The upstairs gallery is so full we've had to squash stuff into the corners under the eaves - and Gavin is off to Vietnam on Monday to get more.
The growth has been a huge relief financially, but living and running a shop in the same space is probably better suited to a family much neater than ours.
I had an email from a Johannesburg couple in January saying they were coming down on holiday in March and would love to see what we had for sale. I gave them our address and phone number and promptly forgot about it.
Most people phone to say they are coming which gives me a chance to shove dirty dishes into a cupboard and make the beds. The Joburg pair had a GPS and the first I heard from them was their voices wafting up from the garden.
They were lovely, raved about the house and gallery, and bought enough to pay our mortgage for two months. My pleasure was marred by sheer terror that they might need the bathroom. It would have been Hobson’s choice. The downstairs bathroom which has not changed one iota since I did this post, or the upstairs bathroom where the boys had performed their morning ablutions (a lot more horrible than you can imagine).
This used to be our lounge - still is in the evenings.
Going Coastal, Sedgefield 
Ummmm…. I don’t know that you need to worry about achieving a more upscale look. As long as there’s toilet paper, you’re good to go. After all, the charm of second-hand book stores, flea markets, antique stores and such is precisely the sense of adventure, the feeling that you might come across that perfect treasure (that you didn’t even know was NECESSARY FOR YOUR HAPPINESS!) hidden away in the dishevelment.
Besides, there are a lot of people who love to go slumming, just for the dinnertable conversation that comes later. Remember the first rule of a publicity hound: say what you want, just spell my name right! Better they should be remembering you and talking you up than forgetting you along with the rest of the oh-so-sweet-and-nice places.
I suppose you could throw in a hand towel for good measure. Maybe even soap. Beyond that? No worries, mate!
Oh, this is lovely. See? A house can be a shop, museum, and family place all in one – how intriguing and look! the shop handles your decor for you! I had to laugh at your comment about the boys’ bathroom. I am always amazed at how blithe shall we say that guys are about bathrooms.
Your place never ceases to amaze me and I love hearing about it.
What fun it would be to visit…and shop!
Just doing a fly-by to say hello and see if there were any other postings on your shop and all the very cool etceteras of living there!
‘later…
Just waving! Hope all is well and you’re selling lots. (Just don’t make a mistake and sell the kids. You’d want them back, eventually!)