Everything you see in store at Top 3 By Design has been selected by Terri Winter, a leading name in the design community who regularly appears on design award panels and at design events around the world. Winter favours innovative design, quality and style in a product. And the store’s ethos is to show only three items of any one design – hence the name ‘Top 3 By Design’.
The brand has four stores in Australia; two in Sydney and two in Melbourne, and the Crows Nest store is the head office as well as the flagship location. After 13 years in operation, Top 3 By Design is still one of the best shopping spots for homewares and kitchen products north of the bridge.
On Time Out’s most recent visit, we were impressed by the number of affordable gift options. Let’s say you were on the lookout for a ‘congratulations on the new job, buddy!’ present, the selection of Pantone mugs in a rainbow of shades would work a treat. At $25 each, they’re perfectly priced too. For a best buddy, you might opt for a Danish-designed leather mouse pad, costing $34 each.
The large, open plan store is so packed to the rafters with furniture, bathroom and kitchen accessories that it’d be easy to lose track of what it was that you wanted when you first stepped inside. Take a list, or a budget, and allow yourself a little wiggle room for those last-minute additions to the shopping cart – we’re thinking of the clever Blunt umbrellas that won’t turn inside out in a storm ($89), or the frosted Mariskooli bowls ($105), ideal for ice cream and jelly parties.
Speaking of ice cream and jelly, kids are very well catered for here. From chick-shaped Pica beanbags ($99-129) to a functional Plyroom bunk bed ($2,090), it would be easy to get carried away with nostalgic fantasies of building secret dens and having sleepovers. For parents of newborns, there are smartly designed changing stations and a range of playful junior dining sets that won’t break the bank. And for young’uns on the move, the store has a few of those Trunki suitcases designed in the likeness of tigers, ladybugs and bumblebees for $75. If only they came in adult versions…
One of the best things about this store is that you don’t need to leave your home to shop for the new arrivals or browse the sale. Top 3 By Design has a comprehensive website and they even have wedding and gift lists, free gift-wrapping and free shipping Australia-wide for orders over $100.