log! Obviously it was chopped by a designer as opposed to my Dad with his chainsaw, and it’s probably got perfectly concentric circles in the grain but still…
Everything here is all about the design and it’s all very nice but ridiculously expensive. The furniture here is the sort of stuff you would see at the reception of some graphic design company to make an impact when you walk through those doors. Need to impress a client with your super-​stylish office? Then come here.
I have bought one thing from here… a cake slice, it’s sort of shaped like a boomerang and is probably the most stylish cake slice I’ve ever seen (or owned). I won’t tell you how much it cost, pop in to the shop and you’ll soon come up with a rough estimate.

This shop was once called, I believe, something like ‘Twentieth century design’. With the millenium behind us, the name had to change, but the emphasis is still on design, and the shop is full of well-​designed objects, with a small collection of books on design. To tag the shop as ‘Gadgets’ would be an underrating — upmarket gifts or homeware would be nearer the mark.
There are also a few pieces of furniture — Eames, Wegner etc — but the company has a much larger showroom in River Street (off Amwell Street) for furniture.
I have always found both shops a pleasure to visit.

A lot of the stuff in Twenty Twenty One would look out of place in the average home. Although there are a lot of pretty and unique designs, I’ve never once felt my life lacking because I didn’t have a neon orange vase shaped like one of the falling bricks in Tetris. Twenty Twenty One takes no prisoners in its drive to promote contemporary design.
Nonetheless there are a few items in Twenty Twenty One which the more average soul might be interested in. I bought a small purse from here which was purple with red dots and very sweet. A few lamps and ornaments also caught my eye. Anything much larger than this however, was completely out of budget. Even the wooden duck in the window was £120.
I would say that Twenty Twenty One is the perfect shop if you are a young, rich couple looking to deck out your first home in all the best designs. While there are a few items for the rest of us, this shop is likely to leave you feeling poor and uncool.

Twentytwentyone is one of the best companies around for furniture and home accessories, this is the smaller of their two shops but is still somewhere you should definitely if you’re in the area. The compact size of this boutique means it moreso stocks their smaller accessories and less furniture, but you can still place orders for any of their range (although the main shop isn’t far away — see additional review). You will find things here that you would struggle to find in the rest of London, and it’s a great place for presents if you know someone who’s into their product design. It’s not cheap, but it’s not surprising as they sell some of the best contemporary and classic design in the world.

I don’t know why this shop is called ‘twentytwentyone’ — if anyone does know, drop me a line. It’s actually number 274, located right next to a coffee shop, a fire station and an ugly petrol station. You feel refreshed walking in here and will feel your body appreciating the break away from the busy Upper Street. It’s like walking into a tranquil spa — the walls are painted bright white, the space is lit well and there is minimal laid out to see. And although I love walking into places crammed to the ceiling full of exciting hidden treasures, it was actually quite a relief walking around ‘twentytwentyone’. If I had to label this shop into any category, I think I would put in under ‘Gadget Shops’ — there are utensils, oven gloves and equipment for the home but most objects are mechanical in some way. This doesn’t mean the colours in this shop are grey and dull — quite the opposite in fact — when I went the main colours were red, blue, yellow and green. As I walked in I was greeted by a kind lady who told me if I needed any help I mustn’t hesitate to ask. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I’m a bit of a sucker for helpful staff (is that wrong?). Nevertheless, I didn’t actually spend that long in this shop — it’s small and as I said, there’s not that much there to look at. But worth a nosey-​around if you’re passing by.