Home Is Where The Stories Start

Have you ever noticed that it’s the stories in a house that make it a home? Look around your house, what does it say about you? What tales could it tell about the way you live. Look at the furniture and think about its history. Did you save all your pennies to buy it, was it a wedding gift or was it handed down to you? How does that history make you feel, what’s so special to you about that piece of furniture or corner of your home?

Everything we make is designed to slip effortlessly into a lived-in home, playing a starring role in these everyday stories. So we chatted to our design team about the pieces and places that are special to them and found out how they inspire the furniture we make…

“My nan had a beautiful dresser in her kitchen when we were growing up. Visiting Nan’s house was a regular thing and we all knew our way around the kitchen. Most importantly we all knew exactly where she kept the treats. They were tucked away in the furthest drawer to the right and ‘hidden’ inside a vintage tin that she’d had for years. It was never empty. She allowed us to pick one treat each if we’d gone there after school, which meant we went there after school as much as possible! Since then I’ve always had an affection for a dresser, all those drawers, compartments and little nooks and crannies. There are dozens of  ‘treat hiding’ places in the dressers we sell and that makes me very happy!”.

“I have a vintage pew at home, I rescued it from a skip years ago. One of the local churches had been bought and was being converted into accommodation. Every time I sit on it I wonder how many people have used it before me and who created the marks and scratches that cover its wooden surface, it fascinates me. It’s where I sit every day before leaving the house. My morning ritual involves perching on the bench tying my shoe laces, checking my handbag for my phone and purse and then setting off. It’s just become an integral part of everyday life. We’ve used a similar shape for our Bourton painted bench, though the Cotswold Co version has some clever hidden storage under the seat…which I kind of wish mine had!”

 “Mum had a beautiful chair that she’s since given to me. It’s super special to me because I remember it from the house I grew up in. It was situated next to the window and it was where mum sat at the end of the day to watch her soaps. She’d have a cuppa on the nest of tables next to her and when she sat down you knew it marked the end of her working day. She’d finished her chores and she was having a bit of time for herself. Before bed, we’d sit and have a cuddle there, maybe even get a story read to us or run through the spellings for a test the next day. It was a special spot and now it’s a special place in my home too”.

“It wasn’t so much a piece of furniture that first sprung to mind when you asked us this question, but more of a place in my home growing up that I instantly thought of. I grew up with 2 older sisters and we would often play hide and seek. We lived in a Victorian townhouse and the steps were worn from years of wear and tear. The bottom step, in particular, was important to us because that was ‘the counting step’. You had to sit there with your hands over your eyes and count to 50, those were the rules. Like any stairs, ours were used so frequently that the paint in the middle of the step was entirely worn off, so that’s obviously where I parked my bottom while I counted! Whenever I enter a Victorian house like that, I always have an affection for the bottom step, it always reminds me of happy days”.

“I suppose the family dining table has always been the most important piece of furniture in our house. My parents weren’t too strict about eating around it during the week, as we all came and went at different times, but on Sunday they were pretty insistent! They liked us all to be sat around the table by 2pm ready for a Sunday roast or a feast of some description. We always made sure we were there, no matter what we had planned that day. Now that I have a family of my own, I do exactly the same thing. I’m determined that we keep the tradition alive. Some of my happiest family moments have been while we were gathered there around the table. Sharing a satisfying meal, catching up on the week that’s passed and what’s happening in the weeks ahead. Our dining table has come to sort of symbolise family to me. A sense of unity…I guess you can’t really get more special than that!”

So our team has shared some of their stories, what about yours? What pieces of furniture make you smile with the memories? Where do you keep the bedtime story books? Which chair was the stabiliser when your child took their first tentative steps? Where’s the sweetie drawer in your house? Where’s the naughty step?!

  We often take these spaces for granted when they’re being used, but they are part of our history and the beautifully rich tapestry that makes a house a home.

Share your stories with us.