I've just been looking back at our records and have realised that we launched The Maggie an incredible six years ago! It only seems like yesterday that John came up with the idea and Edith and Maggie were running around in our old workspace being filmed for its debut! Fast forward six years and its one of our most loved products and one we are so incredibly proud of.

How did The Maggie come about?

For those of you new to us I thought it might be useful to give you a bit of background to how it came about. We were walking around one of our favourite antique markets and we stumbled across an array of enamel pots which were originally used for food storage in Eastern Europe. Enamel has always been a firm favourite in our house due to its durability and fantastic variety of colours. John piped up and said, 'I wonder if we could add our own cushioned top to these so they can be used as both stools and provide storage.' I knew instantly he was onto something and so we brought a few and took them back to the workshop to transform. The rest is history as they say.

Where did the name come from?

We wanted to come up with a name that had meaning, was playful and echoed its unique features. Our youngest is called Maggie and she is a complete ray of sunshine, always happy and a total one off! The enamel pots mirrored her personality and so it was a no brainer. (Our eldest was a little concerned about having something named after her and I would just like to reassure readers that this has now been rectified!!!)

What's so special about the Maggie's?

When a product can help solve one or two issues it's always a winner. The fact that they are both storage and seating is an added bonus, plus they are lovely to look at. No one pot is the same, making them totally unique and individual. They also come in such a variety of colours, shapes and sizes which means they work in any room in the house. Enamel is really strong and durable and so they can take the weight of even us grown ups!

What can you store in a Maggie?

Absolutely anything! We have quite a few in our own home and they house shoes, hats and gloves and other outdoor wear. Lots of our customers use them for lego, other toys, clothes and even toilet rolls! We love the fact that you can chuck everything in and then add the seat pad to hide it all!

What do our customers say about The Maggie?

'I love the Maggie's because they are the perfect combination of stylish furniture and fabulous storage.'

'We love our Maggie. We use it in the hallway to store the kids shoes. Looks so good.'

'I love The Maggie's because they look great in any room and they're also so versatile to what you can use them for storage wise. Ours are currently used for toys but as the kids grow they can be used for book, shoes, games and all sorts!'

'It's beautiful and kinky. Used in the boys room for seating and extra shoes storage.'

'It's so handy and an extra wee seat for putting on school shoes of a morning!'

'I absolutely love the Maggie! so much so, I am a proud owner if three including a custom vintage liberty print one. We use one for blankets, one for Duplo and the other as a gorgeous foot stool.'

Future plans….

We are thinking about turning our famous Maggie's into side tables. The squishy seat pad would be replaced with a flat birch ply top to enable you to use them as a little table. We are in the process of mocking one up and will let our brilliant customers know when they are ready!

You can see what Maggie's we currently have in stock by heading to our Maggie page online.