We are thrilled to announce that the fabulous Nicky Guymer has opened her Heath + Down store here at Babylon
Situated in our courtyard area you’ll find Nicky’s studio space, where she works on projects and ideas with clients, surrounded by carefully sourced bespoke homeware and beautiful decor.
We caught up with Nicky, to have a chat about how she ended up at Babylon.
“In 2021, after 25 years in London, my family and I moved to Ashdown Forest. Whatever area I’ve lived in, I’ve always been a voracious supporter of businesses on my doorstep and ‘Ashdown Forest Garden Centre’, as it was called then, was one of them. Whilst learning of its new ownership in 2023, it was August 2024 when I got wind of something really changing up at what is now known as Babylon.
A new florist had opened, everyone was raving about the cafe, a glitterball appeared in the vast greenhouse and, most telling of all, new branding and beautiful signage was slowly taking root all over the site. A frustrated graphic designer at heart, this was the biggest clue that something was afoot…and I wanted to be part of it. In fact, I felt almost envious that I wasn’t, and sick at the thought that some other business might get in there first.
Truth be told, I wasn’t looking for a space at that precise moment. Yes, I had ambitions of becoming more established in my interior consultancy business…but that alone seemed like a vanity project; something that didn’t have a place in a post-Brexit, post-Covid, cost-of-living-burdened business plan.
But, with that summer’s visit to Babylon, everything came rushing into my brain at full-speed; ideas that I couldn’t turn off. When so much of my work is motivated by nurturing and calming surroundings, how inspiring would it be to have a place of work that overlooks the changing seasons of a garden centre, and blurs the boundaries between inside and out?
So one Sunday I drafted a speculative email outlining my idea for a complementary workspace and retail space, in one of Babylon’s buildings, and pulled together a couple of mood boards to outline how I would fit. A chance phone call and a couple of weeks after that I met the three owners, Rob, Paul and John for a whistlestop tour of the site, a rundown of their plans for the place and, by the time I drove the three minutes home, an offer to become the newest resident of one of their sheds.
And a shed it was – single skinned wood panelling with gaps you could fit your hand through, wobbly windows and doors that didn’t close, let alone lock. But, with carte blanche to design the space as I wished, the super-team that is Dangerous Dave and Henry working their magic and the three amigos scooping me up and making every thought instantly doable, seven weeks later I opened my very own studio and store, Heath + Down.
I work from Babylon four days a week, and my biggest joy is being spontaneously customer-facing. Not everyone gets that when they work alone. I genuinely think people love that it’s a working studio – that they’re free to browse, without the pressure to purchase. But I hope that if they are inquisitive about a pot that’s caught their eye, my interior styling portfolio on a rolling slideshow or the essential oil filling the air with the scent of neroli, they know that there’s someone on hand to passionately talk to them about filling their home with beautiful things.
And to think, if I hadn’t acted upon a nicely designed sign, I might never be here”.
You can find out more about Heath + Down and get in contact by visiting their website.
Heath+Down