Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved attending fairs and markets. But there is something very special about arriving at an antiques market early in the morning, when the dealers are still unpacking their vans and you never quite know what you might find.
One of the places I love to source for The Quiet Home Edit is the Ardingly International Antiques & Collectors Fair, held in West Sussex. It is the largest antiques fair in the South of England, bringing together hundreds of dealers and thousands of pieces from Britain and further afield.
It is enormous — part indoors, part outdoors — and you can find almost anything: old furniture, ceramics and glassware, paintings, textiles, garden pieces, artwork and wonderfully unexpected finds.
But for me, sourcing isn't about arriving with a shopping list and filling a basket.
It is much more instinctive than that. I prefer to wander, talk to the dealers and wait for something to catch my eye — beautiful old wood, a worn basket, an unusual piece of pottery or something with a wonderful patina.
I look for pieces with character rather than perfection. Things that feel as though they have already lived a little and can sit naturally alongside newer pieces in a home.
And I think that is what vintage pieces bring to a home that new things simply cannot.
Choosing Slowly
Ardingly is known particularly for its mix of British and European antiques and decorative pieces, with dealers and buyers travelling from around the UK and internationally.
With so much around you, it would be very easy to buy too much.
So I try to do the opposite.
I ask myself whether I would genuinely want the piece in my own home. Does it have something interesting about it? Could it sit comfortably beside something contemporary? Will it bring warmth, character or a little bit of unexpected beauty to a room?
If the answer isn't yes, I leave it behind.
That means the vintage collection at The Quiet Home Edit will never be completely predictable — and I rather like that.
You might find an old French copper pan one week, a beautifully worn wooden stool the next, followed by a collection of baskets, a little painting or a piece of glass that simply caught my eye.
I am not looking for perfection or for antiques that feel too precious to live with. I am looking for pieces that can become part of an everyday home again. And that’s what I have at home myself - a basket beside a sofa filled with blankets, an old table next to a modern chair, a slightly battered wooden stool with a pile of books on top.
Objects don't need to match to belong together. Sometimes it is the contrast between old and new that makes a room feel personal.
Bringing the Finds Home
And then comes my favourite part.
Bringing everything home, cleaning it gently, researching pieces where I can, photographing them and imagining where they might eventually live.
Some pieces are difficult to part with.
But that is probably a good sign.
I want Finds at The Quiet Home Edit to feel like a collection gathered slowly rather than a range of products ordered all at once.
Pieces with age, character and a story — chosen simply because I thought they were beautiful.
And perhaps, one day, they will become part of your home's story too.