Brixton Vintage Thrift Shop Finder: South London Retro Gems
Antique Furniture Store Near Me on Golborne Road: Les Couilles du Chien
Les Couilles du Chien at 65 Golborne Road mixes Belle Epoque sofas, Murano chandeliers, framed butterflies and taxidermy in a North Kensington shop open Monday to Saturday.
Les Couilles du Chien trades from 65 Golborne Road, London W10 5NP, at the North Kensington end of Notting Hill, and opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, closed on Sundays. Search antique furniture store near me from Portobello Road and this is the shop where a nineteenth-century oak dresser can share a window with a taxidermy stag, a Murano chandelier and a pair of slipper chairs.

Thirty Years of Odd Pairings on Golborne Road
The shop describes itself as established some thirty years ago and built around decorative antiques and natural history curiosities rather than one period. Jerome, who runs it, came to antiques from a background in retail interior design, and his buying shows it: pieces are chosen because they will change a room, not because they complete a set. The business has always sold heavily to the international antique and decorating trades, so dealers and stylists are a large part of the daily traffic.
The name, a French rendering of the British slang phrase the dog's bollocks, meaning the very best, sets the tone. Inside, the stock moves from a taxidermy moose head to Murano glass chandeliers to design classics without any attempt at period zoning, and the shop says its own range spans furniture of all periods, from Belle Epoque sofas to sleek mid-century tables. Expect to walk sideways between pieces on a busy Saturday, since the floor is packed rather than staged.
Furniture, Mirrors and a Three-Metre Chandelier
Furniture is the core, and the listings in October 2026 give a fair idea of pricing: an extremely decorative nineteenth-century oak dresser with original sign writing at £3,950, and a pair of decorative early twentieth-century slipper chairs at £950. Mirrors are a speciality too, with a constant stock of large and small examples running from the early nineteenth century to the 1970s, which suits anyone fitting out a hallway or a Victorian chimney breast.
Lighting covers wall lights, plafonniers, chandeliers, table and floor lamps of every period. The headline piece the shop likes to mention is a three-metre mid-century Murano chandelier, but the range runs down to small French crystal bedroom fixtures, so you do not need a ballroom to find something. Vintage posters sit on the walls as well; an original 1968 Air France travel poster for India designed by Georges Mathieu was listed at £340.
The Butterfly Workshop and the Natural History Corner
The most distinctive part of the stock is natural history. Framed butterflies and insects from around the world are set and framed in the shop's own workshop on Golborne Road, using bespoke British-made solid oak frames, and a full bespoke framing service is available if you bring your own specimens or need a particular size. This is the piece most first-time visitors leave with, because a single frame fits in a tote bag where a dresser does not.
Beyond the butterflies sit a large stock of minerals from every continent, Victorian taxidermy, seashells and cabinet-of-curiosity objects. The owner calls this collection his own passion, and he will help assemble a group of objects if you are building a curiosity cabinet or dressing a library. If taxidermy makes you uneasy, skip the back of the shop and stay with the mirrors and lighting near the door, which make up most of the floor.
Who Shops Here and How to Behave
On weekdays the regulars are interior decorators pulling pieces for clients, set designers and prop buyers, since the shop also hires out stock, and its whole premises, for film and photo shoots. On Saturdays the crowd turns into Portobello weekenders who drift up from the market. The unwritten rule is to ask before you handle the taxidermy or open the drawers of a cabinet, and to ask about hire rather than assume something you love is for sale only.
Because stock changes constantly, the shop recommends using the contact page if you have a specific requirement for a mirror or light of a certain size, and it posts new arrivals on Instagram under les_couilles_du_chien. Sizes matter here: a nineteenth-century overmantel mirror can easily be taller than a modern ceiling, so bring room measurements and a photo of the wall it is meant for.
Timing Your Visit Around the Market
Golborne Road has its own street market, busiest at the end of the week, and the stretch around number 65 gets crowded on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Arrive at 10am on a Saturday if you want space to look at the larger pieces, or come on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when the decorators have usually been and gone by noon. Sunday is the one day the shop is shut, so a Sunday Portobello trip will only get you the window display.
If Les Couilles du Chien does not have the right piece, the Saturday antiques stalls on Portobello Road a few streets south are the obvious next stop, and on a weekday Retrouvius at 1016 Harrow Road in Kensal Green, open Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm, covers reclaimed timber, lanterns and mid-century chairs. Give up on any piece once a dealer has reserved it for the trade; it rarely comes back on a weekend.
A Walk From Trellick Tower to Portobello
Golborne Road runs between two very different landmarks. At its northern end stands Trellick Tower, Erno Goldfinger's brutalist block, completed in 1972 and Grade II* listed since 1998, its separate lift and service tower visible from the end of the road. Walk the other way and the road fills with Portuguese and Moroccan cafes and grocers, including Lisboa Patisserie, a long-running bakery known for its custard tarts. From there Portobello Road is a five-minute walk south, with its own antiques arcades on Saturdays.
Practical Notes
Address: Les Couilles du Chien, 65 Golborne Road, London W10 5NP, Notting Hill and North Kensington. Hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, closed Sundays. Nearest stations: Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines, each roughly a ten-minute walk. Entry is free. Bespoke butterfly framing, stock hire and location hire for shoots are arranged through the shop's contact page. New arrivals go up in the Recently Added section of the shop's website before many reach the window, so it is worth scrolling that list on the morning you plan to visit.
Ask Karpo for more information.
Keep reading
Brixton Vintage Thrift Shop Finder: South London Retro Gems
Notting Hill Vintage Thrift Shop Finder: Preloved Rails
Soho Vintage Thrift Shop Finder: West End Designer Archives