Indie Inspirations: Meet the retailer reducing waste in Interiors

1. Tell us a bit about what you've been up to since we last saw you at Spring Fair 2020. How has the business changed/developed?

Oh wow yes so much! So when I did the Spring Fair I was on my own working in my spare bedroom, now we have rented a converted barn on a farm for our office and we are a team of six! The business has grown considerably which is so exciting, and shows that the industry needs what we are doing. When we started we just sold leftover textiles and now we also sell wallpaper, lights and accessories. Next up furniture, rugs and mirrors!

2. How do you work with individual designers and buyers?

We work with designers, makers and manufacturers helping them rehome any unwanted product, so just like Ebay we list them on our website for around half the original retail price. Anyone can buy from our website and we encourage people to look at our website before buying new, you might be inspired by something that already exists! 

3. You wrote an open letter to the interiors industry calling for less textile waste and a commitment to circularity. Can you tell us a bit more about what motivated you to do this?

I feel like no one is talking about, or addressing the huge amounts of waste in the interiors industry. I’m trying to raise awareness so writing an open letter was a good way to get my thoughts out there and encourage people to get onboard with our less waste mentality.

4. How can interior businesses be more sustainable and lessen their impact on the environment?

There are so many ways - it can be looking first at the amount of single-use plastic they use. We find a great place to start is to look at packaging - if they send products out does it go in paper or compostable packaging? If they are receiving items in, can they recycle the used packaging or even requesting that the supplier to use less packaging. It’s all about the small changes, and just keep chipping away to try and do better.

5. What do you think we can expect to see from interior trends next year?

I’m happy to say that I can see this interest in more sustainable purchasing growing and growing, thank goodness. More considered purchases are becoming a trend, less volume, and an emphasis on hand crafted and high quality materials. People are beginning to ask the right questions: where is my product from? how is it made? who is it made by ? etc. I also see new eco alternatives popping up everywhere which is great. Due to advances in technology many sustainable raw materials and products are being more affordable which has been a stumbling block to many consumers previously.

 

On the 11th November, The Haines Collection's new series 'Sustainable Interiors' will document the work being done by those within the industry trying to make it more environmentally friendly. The series will be available on IGTV and on Youtube !