Have you ever wondered what really goes into that one product appearing on your screen, catching your eye, and eventually finding its way into your home?

This blog actually began on a sunny afternoon in my garden when photographing our new sofa quilted cushion covers trying to capture just how beautiful they really are. As I stood there looking at them, I found myself completely smitten. In fact, I started worrying whether we’d ordered enough and suddenly I felt I absolutely needed one myself.

Then another thought crept in….Was it only me who could see all this loveliness? How do you convey softness, texture, this utter loveliness and that wonderful feeling of wanting to curl up with a cup of tea on the sofa cover through just a few photographs and a few lines of text?

That moment sparked a whole new train of thought about the life of a shopkeeper. The joys, the dangers and it also made me think about the journey every product takes before it finally arrives at your door.

So where do I even begin?

Let’s start on a cold Saturday morning in January because the product that inspired this blog was discovered at Maison & Objet, the trade fair in Paris that Stine and I had been talking about visiting for years. After more than fifteen years of working together, sourcing, creating and listing well over 15,000 products, we finally decided it was our time.
It had been an incredibly busy few years, and according to everyone in the industry, this was the place to find fresh inspiration and exciting new products.

And it was that ..It was great..not mind-blowing but definitely very lovely but I realised that what made it special wasn’t only the products we saw, but the gift of time.
Time to wander.
Time to touch fabrics.
Time to chat.
Time to notice details.
Time to be inspired…together!

In our day-to-day lives, we’re usually busy processing and packing orders, answering emails, speaking to customers and keeping everything moving. We still fulfil all our orders ourselves because we genuinely value that personal touch and we know that you do too.

As businesses grow, many move to fulfilment centres, which makes perfect sense for some. But it also means much of the process becomes automated. We love that we’re still able to make changes to orders, add little touches and help customers right up until a parcel goes into the post sack.

But back to Paris and those 2 days that felt like a breath of fresh air.

We spent time with existing suppliers, finally meeting people we’d exchanged emails with for years. Those relationships matter enormously. Over time, suppliers get to know your business, understand your needs, what works, what doesn’t and can help guide you towards products they know might work well. Trust grows, and when challenges arise, they’re much easier to solve together.
And then, of course, there was the joy of discovering new suppliers and new ideas.

We also found time to enjoy Paris itself, we were lucky…very lucky with the weather and we walked for miles, we felt the sun on our faces and saw Paris in its glory..small shops, big shops, an opera house too beautiful to describe..climbing the stairs to the rooftop of the Moulin Rouge (thank you Instagram for all the tips)..the architecture, the shopfronts, signage, the pâtisseries, the cafés, you get what I mean I’m sure..we came home, ‘cups filled’, actually almost brimming over and with a long list of new products due to arrive within a few weeks.

One of those was the sofa and bench cover that has me sitting here writing today.

It took longer than expected to arrive, but it was absolutely worth the wait.

Once products arrive, another journey begins:
Every product needs to be photographed, uploaded and listed on our website. We use Shopify, which is a fantastic platform for a small business because it allows us to manage almost everything ourselves.
Virtually everything you see on our website and what keeps the shop ‘engine’  has been created by either Stine or me:
The photographs.
The product descriptions.
The categories.
The blogs.
The social media posts.
The flyers, postcards and stickers.
The search engine optimisation that helps people find us online.
The Google Ads campaigns.
The endless analysing of data.
The endless supply of cups of tea. 

And that’s before we even get to processing orders, reordering and managing stock, speaking to suppliers, helping customers, sending products to magazines and journalists, negotiating with couriers, bookkeeping, VAT returns and all the other jobs that ‘quietly’ happen behind the scenes.

Depending at what time of year, we may also find ourselves planting hundreds of bulbs, creating candle hygge boxes, packing wreath kits and creative projects, and developing completely new products of our own.

It’s busy…very busy but also deeply satisfying!

My mind is rarely quiet, inspiration comes from everywhere..Paris is still there, my garden, my chaotic (but totally organised desk) and new ideas constantly pops into my head. And with every idea comes both excitement and that uncertainty.
Will customers love it?
Will it solve a problem?
Will it bring someone joy?
Or am I about to spend weeks creating something nobody wants? It's a delicate balance!

To bring a new product to life can take months..Take one of our creative kits for instance:
There are prototypes, tests, adjustments and more tests. Instructions that needs writing and rewriting. Every step must be photographed. Someone else needs to make it using only the instructions provided. Then come the tweaks, the artwork, the printing and finally the launch.
And then there is always that little question waiting at the end…
Will it sell?
That’s the danger.

But thankfully then there is the joy…
The joy of a wonderful review.
The joy of seeing an order arrive from a returning customer.
The joy of hearing that something you’ve chosen, designed or packed has brightened somebody’s day.

And the joy far outweighs the dangers and they make the late late nights of Nov and December worthwhile.
There are always going to be worries too..every small business owner knows them and sometime wonder is it all worth it..we won’t have an answer of course but what we do know is we are so grateful for every order, for everyone who chooses to support us in any number of ways.

That....is the life and joys (and occasional dangers) of being a little shopkeeper summed up briefly.. I really hope you enjoyed it because I loved writing it… In fact, I should probably have listed another fifteen new products by now, but after writing yet another candle description I found myself completely out of words and in need of a little creative refill.

So instead, I filled my cup by writing this.
Thank you for being part of our story…

By Nicoline