Shop progress

New pics of the inside of A Bunch Of Wilds new hq

Hello my fellow garden lovers, how are you? I thought I’d share some pics with you of my new shop and give you a bit of an update. I think I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. My new premises is 25 Churchyard, Hitchin, in a beautiful old building full of character- not too big, not too small, but just right! Work started last week cleaning and painting, and this week it’s starting to feel more like mine than the previous occupants. A Bunch Of Wild has its own look, it shows up in my home, in the garden/greenhouse and studio space. It’s a little bit rustic, very laid back and calming, with an air of magic to it. I’m a huge fan of old beautiful buildings with lots of character and this shop fits perfectly! I’ve dismissed many over my three year search, I was being so picky- It had to look a certain way, be in the row I love and it had to have some magic to it. When I first walked into the empty space last week, the building felt sad and a little lost. Thanks to a wonderful decorator named Jason, it’s starting to breath again.

Two rooms downstairs and two upstairs, the first one boasts a huge inglenook and has just received a coat of pigeon by Farrow & Ball. I’d just popped in to see progress and bring Jason a coffee & croissant- very important to look after wonderful decorators/carpenters/electricians/plumbers! The windows were measured up for signage this morning and I’ve chosen the lettering, it’s basically the same as my last shop. I’m in love with the beams running through the walls. The previous shop had lots of shelving running along them so you couldn’t see them, the inglenook was also hidden but these are two features I’m making use of.

Look how gorgeous those beams are, I think they go lovely with the new paint colour.

Upstairs in my studio Jason has simply refreshed the white paint and I’m leaving the floor as is. This will be my studio space to work in, host workshops in and when I’ve filled the downstairs- this might become a plant room. I can see it full of plants up here, what a lovely space to feel calm in.

The stairs take some getting used to but they should keep me fit.

This is the back room on the ground floor which has got the original range in, it’s been painted in scallop by Farrow & Ball which was a gamble as I hadn’t tested a sample, I just looked at it and thought- that will work. Originally I was going to display the dried flowers in this room but now I’m thinking of using it for my pottery as it feels like a tiny kitchen, I want to make a feature out of that.

I’m looking forward to moving all my things in now. I’ve been in business since I was 21 and have had two shops before this one. All of them done on a shoestring although you’d never of thought it. This one has had a little more thrown at it but it always helps when the building has good bones.

I will be selling my original paintings and handmade ceramics, plants (indoor & garden), dried flowers (fresh on Fri/Sat) and vintage furniture & decorative items for home and garden. I carefully source lovely things that I would have in my own home & garden- you won’t find any tat! It won’t be cluttered but also I’m not looking to curate it within an inch of it’s life- the result I’m aiming for is somewhere beautiful where you will feel comfortable spending time browsing and chatting.

I’ll be moving furniture in this week, then next week I’ll hopefully be doing the pretty styling bit- my favourite part! I’m still optimistic for opening on the 1st of March, maybe even the 28th of Feb- it will be a soft launch as I should imagine it will take me another week or so to tweak it and get it just right. I will let you know the opening hours soon I promise! And I’ll keep you posted with progress. Exciting times.

You can also follow along with how it’s going in my instagram stories- I’ll pop a link at the bottom.

Emma