There is nothing more exciting for me than to go shopping for vintage and antiques, it doesn't matter where, I love fine Antique shops like Sally Turner in Wendover Bucks, I love vintage markets like the ones in Milton Keynes and Winslow and I love car boot fairs all equally as much. But there's one type that beats them all, it's over in Sweden and it's call a Loppis.
A Loppis is, generally speaking, a garage sale, on a slightly more professional level. When driving around the countryside never pass a little handmade sign saying "Loppis" with an arrow pointing up a lane or dirt track. For, at the end of the path will be a world of goodies just waiting to be discovered.
The Loppis can sell anything, new, old, vintage, antique and the downright bonkers.
My latest jaunt over to Sweden naturally included a day of Loppis shopping, luckily for me, my friend Rachel does occasionally find something to her taste, like the mad steampunk 1930s coffee pot we used in these photos of the "babes in the woods".
A Loppis can be found in a barn, a garage, or even A WINDMILL!!
The above two Loppis are in Grillby, the Windmill still has all its working parts, amongst the bric-a-brac, all except its sails. The owner gives you a lovely talk about its history.
I bought a traditional Swedish rag rug from here, and some mounted deer horns from the other Loppis. Keep an open mind as to what you will find.
Generally speaking the prices in these places are very good, the owners know the worth to the "Towny" interior decorators, but they are still sensible, a bargain can always be found. One mans junk is another mans treasure.
If you google up a translation of the word Loppis it says flea market, and its a general term that can cover car boot and flea markets too. I think the Swedish perhaps have one word for their old junk, whereas in the UK we like to narrow it down and categorize the types of junk we are selling ha ha !
The Windmill owners also have a studio for ceramic making and run courses there. The other Loppis has a facebook page, they are called Mormors Lupbod.
Grillby can be found just off the E18 out of Stockholm, just over an hours drive. Its just before Enkoping.
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