Surrey Homes | SH38 | December 2017 | Health & Beauty supplement inside

Left: The walls throughout the house are painted with warm, but muted neutrals.
Right: The downstairs roundel has become the family’s library
Liberty ribbon, pony skin belts, ferns in old French dairy
pots or bread tins and, of course, our very popular and
lovely kitchen scissors.” Lovely scissors? Now I’m intrigued
– who would have thought that scissors could be lovely?
Lovely is really what it’s all about for Kali – lovely, but
also quirky and well made. “I love trawling around for
vintage finds for the shop,” she says. “I only sell things
that I love. I don’t like throwaway objects, they have to
last and to have a purpose. I like to keep things changing
all the time, but it’s also important to sell things with
history and a story.” Part of the story has to do with an
organisation called Kisany, a Congolese women’s charity
that Kali represents in this country. The charity makes
and sells beautiful embroidered items. “I like to buy
things that are responsibly made, especially those made
by women.” She is especially pleased with the fabulous
cashmere throws made by women in Nepal. “They are such
amazing quality, really thin, really soft and so warm.” Just
the thing when you live in a big old house in England.
Although originally from Tennessee, Kali lived in
California, where she worked in PR and repeatedly
attempted surfing. She has spent the last 18 years in
England, living in London, moving out to Sevenoaks for
a while before settling in Goudhurst seven years ago. “We
knew the area well and were looking around here when the
oast came up for sale,” she says. “It had been on and off the
market for a while, but when I saw how much space there
was inside, I could imagine the children scooting around
55 surrey-homes.co.uk