Stonehenge, Bath, and Antique Shops - S1E2

Today I'm finally going to experience one of the heavens on Earth. Wow! It's a place that was built 4,500 years ago. No one really knows why it was constructed. Its purpose remains a mystery. And this site has been on my bucket list since I was a teenager, and I was thrilled to finally see it in person. Why was Stonehenge built? No one knows why. I truly believe it was a place of divine power. Though it was a cold afternoon, my mind diverted and I was locked in time. I was stunned and stood away from the crowd to understand this phenomenon. I closed my eyes and chanted Om Namah Shivaya, and as I recall the moment, vibrations ran through my body. My experience was blissful. I believe there is a healing energy at this point on Earth. As a designer, all I can say that this place is peaceful and inspiring to see how these stones have stood there for thousands of years through countless seasons and generations. What should I say about Bath? God, it's an incredible little town. It's not huge, it's small, but it is amazing. It takes you back in time and you wonder, is this what life was like centuries ago? It was actually a recommendation by my brother. He said, "You can't leave the UK without visiting Bath." So I said, "Okay, why not?" And I wish I was there longer. I only had 2 days to spare. And at the end I was like, "Man, I wanted to stay here longer. Maybe next time." So after every meal, I like to take a walk. So before just heading into the car and driving to our next destination, we decided, okay, let's just go stroll one more time. And then I come across The Devolve Kitchen, and I had never been inside that showroom, and I was like, yes, and yes, I am doing this for sure. So their kitchens are very lived-in, antique, which I always like in the kitchen, so it has some character, so it's not just modern and cold. Like for example, look at this stove. It just looks like, ah, it's from a different time. It's beautiful. White pops. And if you have some beautiful china, the way they have it placed over their fireplace, that is just amazing. Look at these. I don't know if it's captured on the camera very well, but These doors are spray painted twice and then hand painted the last time. So let's say if there's a scratch, you can easily paint them yourself. I love this island, this beautiful oak wood on top. It just complements so well with the green on the bottom. So this was my first time inside their showroom, and I was expecting cabinets, some colorful cabinets, some wood tones, and maybe a model kitchen, because that's what I'm used to in the States. But to my surprise, they had full-on rooms for each of the model kitchens that I saw, and it was kind of like a replica of what a real-life kitchen would look like, which I thought was amazing for For anyone who doesn't know what they're doing with their remodel, and actually to walk into a showroom like that, it really helps to visualize what you're going to get into. I want to own a kitchen where I could have a fireplace. I just love this concept, and I know it's definitely more European than American to have fireplace in your kitchens. I don't know, it's just so cozy, and what I love about this Kitchen again, it's timeless. I loved how there's open shelving for your dishes so it doesn't feel too boxy. When we go design our kitchen, it's all open and it's just beautiful. Here is referred to as a dairy table from the past. They would have these, um, galleys here and a hole here, like, you know, you're making your yogurt or something, and then it would go down to your bucket. But in today's world, it's a great prep table. So anyone who likes bake or cook. This is amazing. Oh, this is a really nice marble top. They make doorknobs. I mean, they have some really cool stuff. Let's walk into a kitchen that has black cabinets. I know it's not for everyone, but keep an open mind. It's gorgeous. Let's go. Let's start with this beautiful island with the black and copper top countertops. I couldn't believe these are copper. Like, yes, they look copper to me, but I had to come real close, touch and feel, and it doesn't even feel like copper. It's treated very well and it complements the black cabinets very well. I love this feature where it's kind of like a display cabinet and you can showcase a lot of things in here— your bottles, your glasses. It just works so well in this kitchen with the oak wood trimming on the side of the cabinets. It just— everything works really well. It blends well. Overall, it was a good afternoon. I enjoyed myself inside the showroom. The staff was super friendly, super knowledgeable, and I learned a lot. On our last day, as we were getting ready to leave, I was not in the mind frame of doing any type of design shoot in Bath because it was such a short period. But oh my, to my surprise, I found some really cool local vendors of antique shops that I'm about to show you. As I was waiting around for Adi and he was parking the car, I came across Beau Nash, and they have two antique stores. One is for Silver Antiques and the other one is Antique Interiors. You got to go into their stores when you are in Bath because guess what? They ship worldwide.

Um, in about 1880, and the beauty of this bowl is that it's, um, it's not been engraved with anything. Normally there would be a an inscription there. Somebody to somebody. A family crest in it. So this is quite clean. The beauty of the bowl is just the depth and the vividness of all the silver chasing work that goes around the bowl. The whole way around. And there's an inscription on the front that says, for the winning horse of Broadstairs horse racing in 1790. 92. And then in the base of the, the, the, the, the mug, if you can zoom in, you can see all the clear hallmarks. Ah, and the beauty of English silver is that the, the silver will be stamped. By law, it has to be stamped so you know who made it, where it was made, and when it was made. And that's how we can date this so accurately.

Ah, nice.

What we like to do here is layering, because now the trend, and as you know, yeah, is layering. So we take a Victorian, yeah, armchair, which we've had to spend a lot to put back together because it's so difficult, yeah, and then we put modern upholstery in it. So what we are also finding is that young people are looking for antiques. Yes, I think the green movement has successfully helped us. Also, if if you think about how reliable and how durable these pieces have been, you're going to spend pretty much the same amount of money buying a modern piece that you don't know how durable that will be. And then there's a piece of history. There's no way you can find the exact same. There's that individualism, isn't it? You're gonna find this one armchair, the desk, or the table, and it's very hard to find another one just like it. So you're not a carbon copy. We, we find that now you want your home to also have the variety, don't you? So yeah, this is where I think that's— it's so much fun to get in here.

Yeah, yeah. And I love the boxes. Like, as I travel, I collect boxes. So nice. These are very nice.

Yeah, most of what we specialize are jewelry boxes, trinket boxes, some unique boxes.

Also in the store, they had beautiful boxes. As I travel, I collect a lot of boxes. They have very unique boxes. If you're a collector like me, collect those boxes, put them around your home. And it could be a collector of a key box, or, you know, your mail could go in that box. Anything and everything, you know, that you have a clutter in your home can go inside these beautiful boxes. And it's a very cool way to display in your home.

Yeah, the mirrors have been selling really well as well, uh, to the point obviously we're inspired to have a mirror gallery. Yeah, rugs, um, there are certain pieces here that no matter how many rugs I bring in it won't be enough to fill. So what we do is we find things for people, for people who are seriously looking for stuff. Yeah, don't look at our shop and say this is my only collection. I've got warehouses of collection. I just didn't want this to look like a warehouse.

Yeah, this is a beautiful rug. When you mentioned rug, I just looked down and it's a Kum carpet. It's a—

the, the thing with rugs is that, uh, you've got two types, right? You've got a rug that has typically medallion in the middle of it, and then you need to put that medallion in the middle of the room, and it's all very restrictive. Hakoum carpet, the nice thing about it is it's also the colors and how bright everything is. And we try to have rugs that's a bit more flexible, so there's no medallion, you can put it anywhere in the room.

Yeah.

And then we have different sizes with, with rugs. With mirrors, it's all about dimensions, so the more we know about your dimensions your budget, your style, the colors that you want. We'll just go on the search for you.

Okay.

Yeah, thank you. This is a great store.

Thank you. Well, we're trying to revive the independent shops because now I think, unfortunately, um, for whatever reason, the independent antique shops are closing down. Yeah. And I think one of the biggest reasons is because maybe there's just not the right type of business thinking behind it, not the right type of customer service behind it. So we focus— we've, we've— in Masters, we sell products, but we're very much a service shop. We want to deal with fashionable antiques, personalized service, and also, um, yeah, we want to make sure Bath keeps having those independent vibes, cuz that's why people come to Bath. Yeah, we want you to feel like you're walking to a possible home that maybe you own, so you can get both inspiration, not just furniture pieces and mirrors and everything, but you, you will get the inspiration. I would like you to see things in situ as much as possible. Now we have our limitations, we are a retail space. Yeah, but we've also picked this wonderful building. Yeah, so this building is quite historic. Many of us who have lived here for years, we never knew how beautiful this building was because it was a derelict shop. And we found a kitchen from 1760 downstairs in original condition, which is— you can't—

you—

it's hardly anything. Yeah, in Bath you can see that now.

Nice. You want to go?

Everything is original.

Oh wow.

And that's why it's all dilapidated. Now here's a fun quiz for your viewers. I don't know what these two holes are for. Oh, I've asked historians, I've asked people around. Maybe I've not asked enough people. I'd love to know.

So here's a little quiz for you guys. Cynthia and Ron wants to know, in their kitchen downstairs, there are two holes on top of a wooden slab which they don't know what it was used for or why is it there. They have asked several people. So if you guys have any knowledge about the kitchen of that time, please let us know in the comments below. This beautiful Airbnb we stayed in was a 5-minute walk from the city center. It was a historic building newly remodeled with modern finishes. The use of blues and greens had a calming effect and really uplifted the mood. One of the things I always recommend when traveling is to stay in a nice place. It really affects how you experience the city. Having a comfortable place and a good night's sleep will always make sure that you are ready to explore the next day. Bath, you made me feel wonderful. Thank you for taking me back in time. I didn't have enough time. I'm definitely gonna come back. I had interior design inspiration in every corner of this city. So till next time, time. Ciao for now. Now let's go to Kotz World.