Why I started Studio & Store

I promised myself at the start of this year I'd share more than just furniture and lighting — that hasn't really happened but I was recently chatting with a friend and they reminded me that sometimes you have to look back to see how far you've come. So after a little thought I'd like to share a bit of history — why I started Studio & Store. It's come a very long way from where it began, on a journey I could never have planned or predicted!

An early styling shot of hand-blown glasses we sold for Emma Mackintosh - a glassmaker base in the Lake District.

I'm a Mum of 3 - all pretty much teenagers now. After my second son, a big change in unexpected circumstances meant I had to stop working and become a full-time Mum — not the most natural place for me, but happy all the same. It was only meant to be a short break, but our daughter came along a couple of years later and a small break turned into a few years.

When our daughter turned 3, I started thinking about work again, but with three small children close in age, full-time wasn't realistic, and part-time around school hours felt impossible once you factored in childcare costs. It felt like a dead end, made worse by a serious lack of confidence having been out of the workplace for a period of time. Around that time, a friend asked me to help redesign her house. I had no interior design experience, but a property background gave me good spatial awareness, we'd renovated our own homes, and I've always had a bit of an obsession for finding things no one else has.

After a few design jobs I quickly realised interior design itself wasn't for me — but I was good at finding "stuff." In late 2019, I spotted a gap for UK-made pieces in my style and pulled together a small collection from UK makers, and launched Studio & Store — right as Covid hit. It went reasonably well. I built a small following on Instagram, made sales, and grew the range — some pieces made exclusively for us, others like our aluminium planters bought in on a wholesale basis from a commercial manufacturer allowed me to create an inventory no-one else had. Then in early 2021, still mid-lockdown, I sourced my first few vintage pieces (images below!) - I hadn't planned to sell them, but an enquiry came in so off they all went - on an adventure to the other side of the world!

So without going into too many details that's really how it all began - kind of accidentally, a hobby turned into a job which I’m extremely grateful for and appreciate I’m pretty lucky. That said it hasn’t been easy, it continues to be a huge learning curve having no previous business experience - I don't think I could have planned any of it! Whether you've been here since the early days or you've only just found us - Thank you for your support & following along!