Feet have hardly touched the ground since we opened our door in Corsham High Street last Monday – it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, (in a good way). Most popular have been the hand crafted animal night lights and the wonderful Raine and Humble range, but vintage pieces have been a hot ticket too and now I need to get out on the hunt for new stock, as soon as.

I’ve been especially thrilled by the range of folk coming through the door, despite the drizzle, from grandfathers to babies and everyone in between – lots of lovely locals, but a surprising number from further afield too, London, Windsor, Norfolk, the Lakes and even South Africa. Very cosmopolitan.

New in: grey rattan dog beds with soft cushions and removable covers in vintage fabrics, gorgeous scarves and the new range of (very reasonable) Previous candles, diffusers and room sprays in all sorts of wonderful natural essential oil fragrances. There are quite a few new and exciting ranges coming in the next few weeks, not least perfect Christmas present bath and body ranges, spectacular Parisian specs and the funkiest French pants ever.

I’m an owl, not a lark, so it was with grit and determination that I fell out of bed at 4.30am to go vintage hunting in the dark this week. It’s been a very busy start at the new Corsham shop, most of my vintage stock has sold, so needs must. You never know what you are going to find, of course, but beautiful armchairs, funky mid-century pieces and some unusual things were at the top of my shopping list.

The results are now on the website and most are in the shop. They include quirky signs, gorgeous Champagne glasses, some wonderful oil paintings, religious icons, a very funky scarlet swivel chair, two amazing nineteenth century armchairs and a spot of taxidermy. One of the armchairs has gone to my skilled upholsterer to be covered in a really stylish faded taupe, vintage French ticking, which will work with almost any colour scheme (watch this space) and the other (ref 4774) came straight to the shop to be sold in its raw, stripped back to hessian state. You may have seen such chairs recently in the pages of glossy mags like ‘Interiors’ and some people use them as-is in their homes, in keeping with the rustic chic vibe that is so fashionable in contemporary interiors. This one, however, was snapped up instantly and is being re-upholstered in the customer’s choice of vintage linen.

If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d like, (whether raw, in your choice of fabric or in something from our collection of beautiful vintage fabrics), do contact us and we’d be very happy to source it for you. And now I’m going to have forty winks.

It’s been an incredibly busy week in the shop. I’ve met so many lovely people and am starting to run low on stock; the brand new own-label range of Previous candles, room sprays and diffusers in gorgeous natural scents have been flying out of the door. So I’ve ordered several new and fabulous ranges, never before seen in Corsham, which will be hitting the shop floor in the next couple of weeks. I am also going vintage hunting this week, so watch this space for interesting, useful and beautiful new finds.

Now, I am firmly of the view that Christmas doesn’t start in August, September or even October and I have to leave shops that play the seasonal music too soon. However, Corsham’s Christmas Market on Saturday brought lots of visitors to the town and the shop was full of gentlemen of a certain age carrying clanking boxes from the local Castle Combe micro-brewery stall…I realised that I have to accept that Christmas isn’t that far off and my thoughts have turned to the Previous Christmas window displays.

To that end, dogs in tow, we set off to nearby Lacock find some suitable branches. We squelched and we squirched, but we came home with a boot full of likely twiggy bits, (plus a dozen local eggs) and I’ve unearthed some beautiful vintage baubles and Victorian crystal chandelier drops. Now all I need is a Sunday roast.