Tony's Garage Sale (Den Haag, NETHERLANDS)

Before the great pandemic of 2020 put us all in our homes, we were starting to explore some of the more unusual areas in the town that we lived in (The Hague). I'm sure that most people have experienced the feeling that they know other cities that they visit as tourists better than they know the attractions in their own city!

For us, the realisation came about when a brother of my wife visited, and he ended up taking photos and discovering so many places that we had never even knew existed... despite the fact that we had lived here for over a decade! From that point, we were determined to try out all the little nooks and crannies that our adopted home had for us!

This meant that we would keep an eye out for little festivals and events that we could experience. These events would often showcase local shops, artisans and curiosities in local areas... the places that you miss, unless you take that little alleyway instead of the main road!

On this particular weekend, there was a showcase of vintage shops. The Netherlands has a huge second hand culture, it really is an ingrained part of their culture! So, there is also a market that has sprung up alongside the regular second-hand kringloop stores that cater to a retro and vintage shopper... a sort of more upmarket second hand.

On this little tour, we found a wide range of clothing and furniture styles. Some, we already knew (mostly the clothing stores...), but most of the retro vintage furniture stores were a new discovery for us. We are at the stage of life where we are settling into our own house, and we are replacing all the cheaper IKEA type furniture with longer lasting pieces, as we know that we will be in this place for longer than the rent holds out!

Some of the vintage places were WELL out of our price range... amazing pieces of furniture from previous centuries... incredible craftsmanship and inlays and all of that stuff... but, I'm not paying 10,000 euros for a desk!

Tony's Garage Sale is a retro vintage store that is in a light industrial area at the end of Den Haag. It's hard to get to with public transport, so you will need to ride a bike or drive. It is near the end of an alley off the main arterial road along the canal, hard to find unless you know it was there. Plus, you would have little reason to be going along the main road in the first place!

Just a quick note that the showroom is only open on Saturday afternoons (see the website) or by special appointment.

The owners collect up 1950-70s furniture and restore them to a lovely new state. Again, there is a range of quality and prices, but much more affordable than the heirloom places that you would find near the embassy areas.

All the work is done in a neighbouring premises, but they have set aside a part of the warehouse as a showroom. Two levels of retro furniture which put my wife in heaven! Actually, I was pretty impressed as well... but my kids were most impressed by the Kermit doll.

They have a corner of the showroom set aside as a photography "studio". I guess this is where they take the lovely photos that adorn their website.

This was one piece of furniture that looked pretty interesting for us. We still have a cheap arse IKEA table that we eat from... it has followed us around since we first moved to The Netherlands as students. My wife has wanted to change it for years... this would definitely be a top contender!

Okay, I lied... some of the pieces are a little bit too strange for my tastes! Having these lamps in my house would definitely freak me out!

This Scandinavian design of shelving and storage is something that my wife was really interested in. She had read about it before, but this was the first time that she had seen it. It's a sort of modular sort of design with lovely wood panelling for the storage and shelving parts.... the first thing she did when we got home was to measure up our walls! The owner mentioned that it would be possible to essentially fit the system into any dimensions due to the design.

In Dutch houses, space is a real premium... and so you see these fold out desks. The table section folds right back in when you aren't using it... we used to have one before we moved to our current place. In principle it is a great idea... however, in practice, the desk needs to be clear and clean before you fold it! That didn't happen as often as we thought it would...

Still, the idea of getting a nice one still appeals to me!

Another piece of furniture that really appealed to me was this wood side table... side table, not sure if that is the right word for it. Anyway, a perfect place to put in the living room along a wall... and I just love the dark colour of the finish!

Finally, another piece of furniture that has been following us around has been the sofa... it's another hold over from our student days, and is also an IKEA special. This double corner set was incredibly comfy and would seem to be a perfect replacement! The coffee table isn't so bad either!

So, many things to look at and be interested in... the prices, whilst not being astronomical are still enough that we have to pick and choose... but we have time, and finding little pieces to outfit your house in the style that you love is supposed to be the work of decades!