A stylish home and shop in West Sussex

Nicky Willis had always felt drawn to the houses that line the High Street in the pretty Sussex village of Cuckfield. Brought up not far away and educated locally, she knew the area well and had pointed out the attractive homes to her husband.

One, in particular, caught her eye. Built in 1871, from golden Wealden sandstone, it had the added bonus of an adjacent shop that formed part of the property. ‘I showed it to my husband and told him, I love that house.’

A few years on, in 2015, the couple started searching for a new home and couldn’t believe their luck when they discovered the same property for sale. The shop was rented by an optician, and the entire building was in dire need of attention, but Nicky was undeterred. ‘The shop was the pull. I thought the time was right. I was dabbling in antiques dealing, and my son had started school, so I had time available.’

With a background in textile design, Nicky traces her interest in antiques to her childhood. ‘My mother had an amazing collection of Mary Quant clothes. She always bought old furniture, and painted and scraped it. When I was at school, I didn’t want to wear anything new. I always loved anything decorative and floral and I remember going to Scotland, aged 18, and buying a Clarice Cliff tea set from a flea market.’

In her art student days, Nicky’s passion grew. ‘I was living in London and every weekend I went to Portobello Road, Camden Passage and Brick Lane Market.’ She bought vintage clothes and was drawn to vintage fabrics, jugs and paintings. After college, while Nicky worked as a textile designer, her fascination for decorative French-style antiques and vintage objects burgeoned.

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‘I bought mainly in England, but I travelled a lot with work, so then I would go to markets in Paris and elsewhere. I remember buying beautiful fabric in a Paris market, as well as ribbons and hairpins – haberdashery is another love of mine.’

Nicky’s dealing career developed gradually after she moved to a flat in Brighton. ‘I was collecting quite a lot to furnish it and started selling at boot fairs. A good friend, who was also collecting, had a shop in Hurstpierpoint, so I took a stand there.’

To begin with, she focused on her first love: vintage fabrics, quilts, tapestries and embroideries, progressing to selling at Ardingly Antiques Fair as well as other antiques markets, before opening her first shop.

She is still drawn to textiles, patterns and vintage flower paintings, but other things have also captured her attention, and her motives for buying haven’t changed. ‘I have a penchant for old tied French books, decoy pigeons, pottery jugs and old furniture. I still only buy what I love – things that give me pleasure to look at, that have a story, add character and reflect my love of pattern and aesthetic sense.’

In decorating her house, Nicky wanted to create contrast with the abundant melange of objects and furnishings in the adjacent shop. ‘I like calmness, and the shop is quite busy. So we just used a soft grey and a Swedish white all the way up to the top floor.’

The rooms are furnished with a mix of antique and modern pieces. ‘I spend my life sourcing things and looking. I am fortunate to have the Ardingly Fair on my doorstep and I go to lots of market towns and have a book full of dealer contacts. Dealers in France send me pictures of things they think that I will like.’

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A circular pedestal table and chairs in the dining room and a chest of drawers in the main bedroom are modern pieces made in traditional style from repurposed mahogany. She sells similar furniture in the shop. ‘I work with furniture makers, who use reclaimed timber to make traditional French-style chairs, tables and chests of drawers,’ she explains.

Nicky never worries about whether her furnishings will coordinate. ‘Nothing matches, but I think that, if I like it, I will find a place for it. It’s about putting in things you love to create a style.’ The shop also provides the perfect way to constantly change and reshape her home.

‘I do like to declutter and I’m happy to move things from the house into the shop.’ Even so, there are some things she would never part with. In her bedroom hangs a design for an Aubusson tapestry that she bought in an antiques market in Tunbridge Wells. Painted on canvas, it features an extravagant arrangement of birds and flowers. ‘I sometimes use it in the shop for display purposes, but I’m never selling it,’ she says firmly.

Her favourite rooms are the airy bathroom and the kitchen, which looks out over the courtyard and garden. She is also fond of sitting in the bay window of her living room and watching the bustle outside, as many previous occupants of the house must have done.

The activity reminds her of the history of the village that was once a key stopping point on the London to Brighton run. These days, there may not be stagecoaches to be seen, but Nicky is still captivated by the view.

To find out more about Nicky’s shop visit @willis_and_co