Visit Honeychurch Home in Salisbury, Connecticut

Stools from all eras surround a vintage French table holding a prewar Hungarian scale and other goodies, while cut flowers wait to be composed into bouquets.

Birds perch on a whimsical ceramic bowl from Malta.

Inspired by Dutch tulip vases, an innovative stem vase from Italy displays a grouping of ranunculus.

The milky glaze of a handmade footed bowl from Japan accents a white pumpkin.

A vintage hutch filled with candles and artichoke sculptures provides “a snapshot of how we do things at Honeychurch Home,” says Piccirelli.

Because mantels often pose a design challenge for customers, Piccirelli loves to offer accessorizing hints in the shop.

Fluted plates from Amsterdam each feature a wildflower portrait.

Shop owner Carolyn Piccirelli stands at the ready behind the flower bar.

Salisbury, Connecticut’s pinch-me-idyllic ambience seduced Carolyn Piccirelli and her family to move to the town back in 2018. But Main Street’s not-so-sleepy tempo was also a draw because Piccirelli, whose background in retail includes everything from merchandizing management to product display, had plans for a home goods shop. When a quaint central location in the tiny town’s hub became available in 2019—a bit sooner than she initially expected—she nabbed it.

The inventory naturally fell into place. Piccirelli sought generational craftsmen for items with an artisanal flair to be sold alongside European antiques. She works with makers willing to collaborate on unique colorways and finishes—like Swedish blue, creamy putty, and spring green. “I find artists willing to make small runs for me in Italy, France, London, and all over,” Piccirelli says.

A name for the shop remained elusive until Piccirelli’s husband suggested thumbing through favorite books for inspiration, and that’s when she reconnected with Lucy Honeychurch from A Room with a View. Not coincidentally, Tuscany, where the E. M. Forster novel begins, was also Piccirelli’s first stop when sourcing inventory. Like the headstrong heroine’s agenda, the shop features items with depth and substance to create a life well lived.

In keeping with Salisbury’s character, Honeychurch Home skews classic.“I don’t follow fads,” Piccirelli explains. “Instead, I find things that are timeless. That’s better for the artisanal environment.” Honeychurch Home also strives to engage all the senses. Linens are selected for their textural hand while candles send delicate, almost intangible scents into the air. A wall of vases overflowing with cut flowers entices clients to create their own bouquets, each wrapped in craft paper French-style.

Tapping into her training in merchandise display, Piccirelli’s milieu of antiques and finely crafted home accessories feels comfortably Old World with an updated accent. “This town is turning more vibrant,” Piccirelli recently observed while looking out the shop’s window toward Salisbury center. Honeychurch Home is among the reasons for the awakening. Honeychurch Home, Salisbury, Conn., honeychurchhome.com