James Broad Interiors

A little bit about us.. My name is James Broad. I’m 27 years old, and have the pleasure of having lived & worked in the leafy countryside of Cheshire my whole life. I enjoy wondering around museums, eating, exercising, getting tattooed, spending time with my wonderful family and friends, my rock of a fiancé, beautiful boy Rodney (he’s a bearded dragon) and little furry lady Bailey (she's a labradoodle.) And, here’s my confession - I have a pretty extreme addiction which I cannot (and do not want) to shift. My name is James Broad and I am addicted to antiques. I spent my childhood around antiques (no I am not referring to my parents) and soon caught the “antique bug”. I’d spend every weekend visiting car boots, fairs and charity shops (back when you could still find the occasional treasure!) buying bits and pieces and once I was a little older, selling them on to other local dealers whilst making a mediocre profit. The addiction for antiques intensified when I took on a position at a local auction house where I was taught the basics of antiques, how auctions work and met some fantastically knowledgeable people. I then went on to spend 6 months learning the tricks of the trade, working with a good friend who had set up their own retro furniture business - Joel Poole (AKA Populuxe Home Boutique). In 2016 - at the age of 21 - I decided that employment wasn’t for me and thus, James Broad Interiors was born! I quit my job and pursued my dream of being an antique dealer and, honestly, I’ve never looked back. Every product on my website is something that I’ve fallen in love with on my travels and therefore have just had to have. I get a buzz when I find something beautiful, interesting or that I could see making someone else just as happy as me. I will only sell pieces in a condition that I would have in my own home - whether that means spending time expertly restoring it, artfully distressing it or just ensuring it is absolutely pristine. I am proud of every single item on here and love the idea that any one of these products will be the finishing touch to someone else’s interior, be it an Instagram worthy home, an oh-so-photogenic bar or simply a final addition to a collector’s catalogue. I put a lot of effort, energy and definitely a little bit of myself into procuring each piece and making sure it is perfect and something I can be proud of - and hopefully something that you will love too. UPDATE I was asked in 2019 to join the panel of "distinguished dealers" on a new BBC1 daytime TV show - The Bidding Room. This meant massively stepping out of my comfort zone and actually having to go behind the camera and be filmed doing the thing that I loved - buying antiques! Airing in mid 2020, the show centres around 5 dealers bidding against each other for interesting and unusual items brought in by members of the public and has since been renewed for a second series, to be aired early 2021. With all this going on, and with a pesky worldwide pandemic happening in the background, things at James Broad Interiors had to change. I took on the role of Auction Room Manager at the very auction that lit the fuse on my addiction meaning I had less time to do the day to day running of JBI. Disaster then struck as my other half, along with God knows how many other people in the UK was made redundant as a result of the pandemic. Somewhere in the back of my brain, cogs began whirring and I saw the solution to both of the issues facing us. So may I introduce the newest member of the team at James Broad Interiors - Emma Pawsey! Emma has worked mainly in the interior design industry for the last 4 years of her life and shares my love & passion for good design though we don't always agree on what this is! Em takes on the majority of the tasks behind the scenes for JBI - collection, minimal restoration & photography of new stock, packaging & posting smaller sold items, arranging couriers & occasionally delivering items herself, along with all social media & marketing. She will also normally be the person that you would meet when making an appointment to visit our showroom. We are both incredibly excited about what this next chapter at James Broad Interiors holds as I am sure you are too. Thanks, James & Emma