SALE

Okay...I think we might have blogged a short while ago about how Nest would imperiously not be having a sale.

Well...erm...we sort of are but only on paintings! It was a very quiet day, the media having said we were going to get 3 metres of snow in an afternoon and that it wouldn’t thaw until June so I had a bit of spare time....and I thought...I know, I must just re-price a few paintings and then I just carried on – it might have been because I had spent a lot of that ‘quiet’ time eating the shops supply of jelly babies. Anyway, when I finally crashed I think I may have reduced the prices of nearly all our paintings so if you’ve had your eye on one, now might be a good time to pop in...but only if you can dig yourself out of all the snow* that should be piled up in front of your door!

*Obviously there is no snow now...I left this in the shop for Kathryn to look at and, of course, it took her a week to walk in, trudging though shoulder high snow drifts to collect it...or something like that...

STUFF THAT HAS TO GO UPSTAIRS

I once owned a very beautiful old factory shoe rack (think of a big set of shelves on wheels).  It needed to go upstairs – it got stuck halfway up and just wouldn’t budge – I had to saw it in half and rejoin it once upstairs – my wife was cross – so was I, but it was the only solution.

At Nest we’re always looking for furniture that comes apart so that it will get through small spaces and up the stairs. But what I especially like is the furniture that was never originally made to come apart but suffered the same fate as my factory shoe rack.

We’ve had a surprisingly large amount over the years! It ranges from the beautifully dismantled to the ‘where’s my f***ing saw – you will f***king fit’! Furniture that comes apart is commonly known as ‘breakfront’ for obvious reasons.

On the same theme, people often mock the small door on the back of our delivery Landrover – words to the effect of ‘what a daft door’. BUT...it’s the same size as a standard front door...so...if it won’t go in the Landrover, it won’t go in a house – a very hand device!

Now, if some of our customers could just remember that just because something will fit in a space upstairs doesn’t mean it will fit on the way to the upstairs then life would be a little easier and we wouldn’t have to get the saw out!

THE WAY FORWARD

After much thinking, fretting and mugs of coffee whilst staring out of the window, we think the main Nest plan for 2013 is to make more stuff ourselves. Whether this involves making more furniture or just more small stuff we don’t know yet, but at least it puts the shops destiny a little more in our hands and fits in with our environmental and ethical policy. By ethical policy we mean it’s fine to exploit ourselves working long hours for little pay rather than someone else doing it!

Our wooden letters made from scrap timber have been a real bestseller for us and the fact that we make them gives me a nice rosy feeling! So perhaps this, combined with other secret plans is the way forward.

Wait a moment – wasn’t last year our ‘social media year’? Do we still have to keep writing this blog – shouldn’t we be making things instead?

Oh, both...as I said, exploited!

WHAT'S NEW?

Actually – following on from the last post about our plans for 2013 – are we missing a trick? Is there anything you lovely customers out there think we should be doing? As well as selling lots of lovely cutlery, of course, which we mentioned before but we didn't have a picture, then!

(we will ignore requests for padded, scented, clothes hangers...)

JANUARY BUYING TRIPS

Well, we’ve managed two buying trips already – attempting to keep the shop full of interesting and unique items.

If you like your cutlery a la mix and match we have loads of new stuff in at the moment – all sorts of styles and finishes! We also finally picked up an old imperial typewriter which makes a beautiful decorative piece as well as loads of interiors magazines from the 1950s and 1960s – still interesting to note how many of the trends from those days are still trending now.

So, what’s going to be happening at Nest in 2013? Well, we have plans – secret plans – afoot (tee hee.)..it’s just about having the time to implement them!

OUR FAVOURITE JOKE

Our favourite trade joke:
- How do you make £100 in the antiques trade?
- Start with £200!!
This probably sums up general trade in January, in the snow...!!

JANUARY SALE...

Are we having a sale?
- No!

Why?
- Because we like everything in the shop and, quite honestly, a piece of furniture that is already over a 100 years old doesn’t suddenly de-value in January.

But everyone else is having a sale.
- We’re not everyone else and that’s why you should come and shop with us!

What?
- No more daft talk of sales, be off with you!

FIRST BLOG OF THE YEAR!

Happy New Year to everyone!

This is the first post in 2013 and I didn’t have a clue what to write about until I read the Style section of the Sunday Times and, guess what? A small rant started to form...so that New Year resolution didn’t last long!

The Sunday Times ran a bit of a’ what’s in and what’s not (in interiors)’. However, the problem was that their photographs of so called ‘clichés’ were much better than the pictures of their suggested alternatives.

Especially irritating was the suggestion that ‘industrial chic’ was ‘so over’ when actually it’s red hot and will remain so...anyway, we love it so they can just stuff off!

What was their alternative suggestion? Well, in their words you should try a contemporary take on the traditional country look! By the time you’ve worked out what this is, it will inevitably be a cliché....