Shop Highlight - Midgley Green

Today, I want to introduce you to Midgley Green, an absolutely gorgeous online store I stumbled upon a couple of months ago. Midgley Green, is a homewares retailer, founded by husband and wife team, Katherine Midgley and Seamus Green. Initially it was their stunning still-life product photography that attracted me, but once I read more, I fell for their ethos, and the beautifully crafted products that they sell. I believe that those passionate about their own business can tell their story much better than I ever could, so I asked Katherine and Seamus a few questions about their lovely store.

Can you tell me a bit about Midgley Green?

Midgley Green is an online homewares retailer founded by Katherine Midgley and Seamus Green. We are a husband and wife team tucked away in the South West of England. Our brand aims to bring to you products crafted by both maker and place.

Midgley Green draws inspiration from the colours and materials found in the landscape we wander. The outdoors governs our tastes and informs the pieces that we sell, from the beauty of the grain in a fallen tree to the comfort and warmth of a winter hide. Each product is in tune with the land that we stomp, embracing where it has come from through material and design.

We work with makers to bring our customers homewares with honesty, integrity and simplicity. We value traditional methods of making without losing sight of contemporary aesthetic. Our brand is proud of heritage, not shy of tradition and determined to use materials found on our doorstep by supporting today’s makers who feel the same way.

What is your background?

We both studied Fine Art at University; Katherine is a drawer and Seamus a painter. Owning a homewares shop that would utilise the network of makers we have built up over the years, as well as our own creative backgrounds has always been our dream. We aim to sell products that are as functional as they are beautiful. Being artists we learnt to be self-motivated, critical and to always refine our craft, but we also learnt that the art world wasn’t for us. We wanted to find an outlet for art and design where the boundaries are clearer and craft is valued.

Do you have any exciting forthcoming plans for Midgley Green?

Over the next year we hope to grow Midgley Green steadily to reach a wider audience across Britain. We have some exciting collaborations lined up for the shop over the coming months and we will also be selling the most beautiful ceramics from Elisabeth Barry (www.elisabethbarry.com). We met Elisabeth at Outlaw Craft Fair in Bristol, her work blew us away and following a studio visit we have planned some very exciting exclusive pieces for Midgley Green.

On top of growing the shop we also hope to bring Midgley Green to the public through a select few Pop Up events. We know that it is difficult to sell tactile products that so easily sell themselves on the touch and feel of their material, purely through photographs on the website. We want to touch pieces ourselves to get a sense of their scale, weight and texture so we hope that we can line up some really great events for the public to engage with the products we stock in a different way. Plus it gives us an excuse to build a physical shop, which is something we have dreamt of for a good while!