The appeal of antiques goes far beyond the physical for interior designer Sarah Reynolds, and she has filled her home with intriguing pieces that have an emotional connection. Feature Katie Pike. Photographs James French
For most, a love of antiques is instilled during childhood, passed on from a parent or favourite relative. Antiques bring with them a sense of nostalgia – either for the onlooker’s own childhood, or for a time long in the past, never experienced and only imagined. For interior designer Sarah Reynolds, who treasures items owned by her family, it’s a bit of both.
Growing up, she says, she was old before her time. ‘As a child, I liked visiting stately homes and loved watching Upstairs, Downstairs. The behind-the-scenes aspect of grand houses fascinated me.’ So deep-rooted was her curiosity that, when she was eight, she had a recurring dream that she could fly – and with this superpower she would go and nose around stately homes.
‘I’m interested in how other people live, past and present. When I was little, we had a neighbour who I thought was the most glamorous person in the world. She had one of the JH Lynch Tina prints, which I now have in my kitchen and, on reflection, her home was actually quite kitschy,’ she says. ‘I take inspiration from everywhere.’
It’s fitting that Sarah’s home now, a renovated Victorian house in Derby, which she shares with husband Mike and their two children, Betty (10) and Arthur (16), is the type to illicit this same admiration. Over the past 18 years, the couple have transformed their home and filled it with colour, pattern and intriguing finds – all of which are key to Sarah’s characterful design style and her flair for combining all three is evident in each room.
The kitchen, for instance, was designed around a vintage gentlemen’s outfitters cabinet (which sat awkwardly in the living room for 18 months while the kitchen was being renovated) and also features a display of vintage French glass pendant lights and bespoke English oak cabinets – new but designed to blend with the salvaged furniture.
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‘I wanted the kitchen to resemble part-shop, part-science lab, with a little bit of below-stairs servants’ quarters atmosphere thrown in,’ she says. Sarah doesn’t want her interiors to resemble museums, so mixes pieces from different eras and offsets her furniture and accessories with bold contemporary wallpapers (think Blackpop) and textiles (House of Hackney is a favourite). Walls are similarly punchy – all dark blues, moody greens and muted pinks.
Sarah’s parents were into old things, too – and, like Sarah, had eclectic taste, teaming a treasured 1950s jukebox with Victorian oil paintings. Sarah would go with her mum to flea markets and, at the age of seven she bought her first vintage item. ‘It began with a Jersey cow milk jug,’ she says. ‘I still have it now and use it every Christmas to pour cream from.’
Other treasured items were passed down from her grandparents. ‘I like to be surrounded by things that belonged to people I loved,’ she says. ‘The cabinet in my bedroom used to sit in my grandma’s living room where it displayed a collection of ceramic dogs. I remember sitting there and playing with the dogs for ages. My grandma was my favourite person in the world.’
Having a personal connection to an object is a big part of how Sarah chooses antiques. A collection of vintage Pontefract liquorice tins is testament to this. ‘Liquorice was a massive part of Pontefract, the town that I grew up in.
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My aunty Bet, who my daughter is named after, worked at one of the liquorice factories and would hand-stamp each sweet with the company’s castle logo. Pontefract used to be the only place outside of Spain where liquorice was grown – the town still smells of it today – so, whenever I catch a smell of liquorice, it takes me home,’ says Sarah.
Other collections include bird prints, seascapes and coloured glass. ‘I started buying vintage glass when I was 15 and probably have about 25 vases, bowls and bottles now,’ she say. ‘The first piece I bought was a small bobbly vase that cost 30p from a vintage shop in Leeds. I never spend more than £15 on glassware and tend to go for pieces that date from the 1950s–70s, although it’s the shape and colour that I’m drawn to.’
Sarah modestly points out that many pieces around the house are broken, explaining that, if they mean something, they’re kept regardless. ‘When an old piece has a knock or looks a bit worn it doesn’t matter to me. These pieces have lasted hundreds of years and are still of use and still look beautiful.’ Another joy of antiques, to Sarah, is the romance.
‘I’m very sentimental so I wonder who used to own everything. It makes it extra interesting if I know who a piece belonged to. There’s an element of sadness if the previous owner has passed away but it’s nice to remember that these things belonged to someone else and that they meant something to them. There’s nothing sadder than something old becoming discarded when someone passes away.’
Here, items are celebrated – no matter their cost or what shape they’re in. ‘It’s an uplifting and sentimental home. Everything is here because it makes me happy,’ says Sarah.
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