About Us
It started with a sofa…
Or to be more precise, the lack of one. I had spent years searching for perfection: not too big but big for errant napping, with a solid wood frame, ideally upholstered in cat-proof fabric (a big ask, I’ll admit). However, the more I searched the more I noticed a pattern forming: poor quality items still came with a high ticket value.
As the owner of a slow fashion business this predicament doesn’t sit well with me. My brand ethos was to create made-to-measure pieces to increase longevity and avoid wastefully spending money on items that won’t last, as the old adage goes ‘buy cheap, buy twice’. Sustainability is a principle I hold dear and sadly the homeware industry, like the fashion industry, has become increasingly saturated with poorly made, faddily designed items that are made to be replaced.
As the time went by I tried to cajole myself into just buying something, anything, but in the end I couldn’t swallow my pride and splurge on a piece that compromised on quality. In the meantime, I found a reasonably priced second hand sofa online and allowed the cat to destroy it, hoping the sight of shredded leather armrests would foster a sense of urgency in my decision making.
And then it happened, during one of my now nightly scouring sessions I stumbled across my dream sofa for sale at auction: a pre-loved mid-century influenced chaise with curved beech legs, goose feather stuffing and neutral linen upholstery in incredible condition by the Italian designer Tacchini. It’s the most comfortable and well made sofa I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting on and yet it was still far less expensive than most contemporary retailers would charge for a dupe version of the same piece.
The rest, as they say, is history. An obsession was born, I became hyper-focused on discovering items by specific designers and made it my mission to find the rare pieces, playing on a talent for uncovering hidden gems in the strangest of places. I found my energy organically began to shift more towards interiors and eventually I had to face the facts; I have an eye for exceptional pieces and know how to uncover them so I should really share my finds rather than bogarting the goodies and slowly turning my home into a miniature museum that only myself, and my cat George, gets to enjoy.
So welcome to Vintrovia, a treasure trove of beautifully crafted, high quality vintage interior pieces. I hope you love the collection as much as I do!