A sustainable, awe-inspiring one acre outfit is just one reason to visit Dirty Janes Canberra, the vintage specialist’s second Australian venue when it opens on March 25 this month. Plus there’s an even bigger range of artisanal and antique shopping than the original Southern Highlands flagship which has become Australia’s most unique vintage shopping destination since it opened in Bowral many years ago. Read more, ‘How To Shop and Why Retail Therapy Works.’
The new venue will open in the nation’s capital at the recently refurbished 2000 square meter site in Fyshwick with a barn for 90 stallholders including a blacksmith, and café with loose leaf tea mixed on-site.
There are four vegetable gardens, a home paddock with pygmy goats and chickens, as well as a workshop where you can learn new skills such as basket weaving.
The father and daughter team behind the business concept, Athol Salter and Jane Crowley, are Canberra-bred so know the city well.
After all, it’s where Athol started his first antiques business, Antiques Hall, back in 1974 until 1986 when the family moved to the Southern Highlands. Now with Jane’s husband Bob Crowley, the three family members have established a winning formula for selling second-hand furniture that people can repurpose to add soul to their homes. Read more on sustainable shopping in our trend report, ‘These Will Be The Top Home Design Trends for 2020, Part 2.’
With more awareness around sustainability than ever before, vintage mega stores like Dirty Janes are one of the best ways to invest in second hand furniture.
Dirty Janes is where our A-list interior designers, collectors and dealers go for everything from bargain Georgian desks to 1950s wingbacks, French salon chairs, kitchen island benches and other things you see in the best interiors. Think Palm Springs glam meets French vintage. Read more, ’10 Things The French Always Do When Decorating.’
“It’s about businesses making a community, says Jane Crowley, who explains “opening in Canberra feels like we’ve come full circle.”
Go for a mindblowing collection of second-hand tables, dining chairs, stools, French watering cans, plinths, wire baskets, clocks.
There are chests of drawers, 1950s shop mannequins, soda cyphons, galvanised Amish barn stars, jumbo French breadboards, black lacquer tables, old suitcases, vintage tennis racquets, timber baker’s paddles, and Georgian bookcases, dried butterflies, and old glass cloches. Read more, ‘Improve Your Mood with These 50 Top Decorating Tips.’
You’ll also find European workbenches, butcher’s blocks, parquet-top coffee tables, industrial-style storage racks, excellent Irish Gainsborough chairs, upholstered sofas, and the best table lamps. Think rough textures, natural materials, subtle hues: an old wooden bowl, a wicker hanging lantern, a tarnished goblet.
The pieces you’ll find will give your house soul, lots of style and nostalgia value as well as reflecting your interests and sense of beauty. Perfect for adding warmth. Embellishment. And lots of texture.
DIRTY JANES CANBERRA, Rear 80 Collie Street, Fyshwick, 02 6169 4945, www.dirtyjanes.com
