- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Up My Street By Remy Mishon
My good fellows, if you have not yet been introduced to the delights of Remy Mishon, allow me to remedy that.
Remy and I worked together at House & Garden where, until recently, she was one of the brilliant minds behind the magazine's decorating stories. Interior styling is one of those professions that many assume begins and ends with the plumping of a cushion, artfully placing a pile of books in some baffling place and a throw of a throw. I can assure you this is not the job. Having spent two years attempting it myself I can tell you it requires a rare sort of brain. A brain I was not in possession of but Remy, yes she has those little grey cells.
She has an innate understanding of colour, a knack for forgoing the ordinary and, perhaps most importantly, the curiosity that separates a good stylist from an excellent one. The best stylists invent worlds that never existed, coaxing the very best out of furniture and objects and making the familiar feel strikingly new.
Remy now works independently, and if you are looking for someone with exceptional taste and an ability to make the impossible seem effortless, I cannot recommend her highly enough. In the meantime, please enjoy her Mishon Mile, packed with all manner of excellent shops, hotels and other bloody delights.
98 High Street, Rye, East Sussex TN31 7JT
I did a brief stint in Rye a few years ago and a cocktail at The George became our not-as-regular-as-I-would-like treat. Whenever I return I practically camp out to sit in one of their armchairs by the fire and admire the massive majolica roosters with an old fashioned in hand. The whole place is so pleasing to look at (designed by Retrouvius, so what would you expect) and just has an excellent, excellent vibe.
11 Eastgate Square, Chichester, PO19 1JH
I don’t know if charity shops count, but seeing as they make up so much of the high street, I’m going to count them and I live far away enough from this one not to gate keep it. It’s a real gem as it stocks actual proper vintage. I’ve bought fun bits of ceramics and glassware from here over the years and a good hat or two and almost always leave with a pair of silly earrings.
32 Church St, Brighton And Hove, Brighton, BN1 1RL
Being Brighton born and bred (three generations thank you very much), I’m really saddened by the state of its high street. Like so many cities and towns, it is now ‘vape shop, I Love London shop, massive retailer, vape shop, I Love London shop’ in that order, but tucked away behind the main road is this well known local treasure. If you speak to most photography inclined Brightonians, they will tell you that they bought their first analogue camera from here and I did mine.
20-22 Chapel Place, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1YQ
My favourite places as a child were always book shops and not much has changed. I remember finding a first edition of Agatha Christie’s Caribbean Mystery in here during my early teens and being obsessed with the graphics and type- it was well out of my price range, so I committed the cover to memory. More recently I picked up a copy of Olive Kitteridge for two quid, so really it does it all. Hall’s has been going since 1898 and that’s a very special thing indeed.
24 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2LU
Lewes High Street is one of my favourite high streets. I spent my teenage years traipsing up and down the hill and have a tonne of lovely (and not so lovely) memories on those streets. That aside, in the grand scheme, it seems to be one of the only high streets that I regularly visit that is still going relatively strong. Some real gems have been and gone over the past few years, however now and again new interesting places spring up.
Wickle is like a mini excellently curated department store and I am always seeing things I’ve never seen before, which sadly doesn’t happen a lot. Everything tends to be colourful, thoughtfully made and excellently curated. I always leave with something whether it’s a gift for a friend or myself.. It has been a fixture in Lewes for a good 20 or so years and long may it continue!
37 Highgate High Street, London, N6 5JT
I will admit, I don’t actually eat out a lot, but when I do, it’s usually breakfast. The Angel opened up last year (sister to The Bull down the road) and we have been going for special occasion breakfasts ever since. It’s no frills, but tastefully done. I like the staff and I like the clientele. I like to be sitting next to someone doing the crossword with their breakfast on one side and a couple with three dogs on their second pot of tea on the other. The food is truly excellent - I wouldn’t keep going back otherwise!
313 Kentish Town Rd, London, NW5 2TJ
Lastly, I couldn’t leave out my favourite local shop- B&S DIY Homecare. The first time I came to this hardware store, one of the workers was on the floor sawing an enormous length of wooden dowel. It came out the shop door and onto the high street, with him shouting ‘sorry!’ as it waggled at passers by feet.
You cannot see wall or ceiling for hardware and homeware bits in here, it’s a real Aladins cave. So far, it has never let me down in my pursuit of ‘just the right thing’. It only came close when I had to explain that I didn’t want dinosaur candles for my 33rd birthday cake. It’s the type of shop that writes the price on the packaging when you ask what the price is, though it’s always reasonable. Just as it should be, it doesn’t have a website, so you will have to go visit in person with a big list- I guarantee they’ll have everything on it.
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