No passport required: 20 of Berlin's best design boutiques to browse from home

Online shopping platform Trouva has added 20 Berlin interiors shops to its site – and it's the next best thing to catching a plane to Germany's creative capital city.

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Jess Denham25 July 2018

Designaholics can now browse Berlin's best indie interiors shops from their sofas, opening up a homeware heaven of bright colours and bold patterns.

Trouva, the online shopping platform that curates the best of Britain's independent boutiques, has decided to make its first international offering. It picked Berlin after recognising the German capital's pull as "a melting pot of diverse art, cultures and cutting-edge European design".

Twenty Berlin shops have just been added to the site, including TYPE HYPE – you sadly can't taste the coffee served at their in-store Berlin café, but you can get their typographic homeware shipped to your London flat – and the botanicals heavy Golden!, run by a mother-and-daughter duo with an eye for sustainable design.

Lucy Ward, creative brand director at Trouva, says: "Berliners are renowned for their love of colour and pattern, with independent shops showing the influence of maximalism and the Bauhaus movement, in comparison to some of our London boutiques, which tend to favour a Scandi, minimalist-inspired aesthetic.

"Our new Berlin boutiques have brought a fresh and unique range of products and brands to Trouva that neither we, nor our customers, have seen before. We’re excited to bring the very best of Berlin into their homes.”

Love of letters: Berlin café-cum-boutique TYPE HYPE is now shoppable online

Of course, enjoying a spot of online shopping doesn't compare to jetting out to Berlin and taking in its design hotspots and creative atmosphere for yourself.

If you're lucky enough to be boarding a plane to Germany's design mecca any time soon, these are the best neighbourhoods to stroll around at your leisure, as recommended by the arty city's shopkeepers themselves:

MITTE

Mitte is home to Berlin's most famous art galleries, as well as the Unter den Linden boulevard, leading up to the Brandenberg Gate.

The Amazing Crocodile Design Store is a highlight, celebrating joyful colours and out-there patterns at every turn, inspired by the Memphis movement. Founder Jana regularly organises in-store exhibitions to showcase up-and-coming designers from all over Europe.

Inspiration: The Amazing Crocodile Design Store showcases up-and-coming designers

Mitte is also home to the aforementioned TYPE HYPE, as well as Fundamental Berlin, which takes inspiration from the natural world and intelligent design to marry beauty with practicality.

FRIEDRICHSHAIN

Just east from Mitte lies the alternative neighbourhood of Friedrichshain, with its vivid political history, punk culture undercurrent and graffitied walls.

Hailed as Berlin's art hub, it is home to the East Side Gallery – an open-air art gallery made from a 1.3km remnant of the Berlin wall – and hosts a range of indie boutiques, too.

Eclectic: Victoria Met Albert mixes contemporary and retro-inspired homeware

Head for lifestyle shop Victoria Met Albert, owned by English-German couple Will and Ilka, who have fused their cultures to offer a mix of contemporary and retro-inspired homeware.

Next, try Schwesterherz & Kuchenliebe for kitchen accessories, homeware and stationery from designers across the continent.

Pan-European: Schwesterherz & Kuchenliebe features continental designers

KREUZBERG

One of Berlin's trendiest districts, Kreuzberg is best known for its independent businesses, vintage stores and music venues.

Head to sustainable and eco-conscious lifestyle store Moeon. Owner Sonja scours the globe in search of the most exciting brands, before thoroughly researching their manufacturing processes to check that their eco-credentials are watertight.

London's best design shops and outlets

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NEUKÖLLN

Despite its lively atmosphere and abundance of music and art events, the progressive neighbourhood of Neukölln is still something of a hidden gem in Berlin.

Plant lovers will be cooing with delight over Golden!, which sells stylish interiors staples with a botanical touch.

Jungle style: Golden! favours all things green when it comes to interiors

Founded by Margret with her daughter Gisa, Golden! focuses on products that enrich a home without harming the environment. Expect to swoon over the fabulous pottery, bowls and bedding found on these shelves.

PRENZLAUER-BERG

If you're in need of a rest after all that shopping, make a beeline for the northern quarter of Prenzlauer-Berg, a tranquil space lined with bare-bricked coffee houses and green parks.

No bull in this china shop: Biscuit China founder Karoline has a passion for ceramics

Biscuit China, a boutique celebrating the versatility of ceramics and the beauty of handmade objects, is hiding here, with its artisanal glassware sourced by founder Karoline, who collects a new ceramic object for her own home every time she travels.