Dublin charity shop tour – part 2

Back in October, Emily of From China Village shared one of my favourite and well worn charity shop routes in the Dublin city centre over on her blog. Since that was way back in October, I thought it was high time I share another one of my favourite routes, but this time on the south side. 

I start by taking any of the buses that go down George’s / Camden Street, and get out at the stop just after Age Action nearish to The Bleeding Horse. Then I get down to business. Starting at Dublin’s Simon Community, I work my way north back towards the city centre …

1Dublin’s Simon Community – a great place to check out for clothes. You won’t find much brick-a-brack here, but the abundance of clothes {both adult and kids} more than makes up for it. 
2. Age Action – if you’re on the lookout for furniture, you have got to check out Age Action. They have serious retro pieces in the windows and throughout the shop. I’ve found many amazing pieces in this place – my vintage vases, the lamp I revamped and my coral to name a few. They also have a serious vintage clothing selection.
3. Enable Ireland – a good selection of everything but they always seem to strike gold when it comes to bed linens. Don’t be afraid to buy second hand linen – you’ve slept in a hotel before, right? Well I’m afraid it’s the same thing. Just wash them before you use them. 
4. Irish Cancer Society – this place is perfect for nick-knacks. However, this charity shop can be overpriced. For example, there was a lovely teapot on display but it was marked €45. It wasn’t a fancy label, so I inquired about the price and the manager wouldn’t budge. I’ve found other items overpriced, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find amazing bargains. I’ve gotten beautiful vases for my mom in here.
5. Debra – a serious gold mine. Not only are the staff incredibly friendly and helpful {they remembered me from years ago buying teapots and cups for our wedding! I didn’t even remember that}, but there are real gems and jewels in here. For instance, I picked up my bar cart here. Winning. 

After Debra charity shop it’s a 10 or 15 minute walk to Vincent’s on Aungier Street so sometimes I hop on the next bus because if I’m not cycling, I use my unlimited bus ticket and I usually milk it for all it’s worth. Otherwise it’s not too long of a walk to the next shop … 

6. Vincent’s – this is a real gem when it comes to odds and ends. It’s a small shop, but what it lacks in size, it makes up in volume of interesting and unusual pieces. Vases, paintings and collectors items fill this place to the top as well as clothes. 
7. All Sorts – I’ve heard this place being referred to as the TK Maxx of charity shops. It has a good mix of odds-and-ends and a good clothes selection. I find it very good for accessories as I’ve picked up a couple of belts and bangles in here now and again. 
If you wanted, again, you can take the bus a couple stops to George’s Street as there’s a bit of a walk between these shops. But it’s not too far. You can do it. 
8. Enable Ireland – all Enable Ireland’s have a really good mix of everything. This one in particular has very posh clothes. Again, as with the Enable Ireland on Camden Street, make sure you check out their window display and take note of when it goes on sale as there are some serious gems in there. 
9. Vincent’s – the newest charity shop on George’s Street and already I’ve scored some hits there. Lots of really swish clothes downstairs, and if collectibles and records are your thing, then head upstairs. 
10. Oxfam – this Oxfam is quite fancy and always has a really good selection of next-to-new clothes, books, handbags and accessories. Especially check out their vintage scarf selection if that’s your kind of thing.

And if that route doesn’t satisfy your charity shop craving in the Dublin city centre, than I srsly don’t know what will.

This is my favourite route because with a whopping 10 shops, you’re guaranteed to find something that makes you scream inside. If you’d like to check out my original charity shop route for the north side, click on over here to my post on Emily’s post!

Desk days

I’ve spent a lot of time at my desk recently. I’ve put a bit of extra effort in to make it somewhere I want to sit more than somewhere I need to sit, and for me that usually means mixing things up. I get bored if things stay in the same place too long so I rotate things around the apartment. Not so fun for husband though when he’s trying to look for something. Bless him. 

I’ve become a smidge obsessed with matches recently. I think it’s because we’re well and truly into the winter months, and candles in our home get lit on a regular basis. I found these giant match sticks in Industry‘s new pop up shop on Drury Street, and they perfectly quenched my need. So this week I was on the lookout for a special match stick holder {as you do} and spotted this perfect little red shot glass in a charity shop on Saint Michan’s Street {can’t remember its name} for €0.50. SCORE.
Candles are also a great way for me to get through the depressing Irish winter {cold, no snow, grey, grey, grey, rain and grey}. If it’s going to be dark and gross out, might as well make it fancy and cosy and light some candles. If I had a fireplace, that thing would be lit from October to March. 

And above, my most random impulse buy ever. I saw these Black is the New Black pencils from MadeByGirl, and I had to have them. They reminded me of what I almost always say when I’m out shopping – whether it’s something for our apartment, or something for me to wear … 

… that or dark purple / maroon / wine etc. The darker, the better. But that’s not really reflected in these bright pictures. I feel I should say, if we owned our apartment, it would look very different. Speaking of darker, I was a bit bold and spray painted one of my faux hydrangeas yesterday. They’re originally bright purple with pink, and because of that I noticed I didn’t have them on display as much. I gave one one of them darker a light dusting of spray paint to see what it looked like, and I think it turned out not too bad if I may be so bold. Oh, and for those of you curious about my vase, I nabbed that cheap and cheerful DIY from Bethany from Dwellings by DeVore. A girl after my own heart. 

Also featured – lamp revampthrifted coralfaux hydrangeas

Thrifty things – bust must plus

I struck charity shop gold again this week. For some time I’ve wanted something nifty and a little out of the ordinary to display my favourite necklaces. I had seen busts being used all over the internet machine for this very reason, and I wanted in on some of that action. Since I’m cheap as hell, I casually kept my options open for sourcing a sturdy bust perfect for the job. I dropped into Second Abbey {where I found my new / old footstool}, and there he was. Mozart. At the time I wasn’t able to bring him home, so I figured if he was there the next time, I’d buy him. Lo and behold, the next time I ventured in, he was still there. Lonely amidst the chaos …

The poor guy looked like he had been massacred by fake tan. His face says it all. For a steal at €15, I took him under my wing {actually, I placed him in my bike basket}, and cycled home. A little scrub behind the ears and a fresh coat of Montana’s ‘sh. white‘ spray paint, and Mozart regained a little bit of his former dignity. That is, until I draped him in jewels. 
Mozzy, as I now refer to him, is currently taking first place as the focal point in our bedroom, which I’m slowly but surely revamping bit by bit on a budget. He’s perched on our dresser, which I also recently revamped. I’ll be sharing that little upgrade as soon as I can, so keep your eyes peeled! I just gotta get around to taking some decent ‘after’ pictures. 

Chin up, buttercup.

xx A

Also featured – our living room painting