August | The highs and lows of car booting, four days in Wales and a free painting
Second-hand interiors related inspiration, recommendations and maybe a purchase or two from the past month
Is it just a British thing where you feel like you wait for about three months for the summer to get started and then all of a sudden August has slipped by in the briefest of flashes and we’re staring down the barrel of the gun at September?
Another British thing - tis’ the season for car boot sales! For any of my non-UK readers, this is a bit like a garage or yard sale except you pack up all the stuff you want to sell into your car, drive to a field or a community space like a school playground, park up and unpack the contents of your boot onto a table in front of your car. These happen fairly regularly throughout the year all over the UK, but ramp up during the summer when the weather is (supposedly) better/dryer. It’s a bit of a roulette as to whether one will be good or bad but usually it’s somewhere in between. It can be a lot of effort, often for not much reward but if you do get lucky the pay off are the incredibly cheap prices - sometimes as little as 50p or £1 so much cheaper than any antique fair or flea market, especially when you’re near closing time and sellers are trying to shift things for whatever they can.
There’s a photo of me somewhere as a baby at a car boot with my Mum, aunties and grandparents, which is proof I’ve been car booting since before I could walk. I don’t get to go as often as I’d like but to my knowledge, the best ones in London are Battersea (South), Princess May Road (East), Capitol car boot (Pimlico, SW) and Chiswick (West). I used to visit Princess May Road when we lived East, I’ve still never been to Battersea or Capitol but I finally made it to Chiswick for the first time a few weeks ago. I’d always heard good things and I’m happy to report it firmly lived up to expectation. It takes place on the first Sunday of every month aside from January, from 6.30am - 12.30pm and it’s £1 cash entry on the door. I’m sure those who want the best gems swoop in at 6.30am and so were likely out the door by the time I arrived at (what I felt was a respectable) 8.30am.
There were plenty of stylish sellers and I was also pleasantly surprised by the scale. As always, it took me a couple of loops to get my eyes in but I came away with some good purchases, some random ones too but that’s always the way with a car boot. The flip side of a bargain is that it’s all too easy to be lured in by the incredibly low prices and buy things just because they’re cheap. And when you’re making impulsive decisions, sometimes your judgement is understandably skewed. My rule is that if I’m not sure on something, I’ll always walk away, and I usually try and go round the whole thing twice so I can come back if I want to. If it’s still there and I’m still drawn to it, I’ll take it as a good sign. If I’m still not sure, I’ll leave it.
I was keen to go back to Chiswick and we had planned to stop off en route to the Isle of Wight last Sunday but I’d got the dates mixed up, and only realised my mistake after we’d got up and ready. So after a quick Google, we headed off to Dorking car boot in Surrey instead. We had to laugh as it was almost the antithesis of Chiswick, it was in the car park of the train station and felt very local with no more than 15 stalls. We didn’t hang around and after a bit more Googling discovered Nuthill carboot was taking place a further 20 minutes away, just off the A3. It was certainly bigger than Dorking but nothing to shout about on this occasion and we came away empty handed. You win some you lose some but that’s all part of the fun.
Although I love the thrill of the hunt, I do also find the experience of car booting a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. There’s the excitement and the anticipation of what you might find, followed by the adrenaline rush of a few purchases (hopefully). If I’ve been successful, I’ll leave on a real high which is then usually followed by a bit of a crash when I get home and unpack everything - a mix of regret for buying things I don’t need and anxiety because I question my choices. Eventually that wears off and I usually level out feeling pretty pleased with what I’ve got. Ironically though, it’s often the things I wasn’t entirely sure of at the time of purchasing that end up being some of my favourite finds - which goes to show that often there’s no rhyme or reason to it all. And then I’m ready to do it all over again!
I’m a bit of an over-thinker if you hadn’t guessed.
This month we spent a week in Wales, tagging on four days in this very cute Airbnb before a long weekend at Greenman festival. If you’re looking for a few days escape, I’d really recommend this place. When I say tiny I mean tiny, but it’s the perfect bolthole for one or two and it’s been very thoughtfully furnished by the owners (who live just over the road) so it really has everything you need. The highlight was waking up every morning to the sound of birdsong and the stream that runs past the cottage.
We ventured into the town of Abergavenny on the Wednesday, where I’d read there was a weekly flea market. It wasn’t quite what I’d pictured but very sweet nonetheless and I’m always happy to see an old chequered quarry tile floor, which we have in our house and painstakingly restored during our renovation.
I came away empty handed from Abergavenny although on the drive out we spotted a second-hand furniture spot called Gingers and couldn’t resist pulling over. The vibe was house clearance so fairly random and aside from a rug that had already sold, the only thing that caught my eye was the painting below. I enquired about the price to which the owner screwed up his face, did some quick mental calculations and then to my surprise told me I could have it for free, which I’m not sure has ever happened to me before. I promise I tried really hard to give him something but he wasn’t having any of it. It does sort of remind me of the Welsh fields and mountains so it feels a bit like a giant postcard - a momento of a happy week.
Speaking of freebies, Kopp London who specialise in sourcing beautiful second-hand Swedish flatweave rugs amongst other decorative pieces, are running a competition on their Instagram this month to win one of their rugs worth over £2,000! It’s a lovely geometric design in gentle, muted hues of brown, yellow and purple - on the left below. The instructions to enter are on the post and I’d highly recommend you do - a really incredible prize.
As you can probably tell from some of the trips I’ve mentioned already, I’ve been making a concerted effort to squeeze in more sourcing for my own shop - @secondbest_shop - and uploaded a few new bits recently with more on the way. I’m excited to have more space to store and to style pieces once we’re back in our house come October, so stay tuned!
A few other dates for your diary if you’re looking for more sourcing ops:
There are loads of flea markets happening across East and South London this month from the team behind the Hackney Flea Market. The Giant London Flea is on Sunday Sep 15th in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Multi-Storey Car Park. I’m going to try and go along to the Big South London Flea on Sep 29th in Copeland Park.
The Spotlight Market is also taking place this month on the 28th and 29th in Clapton at Mark and Marko, which attracts some of the best online sellers and dealers, all in one space. Prices will be higher than at the flea markets, but if you’re looking for those really special pieces this is a brilliant opportunity to see things in person and meet your favourite sellers.
Outside of London, Malvern Flea is happening on 15th September at the Three Counties Showground - I’ve been twice this year and I really like it. A good mix of furniture and smaller tabletop finds and lots of indoor space if the weather is bad!
I’ll leave it there for now. As always, thank you for reading. If you enjoyed it and have a minute, I would hugely appreciate a restack or a recommendation on Substack or your other socials so that new readers can find it too. This monthly round-up is free to read and can be accessed just by sharing the link.
Until next time x
I sometimes go to Malvern Flea and feel inspired to go on the 15th. 😀