Tiki La La was created three years ago by local curators, co-owners and couple, April Xing and Heath Crawley when they decided their love of all things vintage and beautiful could be a business. And that’s been the brief for the shop ever since.

“It’s basically just a collection of things April and I love. It’s both of our ideas and aesthetics combined in one space."

"Aesthetics are the most important thing to us for the shop, but we really just wanted to do something that we love and have fun,” said Heath.

The store is a lyrebird’s nest, decorated with beautiful pieces that are designed to attract like-minded souls. April comes from a stylist background in fashion magazines and Heath is ex-bassist for Aussie band, Children Collide, so the creative vibes flow freely around here.

“When we first moved into the area, it felt a bit quiet and we wanted to meet like-minded people. We knew lots of people who were moving into the area who were like us but there just wasn’t the place to come and meet and enjoy our interests. We thought why don’t we create a social scene out of 'our thing',” said Heath.

This isn’t just somewhere to shop, think of it as more of 'something to do'. It’s almost got the ambience of a small art gallery, but way more fun. Your best play is to go and grab yourself a cup of the black stuff from Lords of Pour and then check out Tiki La La’s vintage treasure trove of fashion and furniture, as well as some amazing vinyl records.

The mid-century furniture and homewares hark back to an age long before fast, bulk-produced furniture was even a glimmer in a Scandinavian’s eye. These are true quality pieces, that are designed to stand the test of time. Make sure you check out the awesome Mario Lopez Torres palm tree lamp complete with the light-up coconuts.

“Pretty much everything we have is vintage. There are a few vinyl records that are new, but the fashion and homewares are pre-loved. It’s not a rule for everything, we just love beautiful things and things that set us off,” said April.

“Vintage is not something that just happened and you’re bringing it back, that’s more 'retro'. Vintage is something that is beautiful and timeless with great craftsmanship. Vintage is the way of the future, creating art, fashion and a homewares that will always be classic and beautiful throughout time,” said Heath.

If you haven’t noticed lately, nostalgia is a hot trend right now as people yearn for what they remember as simpler times (we’ve got no idea why *cough*) and this space taps right into the warm and fuzzy feels of yesteryear. You could be mistaken for being in a time warp.

What we loved most about the space is the amazing energy, and it’s all thanks to the vibe that April and Heath inject into it. These guys are like the besties you just haven’t met yet and I can imagine they’ve got quite a few regulars that like to come in for a chat and a hang.

“My background is music and April’s past is in fashion magazines, we really are a bit of yin and yang when it comes to life in the space,” said Heath.

The guys have used the shutdown of the COVID pandemic to stop and take stock of the shop and redesign the space, as well as their website so they were ready to launch in a whole new way.

“We have been here for three years, but I feel like after COVID, we’ve really been born again. It was just a chance to take a breathe, rethink how we want to approach the boutique with more vintage pieces and reorganise the whole space. People wouldn’t even recognise us after this transformation and we wouldn’t have had a hope of doing it without the COVID shutdown,” said Heath.