Striking Chinese furniture, beautiful wall-hung lights from France, silver plated wedding albums and chalky Italianate busts made from fibreglass. Clare Campbell's eclectic and exotic taste shines through from the moment you walk into her new shop, Araby, on Church Hill, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. Named after the market which James Joyce wrote about in Dubliners (I'll sing three songs of Araby/ And tales of fair Kashmir . . .), this store is an oasis for shoppers keen to reach beyond the everyday designs for home and garden.
"We hope people will make the shop their destination. They can have a cup of coffee and potter around," says Jenny Coen, the manager of Araby, who previously worked for several years with the design team in Brown Thomas.
The shop is situated over two floors in one of Enniskerry's fine townhouses, with a wonderful terraced garden to the back where shoppers can sit and ponder their acquisitions or potential purchases.
The objets d'art (which is, in a way, what many of them are) range from little silver tooth fairy boxes (£20) by Sue Rawley to nickle plated steel candle-holders (£95 to £295) frames (from £40) Handmade Indian shawls (£1,200), Chinese wedding baskets (£105) money chests (£1,900) are more of the unusual, and expensive, items on sale.
One Chinese armchair (£3,000) has elaborate carving on its back which resembles the facade of a church. Another beautiful chest (£1,700) had a former life as a Chinese medicine chest and the sideboards are were once used as altar tables. Buy any of these and you will bring a segment of Chinese social history into your home.
The aforementioned Indian shawls are designed by Sandeep Khosla and Abu Jani who, by the way, designed Judi Dench's costume for the Oscars ceremony earlier this year.
This is Clare Campbell's first foray into retailing, but she has always been a collector.
"I like nice things and I hope to change what we have here all the time," says Campbell, a keen traveller with contacts in various places around the world. She admits to being a bit of a magpie when it comes to collecting things.
The second floor of Araby is dedicated to art. Cathy Addis, Fergal Courtney, Erraught & Warren and David O'Connell are among those whose work is currently on exhibition there.
Future plans include sourcing original materials from faraway places with a view to incorporating them into new designs on this side of the world.
Araby, Church Hill, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. Tel: 01 2829679.
