House of MinaLima

 The House of MinaLima, located in Greek Street London, is the dream gallery of any Harry Potter fan. I was in London recently for my sister's graduation, and knew that we'd both want to check the gallery out. With Sarah's boyfriend in tow, we headed off to the dreamy pink building in Soho.

It's such an amazing gallery, and you can really feel the thought that went into creating everything inside. It's worth noting that when you arrive you will need to book onto a free guided tour, you can't go around the gallery without a tour. We arrived and the first tour was full, but we only had to wait thirty minutes until the next one. It's definitely worth the wait.

On the ground floor is the shop which you can peruse whilst you wait, or after the tour itself. There's prints, postcards and books - but they are fairly pricey. I fell in love with so many of the prints so I may have to go back and treat myself.

Before long, it was time for our tour! Sadly, I don't remember her name but our tour guide was fantastic. She spoke for a short while in each room, and then let us explore ourselves. It's not a huge gallery, and they do fill the tours - but I found that we had enough time in each room to have a good look around at the incredible pieces of art work in the gallery.

The first two floors, and half of the third floor, were filled with Harry Potter artwork. From newspapers, to 'wanted signs' and the marauders map, we were treated to some incredible pieces that had me wishing I'd recieved that Hogwarts letter aged eleven. Our tour guide gave us such insightful information which really helped us to visualise the way the artists worked. On the middle floor, she told us that Miraphora Mina had asked for the blueprints for the set so that when she hand drew the marauder's map, it would match the set!

I especially enjoyed the artwork surrounding the Weasley twins shop. It was so bright and fun, and yet it still kept the magic of the darker more traditional pieces of artwork usually reminiscent of the Harry Potter series.

It was so magical being in an art gallery full of the Harry Potter artwork, and there was even a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them room as well which I enjoyed! MinaLima have such a distinct style and it will always remind me of my childhood, which was filled with the wizarding world.

Have you been to the House of MinaLima?