The owner of this magical place – Katy and I met years ago when we both worked in the beautiful Butlers Emporium. Our shared love for all things old and steeped in stories, raggedy lace and the marks that only time can make – was apparent from the day we met. Since that day I have been meaning to visit the lovely home she shares with her family and a menagerie of rescued animals.
treasures at Nutley Antiques (another amazing antique store in Nutley East Sussex). A great stop off if you are ever on your way to visit the beautiful Ashdown Forest.
After we passed through the front door adorned with its frothy wreath of dried hops, Katy’s passion for all things wonderful with a story to tell unfolded right in front of me. My eyes were beyond happy and I didn’t know where to look first.
Collected treasures and layers of memories are tucked into every inch of this wonderful home, every corner has something to draw you in. Antique toothpaste pots, recycled glass baubles reflecting the winter light, tiny porcelain birds, found shells and joyful strings of brightly coloured pom poms.
The walls and floors in this very old house are beautifully uneven and wonky, the beams are old and mysterious and as a result, renovations are not easy in a listed place like this, but the family’s future plans are making progress.
The bedroom with low windows, welcomes delicate light flooding in across the floor and hearth, with jewels glinting out of the shadowy mantle, antique embellished textiles for decoration and old fashioned homewares used for storage.
At the end of a moody hallway filled with books, the garden room is a bright space filled with mimosa, ferns, strings of succulents, cacti, gathered seed heads and more vintage treasure.
Plants and foliage jostle together in the bright daylight alongside antique teapots, ancient pottery and repurposed butter churns.
I love that nothing is perfect here, but beauty is everywhere. Broken things that cannot be parted with re-used in some new way or simply displayed to share their joy for the foreseeable future, letting them play their part in the world for as long as possible.
Back outside – I do love a sleeping garden, the tangle of plants overwintering and pots all stacked up – waiting for spring. A warm glow through the window of the lights inside the home and toadflax happily seeding itself wherever it likes.
This garden is hidden away, rambling and magical, wild and abuzz with insects in the spring and summer months. Cottage plants fill the borders and at the edges, ivy and ferns are entwined with the surrounding landscape. An adventure playground for all the happy pets that live here and a peaceful, secluded hideaway for Katy and her family.
These two beauties did try to hide from my camera but I managed to get a couple of snaps of them before it was time to leave. Now I must get back to my own winter garden and start readying for spring!
