Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do?
Well Hello there, my name is Cassie Nicholas and I along with my husband Edward own and work at Dig Haüshizzle. Dig Haüshizzle is a store just of Christmas steps selling Furniture and Decorative items. Its always hard to explain what we do as there are so many different aspects to our roles and we sell such a varied style of pieces. From Victorian ebonised cabinets to mid century designer chairs, industrial lighting just to give an idea. However we only buy what we love so this allow the store to change quite quickly. We are kind of antiques dealers but mainly we sell shizzle for your house.
Apart from Dig Haushizzle what else do you like doing?
Well Edd is a full time Veterinary nurse so a lot of his time is taken up with that, we have managed five years of Edd not bringing any animals home from work however I don't think he will last much longer. We like beers after work and dinners on occasion, live music, pub quiz, visiting people and places and walking or cycling everywhere. Getting to look at all the amazing building and often a sneaky peek through someones window. We are super busy so we are always cramming our days.
What was the inspiration behind starting the shop?
Well we have always loved Art and Fashion and on buying our flat it soon fell to interiors to be our new romantic interest. We are constant researchers that will look into depth at any thing that takes our fancy and after lots of books, blog reading and trying to visit as many interiors we loved and shops we devised our plan for Dig Haüshizzle. We wanted a shop that essentially sold the kind of things we loved (which was not readily available in Bristol) we wanted it to feel homely and inviting and have a Fashion store approach to help create a constant change in look and feel throughout the year. We love antiques and antiques shops but we wanted to create a more concise collection within our store that feels like your walking more into a brand collection.
What is your favourite item in your shop and why?
Never an easy question. We currently have a Victorian taxidermy dome with 13 exotic birds in, that one is pretty special.
Please tell us about your current loves...
Well this is not so much current but a few years ago I went to the "Twilight" photography exhibition at the V&A, out of everything I have ever been too this always sticks in my mind and inspires almost everything creatively I want to do. Hence I always have a love for the dark, whether its within photography, interiors or fashion. I read recently that designer Alexandre de Betak always starts an interior with black walls rather than the preferred white, that is something I love. However against all the dark we have got a big thing for neon and have in sights some neon for the shop. We are also really digging putting plants all over our flat at the minute I find that it does actually make you smile and feel happy and watering the plants in the morning is pretty relaxing. Book wise we have just had this great book come into our store called "Brooklyn Modern". Brookyln already seems to have the most awesome interiors but the great thing about this book is that it is all homes and predominately small flats which is great as you can see how great small spaces can really look. So many interiors books focus on large houses and restaurants that are totally inaccessible this book you could see how things could work for you. Edd and I also have a bit of Westwood addiction that is luckily aided by the fact I have always had part time work in luxury stores with a healthy discount. However Edd got caught out in Worlds End the other week and came away with the excitement of a totally unique t-shirt and a limited edition top (luckily doubles as a dress for me).
Describe your studio/workspace?
Our workspace is anywhere we can find some space! We have a small room in the shop we can work on little pieces but a bendy stairs makes larger pieces the serious bane of our life. We often work on pieces in our flat, the store, my parents garden or even the back of our van!
What is a typical work day for you?
Up early often have to travel some distance to view and hopefully buy some fantastic pieces, rush back to open the store for 11. Then its a mass of catching up on emails , cleaning, pruning the flowers, photographing things for the website, blogging, and researching. A lunch time stop to read the paper and eat an obscene amount of food then back to work updating social media, arranging the store, polishing and not to mention serving and speaking to our wonderful customers. At 6 we close either its time for beer or time to deliver some pieces (depending on how the day has gone).
What do you love most about what you do?
I really love the process from start to finish. We often buy something we can see potential in, restore it move it into the shop and show people our vision of this lovely piece and how it could work in their home. Someone then totally gets the piece loves it the same as us. We get to take it to them and see where it goes and how often what you found was the perfect thing for their space. That is a good feeling.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
Our most treasured handmade possession would be a piece of Taxidermy by Polly Morgan. I realise it is not wholly hand made as quite a big bit of it (a magpie) came from nature but the whole piece is something that just called to us. It was also bought by all of our friends and family as a wedding gift so there is a lot of love in it.
If you were stranded in the wilds what item would you want with you to survive?
A really good knife, hey you never know when you need to chop of your arm!
Which is your favourite local independent shop or eatery & why?
Something Else on Park Row have the most amazing selection of magazines, that makes it so hard to decide which one I can actually have. Also I am a big fan of the Summer Dresses you can find in Uncle Sams on Park street I have a couple that I literally wear all the time but as soon as there is some definite sun or maybe even a holiday I will head there to replenish my little dress collection.
Where would you like to be in ten years?
I would like Dig Haüshizzle to be more than one shop and possibly incorporating a coffee shop too. This would allow us then to just do the buying and travel around trying to find the things we love.
Thank you Cassie and Edd, your shop is incredible, and we absolutely love having your pieces in our Made in Britain shop.
Made in Britain
Quakers Friars
Cabot Circus
Bristol
Opens Daily:
Mon - Sat: 10am - 6pm
Sun: 11am - 5pm
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