Palace of shabby chic

Chances are, if you turn off the A4 into Lower Way and ask for Pineapple Palace, you’ll attract a few looks. Because, although you’d be just yards away, it’s one of Thatcham’s best-kept secrets.
A bit off the beaten tarmac track to Lower Way Farm, nestled in a quiet backwater of the River Kennet, is a
huddle of wooden huts housing artists’ studios, and at the centre, Jo Burton’s exotic-sounding Pineapple Palace gallery and arts café. The weatherboard exterior belies the interior; just throw open the door and you step inside a fabulous Aladdin’s cave of shabby chic furnishing and antiques.
TRISH LEE talks to the woman behind the operation and sees the work of the other artists showcasing there in this month's OUT & ABOUT magazine, online on this site.