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Libs Nicholls is an antique dealer with, unsurprisingly, an affection for all things old. Her trio of homewares boutiques, Domestic Science, are dotted around villages in the Cotswolds in England and blend a mix of pre-loved accessories with original new finds. Her home is just as eclectic.
With a network of sellers across Europe often alerting her to things she might like, sitting on stock has always been an occupational hazard. “When my children were small, they could come home to a different kitchen table than the one they’d had breakfast on,” she says with a laugh. The creative patiently waited 23 years before renovating (and slightly extending) the kitchen in her home, which used to be the village school’s cookhouse. Her aim was that it shouldn’t feel too done. “I wanted it to look very informal and not matchy-matchy,” she explains. Ahead, Nicholls describes the thrifted treasures and serendipitous finds that went into cooking up her dream space.
The Victorian Storage-Turned-Island
Nicholls’s starting point was a Victorian pine dresser with a marble top that she picked up for £500 (around $660). She stashed it in her warehouse for nine months until construction kicked off. At nine feet long with simple cabinets and drawers, using it as a central island dictated a galley-style layout for the rest of the space.
The Delicatessen Counter
Nicholls added new panels to the vintage island, that way it could accommodate a dishwasher and double sink on one side. As a result, she had to replace its original marble top (don’t worry, she reused it as a work surface for the pantry) with a fresh slab of grey Carrara. For the main kitchen run, Nicholls sourced an old piece of stone (previously a fish counter at a delicatessen) from a reclamation yard’s closing sale. The salvaged marble wasn’t quite long enough, so to make it work, she tacked on a small section of stainless steel.
The Indoor-Outdoor Backsplash
Nicholls didn’t have to look far for her backsplash: “It was sitting in my garden for 16 years,” she says of the scalloped sheet of galvanized steel, which she originally picked up at a film props auction. Her builder cut the four-foot-long panel in half so she could run it along the wall. The American tin tiles behind the cooktop were leftover from her old kitchen: “They’re caked in years and years of paint,” says Nicholls.
The Oddball Cupboards
The kitchen isn’t all style over substance: Nicholls spent time planning its inner workings meticulously. “We’re a bit disorganized and messy as a family, so I know that the more dedicated places we have for things, that’s how we’ll keep it all in order,” she shares. Bookending the main run is a fridge and, on the other side, a freestanding antique cupboard—its exterior paint worn back through years of use. “We call it the ‘ugly cupboard’ because we can hide the mixer and stuff I don’t want out,” she explains. Opposite the refrigerator is an old door and two drawers with their original framing still intact, creating a broom cupboard up top and a space to stash lightbulbs.
The Freebie Pantry Doors
Crittall is a 175-year-old British manufacturer of slim-profile, steel windows that Nicholls splurged on for the doors out to her garden. So imagine her surprise when she found a pair in a neighbor’s dumpster. Helping herself (with his blessing), she put them back to use as the doors to her walk-in pantry after stripping them back and adding reeded glass. “When we had the builders and neighbors over for Christmas drinks, the guy came and he said: ‘Oh my God, I want them back now!’ remembers Nicholls.
The Ceiling Made From Tabletops
With the room measuring around 42 feet long, Nicholls was worried that the bare ceiling would look too stark. Cue the old Dutch market tabletops fixed overhead, the joints disguised with battens for an authentic rafter look. “It has given it so much texture,” she says. From the same dealer, she acquired 14-inch-wide planks for the floor, which were used in Holland for ripening cheeses 100 years ago. “They’re so beautiful because they have a white bloom on them,” says Nicholls.
The Sprinkle of Newness
The only new components in the kitchen are the lights and a handful of units designed with the same profile as the Victorian dresser. The latter are color-matched to a muddy-brown piece of paper Nicholls took into her local paint shop. The cabinet pulls and wall brackets are reproductions of vintage one-offs she found. Nicholls loved them so much she made dozens more so she could sell them in her boutiques.