Wealden Times | 189 | November 2017 | Gift supplement inside

Above: The bedroom has a decidedly forest feel with wood panelled fireplace and mossy green walls – the perfect backdrop for more
of the couple’s collection of houseplants
of what was needed, which was lucky, as four months is
an incredibly short turnaround time in which to launch
a shop. It was also the dead of winter and the house had
no central heating. “At one point when we had a leak
in the ceiling and it was in the minuses I thought ‘what
have we done?’” he says. “So I just put more and more
clothes on – people thought that I’d really lost weight
when the spring came and the weather warmed up.” He
grins. While the Davids were busy painting on the inside,
the scaffolding went up on the outside and the whole
building was painted blue. It makes a strong statement.
“When you stand at the top of the hill and look down,
it’s easy to spot the shop.” David laughs. “It’s about
branding. I learned that at The Conran Shop.” (He was
floor manager there before the move.) “You only get one
chance to get it right, you’ve got to have a strong look.”
Although most of the black was eradicated from the
interior, the staircase has remained dark, in contrast to
the rest of the house, although it is not at all gloomy.
“Two weeks in, while we were painting, I fell down the
stairs,” David says cheerfully. Did he go to hospital?
“No, we were on such a tight deadline, I had to get up
and carry on painting, covered in bruises.” The staircase
has become a striking feature in itself, rising just behind
the shop, going up through the centre of the building.
It provides a great backdrop for all their paintings
wealdentimes.co.uk
102