Cardiff goes Pop with Bricks at Home and Ushi's

I love pop-up shops and I love that Cardiff is finally embracing them so much. It means that smaller independent stores that are usually only found online or outside the city centre get a chance to be more accessible to a larger audience for a short period of time as well as adding something new to the more established shops in the city centre. 

Recently St Davids Cardiff got in touch to let me know about two Pop Up Shops currently making themselves at home in the centre and I made sure to check them out. The first shop I stopped off at was Bricks At Home - a art and interior design concept store based on Pop Art and Lego. I loved it! In my mind Cardiff does not have enough diversity when it comes to accessible art in comparisons to larger cities like Bristol and London. 

I got to spend some time talking to the owner Andy Morris who believes in bringing playful design to modern life and Bricks at Home was the perfect combination of a gallery space to help inspire you as well as a shop for affordable art which also showcased local artists and creators. The large plush textile ice-cream was created by a local artists and there was also an excellent collection of artist books, accessories and stationary that you otherwise would find hard to get hold in Cardiff.

Andy Morris also had some original art pieces on show as well as to scale Lego Money and the Mona Lisa pixelated wall piece really got my attention, would love this in my living room. This pop-up has now finished but they have an excellent online store and Andy also told me he will be back in the city centre over Christmas time as well as some more pop-up stores in the pipework.

The next stop was the fashion boutique Ushi's which has taken over a large spacious store right in the middle of the centre. I was already familiar with Ushi's as it has a store in Cowbridge, a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan which has an array of fantastic independent shops. Ushi's stocks an variety of British and European designer and independent brands which you would normally not find on the high street. There is a real Mediterranean feel to their collection at the moment in the run up to warmer days spent home and abroad with some beautiful hats scarfs and sunglasses. 

Ushi's has been around for about 30 years so they really know what they are doing in bringing unique pieces to South Wales and the staff are really knowledge about where things are made and the fabrics used. They also stock pieces for the home including an array of candles, soaps and small tickets which are perfect as a gift for someone.

What really took my eye though was the bags and a few of the light summer dresses which would be perfect for a holiday somewhere nice and warm. The clothes are beautifully designed and if your looking for something a bit more special than this is a good place to start. Also I've heard they have extended their pop-up store for a few more weeks.