Introducing... Homestuff with history

I'm not sure I love the say-what-it-is name of this shop I recently discovered, but I do like what it does. And at least the owners are making that clear.

Homestuff with History, an online shop based in Hertfordshire, is run by brother and sister Matt and Kathryn Brown and they may love old junk possibly even more than I do (did you miss my breathless post about the secondhand shops of Lewes?)

Oil painting of Mrs Palmer of Wrexham, framed oil on board, £59.95

Old stacking chair, £44.95

Japanese flip clock, £34.95

Parisian alarm clock, £34.95

Tiny German alarm clock, £24.95

The shop is stuffed with battered old cupboards, interesting oil paintings, a surprising number of lovely alarm clocks (don't you miss alarm clocks?), and a few things they've knocked up themselves using old materials (such as the wooden letters, below, made new in the workshop but from battered old bits of wood).

Wooden letters, £4.50 each

Kathryn and Matt have an eye for oddities as well as solid furniture basics with a well-loved look about them – and the pieces are either sold as they are, like this blue filing cabinet below, or tidied up with a splash of Craig and Rose 1829 paint (nice to have a change from Farrow and Ball...).

Do check out their Curiosities section on the site – the sort of random selection of second-hand things you don't often find online and reflects, no doubt, the home clearance sideline the shop operates. It's possibly not the stuff one might organically pick up at a trade antique market with a view to selling on (currently you'll find there a rusty old anvil, some ancient ice-skates and a miniature floral lavatory).

Blue wooden filing cabinet, £124.95

Every now and then (and I'm sorry to say we've just missed the latest) they also open up the workshop for a big sale, off-loading lots of the treasures they find in raw condition.

homestuffwithhistory.co.uk