August 10, 2012

retro villa.


i’ve been wanting to share my retro villa experience with you for weeks now. for those of you that follow me on instagram, you’ll have an inkling of what is to come. this experience started as a crazy little idea that i had one afternoon, to visit what i believed to be vintage wallpaper heaven on earth. it soon became all that i thought about. i wish i could remember how i came to discover the retro villa concept but all i can think of is that ebay was no longer delivering in the eye candy stakes so it may have just been good old google that did the unearthing for me. being an avid blog reader, i’m hoping it was more likely a decor8 feature. i had originally decided on staying overnight in copenhagen to maximise the vintage wallpaper experience but it soon became apparent that this little adventure was not going to be good friends with my credit card limit. so an early start from london (alarm set for 3.15am) and then a direct flight to amsterdam in the afternoon fast became the ideal option. i was in copenhagen for approximately 5.5 hours, enough time for me to train into the city, find RV (experience it’s bounty) and then pick up a bite to eat en route back to the airport. with two hours of broken sleep under my belt, enough excitement to last me a lifetime and my minimal knowledge of the danish language (hej & tak), i set off to find heaven. one wrong turn and a helpful h&m girl later and i had reached my mecca. i arrived just shy of opening time so i spent a few minutes snapping photos of the area. copenhagen is a beautiful city, with its cobbled streets, ombre toned buildings and delicious design ethic, which is evident everywhere you look. soon enough i was making my way back to RV to experience what i had only dreamt/blogged/talked about for the past year or so. it was a bit smaller than imagined but an efficiently laid out designer’s/pattern lover’s/vintage adorer’s dream. to my right was a well-crafted wall of eclectic danish design which included vintage fabric cushions, pottery and treats for the home. wallpaper adorned every surface, delighting all of my senses. i was greeted by the gorgeous and enchanting shop owner, stylist and writer, mette-helena who had the kettle on within minutes of meeting me. it wasn’t long before we were deep in conversation about how i had come across RV, my love for vintage patterns and the fact i’d travelled all the way from australia to visit her shop. her story is incredible, definitely one i recommend reading here. i remember being completely enchanted by her story, which i now believe to be one of the main reasons i began this journey in the first place. rolls of wallpaper offcuts were stacked in tubs to the left of me as i entered the shop, just infront of what can only be described as the wall of wallpaper wonder. i have never felt my heart beat so fast, i was speechless. my photos cannot even begin to convey the incredible vision that stood before me. separated into families of colour, i was neck deep in a designer’s dream. i wanted ALL OF IT but knew due to a 20 kilo weight limit and budget, that (this time round) i had to behave myself. i pulled out every roll and let my eyes devour each pattern. i went with my immediate gut feeling, allowing myself to go home with the ones i knew i truly loved. it was like being reunited with old friends when i would pull out a roll and recognise the pattern from a wishlist i’d made a year earlier. i tried to savour the inspiration and soon gave up on attempting to capture everything with a photograph. i had to let go of the fact that i couldn’t have it all and i believe being confronted with so much beauty really taught me to stop and enjoy it, rather than worrying about not being able to take in enough. although i walked away with 26 metres of wallpaper, i knew the experience would be the priceless inspiration that i would still be talking about well into my 90’s. if you're in the copenhagen area, or europe for that matter, go visit this little slice of heaven. to read mette-helena's take on our encounter, head over here. again mette-helena, thank you from the bottom of my vintage wallpaper loving heart. x




love this city.

the ombre effect takes over copenhagen.

love.

understated beauty.

window treasures.

told you, now breath.

because there's more...

and it's colour coded.

the offcuts.

a sneak peek at my purchases.

favourite #1

favourite #2

favourite #3


11 comments:

Trudy Florence said...

love reading it and I can just remember how excited you were arriving with me with armloads of wallpaper. So glad you got there you crazy cat. Love you. xxx

Bungalowgirl said...

Oh my goodness! I think I just fainted, or perhaps it was a seizure. What an experience for you Laura, how did you get through them all in only 5 hours? That pic of the wall of rolls is AMAZING. I am wondering if Roboboy will let me wallpaper his ikea stool too!Can't wait to see the other 23 metres. melx

Unknown said...

Awesome *awesome* photos! :)

studiomam said...

the wallpaper... amazing!

humble habit said...

I am drooling, your sweets usually do that to me, but the wallpaper Oh my!

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. God. Seriously, those photos are almost enough to make me hyperventilate, I can't even imagine how you must have felt in person! Just wow. And so Copenhagen just shot up to the top of my travel wish list! Thank you for sharing.

Katie x

Chrissie en Heidi said...

Oh my... wish I was there!! It looks all AMAZING!

Enjoy!

Linda said...

oh WOW! there are no words!

Thrift Bee said...

Amazing shop. I used to visit Copenhagan for work years ago. Lovely city. Danes are very cool.
Thanks for sharing.

Greer said...

Wow wow wow!

Vintage Sheet Addict said...

Wow, I've heard about this shop, I would love it visit! Ada :)