House Style with The Peanut Vendor founders Barny Read and Becky Nolan
After
showing us around their design, art and furniture-filled home in Bow, east
London, 20th-century furniture dealers Barny Read and Becky Nolan of
The Peanut Vendor share their house style.
How would you describe the interiors of your house?
An ever-changing mix of 20th-century furniture and art.
The bones of the place are colour-free
so that we can enjoy an eclectic mix of furniture and art. We have a move
around and rejig every few months, spurred on usually by a new piece we’ve
found and got excited by. It’s a rental, so when we moved in we were limited by
what we could do. As it’s quite small we knew we couldn’t go mad with colour
and concepts, so kept continuity throughout the flat with white walls, linen
curtains and the concrete floor.
If there was a fire and you could only save one thing, what would it be?
Can we say the hallway? It contains our favourite sculpture and large tropical painting.
When we came across them both we knew
they wouldn’t make it into the shop inventory. The artists of both of them are
unknown to us and we acquired them for a good price. Plus, the sculpture sits
in a place that you can see if from almost every room. It ties the flat
together.
What was the last thing you bought for the house?
Another massive sculpture.
We recently acquired a large white
ceramic sculpture by a local artist who popped into the store. She made it and
lived with it for years and now I think we’ll live with it for years. It’s got
a Hepworth thing going on – it’s really great.
Where do you shop for your home?
On our buying trips.
The reality is a lot of stuff in our
home was bought as stock for the shop. Either we couldn’t sell it because it broke,
or we couldn’t sell it because we loved it too much.
Top three coffee table books?
The Artist in His Studio by Alexander Liberman.
The World Of Apartamento: Ten Years Of Everyday Life Interiors by Marco Velardi, Nacho Alegre and Omar Sosa.
All of Suzanne Slesin’s books.
If money was no object, what changes would you make?
Firstly, we would buy our flat and the one next door. Then we would knock all the walls down and reconfigure the layout. The extra space would mean more light so maybe we could turn it into a Geoffrey Bawa-style tropical canal side utopia.
Less is more or more is more?
Less is more.
We like to think that we’re minimalists
but then keep finding ourselves surrounded by a great deal of stuff. We do
tend to have a declutter every six to eight months and are always happier with
the space as a result.
Design classics or contemporary pieces?
Vintage always.
It doesn’t have to be a design classic, although obviously they hold their value and you can get a lot of joy from a well-made icon. A unique vintage piece will always be the thing that gives us the most and isn’t it great to know you’re recycling?
If you’re having people over for dinner, what do you cook?
The kitchen is small so it’s best to have everything already cooked, or at least well prepped. So maybe a load of different curries or lots of pasta. In the summer, a BBQ – we’re lucky to have a garden and there’s more space to eat outside than in.
What are the best things about the neighbourhood?
The park is big and beautiful and being by the canal gives you great walking routes to places. People in London really use their parks, so on a sunny day it’s great to look out and see everyone out there picnicking. There’s a great buzz on Roman Road when the market’s on and we’re spoilt for choice for food in the area. There’s also a gallery two minutes away called Chisenhale Gallery, which is always worth popping in to.
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