Spring Fashion, Families and Holidays

What was your inspiration behind milkandhoney?

After a career in the business services industry myself and my co-directors were looking for a new challenge and a change. We toyed around with a few ideas for brand new businesses however, whilst we were researching these we saw a very small online textiles business was for sale: milkandhoney. The reason that milkandhoney drew us to it was firstly the name, the quality and ethos around the brand and also the potential to expand it commercially, as well as running the online site.

Our venture into the world of textiles has been, mostly, a very refreshing one! Developing milkandhoney is a bit like your favourite hobby becoming your job. In essence business method i.e sales/marketing/operations are similar no matter what your product so in that sense it’s been fine. The greater challenge has been the product and industry knowledge that I previously took for granted.

Our ongoing inspiration behind milkandhoney is a love of quality natural products, and making these more widely available to everyone hence our strap line … affordable luxury.

What is the secret behind a deliciously comfortable bed?

Try not to compromise on mattresses, pillows or duvets – choose natural products and buy the best you can comfortably afford or you will regret it later. Purchasing a good quality mattress is essential as this is the ‘foundation’ of your comfort, ensuring that you have the size and depth of mattress that suits you or your partner’s needs and sleeping habits, there’s nothing worse than being kneed in the back all night! If you have to compromise, save money on the bed not the mattress.

Good quality pillows are hugely important, have at least two pillows per person for comfort, and if you really want to splash out add continental style large square pillows to add depth, style and comfort. Personally I love a soft indulgent pillow on top of a firmer one.

On our website we have written a guide to Choosing the Perfect Duvet, our aim was to make simple what can prove to be a confusing experience. Duvets made from natural products, ours are all made 100% from natural products, work with your body both in terms of heat and shape. A ‘natural’ duvet will drape around your body, unlike a synthetic duvet, so there will be no draughts to give you a chill during the night. For a deliciously comfortable bed you need to make sure that the warmth of your duvet is right for the time of year as well as for the temperature of your home, there’s nothing worse than shivering in bed through the winter! Also essential is that that your duvet is large enough, ideally I’d advise always go for at least one size larger than your bed i.e. double bed, king size duvet. Nothing worse than fighting for cover when all you want to do is sleep!

Lastly, try to dress your bed with natural bed linen using neutral colours to create a calm and inviting environment.

What do you love about running your own company?

What I love about running your own business is that it allows you the freedom to make your own decisions, your own rules and also your own mistakes! The freedom and ability to turn your own ideas and dreams into a reality is great however it’s really hard work too.