Gypsy Honeymoon

The sweetest most beautiful store on Valencia Street. I like to go in anytime I’m visiting the neighborhood from the East Bay because honestly it is like visiting an exquisite art museum. And there are always little nuggets of beauty, from very inexpensive to high priced depending on where your finances are at any given week. Plus the owners are super nice. Just one of those stores I like to support. Check out the exquisite Tree of life mural they painted on their back wall too. The whole place is just a labor of Love.

Seriously lame even though the sign said they opened at 1130 and we purposely drove all the way to check out this shop we stood outside in the sun waiting for it to open. Finally at noon we gave up and went to lunch

The lady who works here is really not so great with people. I was going to buy a set of prints that went together, but she grabbed one from me and said «I decided I’m keeping that one for myself.» Even though it was on the sales floor with a price etc. When I explained that the one she had grabbed from me completed the set, she got super intense and defensive and weird with me. A friend had a similar experience where she was talking up a coat rack to him, then when he expressed interest in it, she decided it wasn’t for sale. I feel like she belongs in an episode of Portlandia.

I’m unsure how antique stores like Gypsy Honeymoon hold up on Valencia, but I love the experience of walking in them.
I felt this particular shop was tasteful and more diverse. They’re not limited to just jewelry, typewriters, and books; Any found object works here. It’s as if a person with taste searched through several flea markets and ebay listings to fill up a shop. Actually, that may be what happened here. Anyway, their inventory mainly consists of Victorian era things, but I also saw a wicked set of Vodun (West African voodoo) fetishes. Be sure to look all around the shop as the chandeliers are just as beautiful as the items on sale.
I wonder if the inventory will change the next time I stumble upon it.

I found Gypsy Honeymoon on Unilocal,while searching for an antique perfume bottle my mother might love. An intimidating task. Mom is a collector, antique dealer, and interior designer. She spins beauty like a spider spins webs, a teenager spins bottles, a press agent spins facts. That’s just the way it’s always been. I trembled at the prospect of finding a pretty-​little-​something for the crowned queen of pretty-​little-​somethings.
But Unilocal told me that Gabrielle Ekedal could help. That she was a ray of light in the dusty attic of dead people’s things. I took heart, believed the hype, bundled up and braved the 14-​Mission to see what treasures I might find in Hipster-​ville.
The moment I stepped into Ekedal’s domain, I knew I was in good hands. I asked to be shown antique perfume bottles. With a gleam in her eye, Gabrielle gathered several different options onto the top of her display case. She took time to give me a little history on each item, which I loved, because she 1.) Obviously knew what the heck she was talking about and 2.) Obviously loved what the heck she was talking about.
I roamed the store at a leisurely pace, feeling no pressure to hurry up and buy. Gabrielle asked great questions to get a feel for my mother’s aesthetic before making new suggestions. She also answered all of my lame questions («what is an egg cup?») without making me feel like an idiot for asking.
I wound up selecting a vintage 1920’s Nuit de Noël (Caron, Paris) perfume case instead of an antique perfume bottle, because the faux shagreen exterior smacked of my mother’s taste. I noticed the original tassel was missing from the bottom, but that wasn’t a deal breaker because these cases are typically displayed in standing position.
(By the way, I went online and researched the item after purchase. Gabrielle was right on with her item description and gave it a fair markup. Thanks for the honest sell!)
…
Epilogue:
I think my mother liked what I gave her for Christmas.
More than that, I hope that pretty-​little-​something I got from Gypsy Honeymoon sits on one of her many shelves as a constant reminder that she is loved, loved, loved.
Check out this store. It’s a keeper.

I go into antique shops when I see them, but always come out disappointed. So much potential for finding really cool treasures, but never found anything… until here!
The owner was super sweet; I found this beautiful necklace and she could tell I was having hard time deciding. The things there are really tasteful, versus a bunch of people’s junk. She obviously puts a lot of effort and has pride in her goods. It was nice to see the place pretty busy this holiday season, supporting the local store!

What a cool little place! Curios of all kinds, accordians, itallian fortune telling cards, perhaps a wardrobe, or some Victorian Era childrens wooden blocks.
Get your random shabby chic, get it while it is hot!

i’m a sucker for flea markets and window shopping. gypsy honeymoon lets me do both, because as a broke college student there’s no way i could afford most of the stuff. i love how all the objects are displayed, all layered and sort of jumbled but still very organized. however, it’s sort of awkward when there’s no one else but me and the owner and there’s no greeting or any acknowledgment which is why i haven’t visited in awhile.

Go for a treasure hunt. You’re bound to find something (s) you love. Just picked up two hand painted French plates, circa 1890. Can’t stop looking at them. They’ll be for display only as they’re probably full of lead. Wonderful things at this store, if you have a taste for the Victorian.

It’s overpriced, gentrification of the Mission at its worst. Let’s pretend we are Parisian and rich? Oui?
Whatever you want to complain about, Gypsy Honeymoon it comes down to beauty, there is a lot of beauty tucked inside this store. But the beauty is in surprising and unsuspecting places like that old greenish-​blue, handblown glass bottle for $ 40.00. It’s maybe worth nothing more then 5¢, or at auction worth way more money since its from China and is some sort of early example of glass technique, blah blah blah. Anyways, none of that really matters. It is a special product and it touched you somehow with its beauty, and money can’t really put a value on beauty. Why does art exist? How come we save old things from destruction? In the end beauty wins, Gypsy Honeymoon is here to provide us.
It’s a cute antique store with many treasures tucked away, spend time browsing. It’s much like high end flea-​market.

exquisite parisian forget me nots, fierce fabrics, unusual paintings. i could easily spend an hour in this store and i try not to spend too much. lovely parakeets sing happily as you shop.

We found our engagement ring here! I love this place. It is kind of like stepping into another world. There are all sorts of goodies at many different price points. Great place to find something special for your lady.

Musuee Magnifique!~ I could spend hours here… I love the chirping birdies, ancient trinkets and bobbles, a dish of keys, pins, color sorted buttons. Each tiny thing is like a delicious piece of candy. I want to eat it all up!
The shop owner is just precious and you can tell that a lot of thought and love has been invested in Gypsy Honeymoon.
I do quite miss the old location but I wish G.H. the BEST down on Valencia.

Too many stores pretend to have interesting stuff, but Gypsy Honeymoon is the REAL DEAL! Every square inch of this beautiful, inspiring, heart-​melting shop has something that will stop you in your tracks. With the new location there is great potential for even more people coming in to peruse and covet and purchase from the vast variety of purely fanciful to downright useful objects offered in such an other worldly atmosphere. I actually felt I was in Paris a hundred years ago. Thank you Gypsy Honeymoon, I love your store.

Lots of interesting things to look at here and I almost always come home with something, even if it’s just a box of caramels or a paper snail dusted with silvery sparkles. If you see something you like, you should snatch it up because the good stuff tends to go quickly!

such a beautiful and fantastical place… you are sure to find a treasure. stepping into gypsy honeymoon is like walking into a little victorian attic dream-world…it was the highlight of my journey to san francisco.

It’s always a one-​two stop for me when I visit this little corner of the Mission: First, Painted Bird. Second, Gypsy Honeymoon.
I got an antique key here once, put it on a long chain and wear it as a necklace. It’s one of my faves and I get compliments on it a lot.
I was just in the other day and browsed through their antique porcelain doll legs, real teeth sets, mirrors, frames, shells, jewelry… they’ve got lots of random awesome stuff. It tends to be pricey but it’s a fun time to look through.

very delicate things to discover.
like a tiny museum
you can feel the ghosts in here.

A step in time, Gypsy Honeymoon is like a breathe of fresh Parisian air. The scattered babbles in this small antique store are beautiful. They even carry some local artists’ things and jewelry — gotta love supporting local talent!
My favorite part of taking this honeymoon is the labeled drawers with treasures such as Victorian lace, skeleton keys and beautiful embroidered hankies.

Let me preface this by saying that I normally pretend not to like kids. I bitch when they’re unruly in public and mention how glad I am to live in a practically child-​free city, but in reality I’m a softie. The other day I found a little boy crying under a rack in Target, and although I joked with my boyfriend that I left him there, I actually comforted him and brought him to the front of the store so that his mother could be paged.
Further proof of my possession of a heart comes in the form of my reaction to the child running the shop when I stopped in a couple of weeks ago. I’m guessing that his mother must’ve been the proprietor, since bringing a five or six year old child into a store full of breakables is just asking for trouble. This particular fellow, however, proceeded to ask me what I wanted to buy, then grabbed my hand and led me around the store to show me his recommendations. Although I didn’t end up buying anything, I enjoyed the charming customer service and recommend checking this place out if you’re in the market for cool antique flea market tchochkes.