Seven-year-old Aoife Finn used to love nothing more than an evening spent watching interior design shows with her mum. “That was my little treat on a Tuesday night,” she says, laughing. “If there was a house show on, the other siblings might go to bed and I would stay up that little bit longer.

“Mam would want me to go to bed when the ads came on. But I’d insist: ‘oh! Let me see what happens next. Let me see the finishing piece. Let me see how to design it.’ And that started my love for interiors.’”

It is a love that has not waned.

Aoife, who is better known as @potterandbyrnehome on Instagram, meets Irish Country Living in Treasure Trove, an antique shop located in a 200-year-old malt house in the village of Castlebridge, Co Wexford. The fabric of the building, that once stored grains, is full of history.

As Aoife potters around the three storeys of antique magic, it is clear that this vintage picker is in her element. We slowly wind our way past shelves decked with glassy homeware and glossy ceramics, up staircases draped with colourful Afghan rugs, and muscle through a maze of old-fashioned dressers and wooden tables.

Treasure Trove is a favourite of Aoife’s, and one of the many stores that she has visited as part of her Instagram series on antique shops around the country. It was five years ago that she first started sharing bits and pieces about interiors online. At the time, she had just bought a house in north Wexford with her husband, Niall, and was sharing some small DIY updates as they were doing it up.

But it was really last year when her social media platforms really exploded, and her following grew from 5,000 to 40,000 over the course of 12 months. Reflecting on the community she has built online, Aoife says: “The conversations are lovely. People are sending me where they went and what they bought and asking: how would you style that?

“It’s just lovely because online can be a bit of a scary, funny place at times. But I just think there’s just this lovely community of people that want to celebrate independent businesses, but also make their houses homes, and bring in the pieces that they really do love.”

As the daughter of two small business owners, Aoife said her parents always stressed the importance of shopping local. “That was your bread and butter, the local shops. They’re the ones that will support and help with everyone else around the community. That was just kind of fostered into us.” She sees her work now, championing Irish-owned antique shops, as an extension of that ethos.

Consumption habits

The growth of Aoife’s social media reflects an increased appetite for thrifting, salvaging and vintage. People are taking more of an interest in their homes, mostly due to the fact that we’re spending more time in them than ever since the pandemic. Working remotely, many people are also conscious of how the corners of their houses appear in video calls.

“I think people just want their home to feel like them,” says Aoife. “I think home is your safe place – with everything else going on, it’s just nice to come home and feel like it’s a hug.

“I realised, coming around to places like this, that the stuff is better quality. There are special pieces that you can buy, that are going to last. There’s a history and a story.”

A history and geography teacher by day, it doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that Aoife is fascinated by the unique origin stories of the items that she thrifts, and she delights in learning about the heritage of the stores that she visits each weekend.

So what are some of her favourite finds? Aoife enthuses about a rocking horse that she found in a second-hand shop –“it’s obscene, it’s too big, but I love it, and it just brings me joy” – and a wooden trunk which had been on her wish list “for ages”. She found the perfect one in Roscommon, and it now sits proudly at the end of the couples’ bed. Another item that stands out is a blue and white French footbath that Aoife has re-purposed for displaying flowers and “as a bougie ice bucket”.

“That piece is just so versatile. I’ve used it at a big family barbecue, and I filled it up with ice, and I put everyone’s drinks into it. You can have fun with it. You’re thinking outside the box of what it used to be. Someone’s feet one day, an ice bucket the next,” she jokes.

Not everything in her house is vintage though, she hastens to add. “I’m honest about that.”

When they got the house, it was a mix of going ‘right, well, what can I afford? What do we love?’

“So, yeah, we have an Ikea wardrobe. I would love a bespoke one, but you have to pick and choose. But then I will make sure that the pieces that are down in the living areas are higher quality.

“But I share that. There’s no perfect way of doing it. I think you pick and choose the pieces that can work for your home.

“I’m very honest online,” Aoife continues. “You’ll see me say, this lamp is beautiful in TKMaxx, for example. But I didn’t buy it because I would rather find one secondhand. But I don’t think you can be so perfect. It’s too hard.

“And sometimes you will find stuff that you just need in that moment. But I think with places like this, you are forced to slow down in your buying habits. It forces you to stop and think about: where would this go?

“I’ve noticed last year that my homeware habits have become better, because I’m understanding the quality more, and it has actually changed how I shop clothing wise as well.”

If you’re someone who wants to dedicate some of your weekends this year to salvaging vintage bits, Aoife has some advice.

Start collecting

First, “start small”. For instance, look at bric-a-brac and then think about furniture. Second, “don’t rush into it. Take your time.” And third? “Think about if it brings you joy and it makes you smile.

“There are no rules,” Aoife resolves. “I don’t believe in just sticking to one era or genre. I’ve often picked up a piece and my room has been designed around it, because I just love it so much,” she says.

“Or I picked a piece and it doesn’t technically ‘go’ but I love it, and it makes me happy.”

See @potterandbyrnehome on Instagram

1.Brocante & Bordeaux Vintage Emporium: an antiques shop in Narraghmore, Co Kildare. “Affordable character-filled furniture, décor, curiosities and salvaged pieces with a strong focus on reuse and individuality.”

2. Rummage: in Roscommon town focuses on affordable antique pieces, from chairs, trunks to plates and décor.

3. Patrick Reville: just outside Wellingtonbridge in Co Wexford is as rural as it gets. “A true rummage feel, furniture, salvage and home décor.”

4. LF Donohoe Antiques: in Sallins, Co Kildare is a female-owned antique shop that specialises in antiques, art and decorative furniture.

5. Studio Serotonin: in Portlaoise is a smaller shop found in a bigger shop called Solas. They sell unique pieces from Ireland and other parts of Europe, appealing to the new generation of collectors.

6. The Square Emporium: in Belfast is Ireland’s largest vintage shop. “Absolutely huge. I would be quicker saying what you wouldn’t find there.”

7. The Rustic House: in Rathdrum village, Co Wicklow, is two floors of little rooms housing hidden treasures. “Another favourite of mine. True old Irish pieces. From furniture to home decor with a little library section of old books.”

8. Joy Thorpe Antiques: in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, is a home interiors dream. “Think colourful and plenty character. Filled with special unique pieces and the cutest dog Earl at the door to greet you.”

9. Potting Shed Vintage: in Clogherhead, Co Louth houses “the most amazing jammed-packed treasures, from grandfather clocks to soft furnishings. Walls filled with mirrors and artwork.”

10. Treasures: in Athlone is “two floors of vintage magic.” You can find jewellery upstairs and there is a gallery filled with historic and Irish artists downstairs.