This small but select mail order company with a handmade, hand-picked collection was established in 2007, when the interiors enthusiast Laura Binns decided to combine her two main interests, craft and shopping, to create an online boutique with a difference.
Bored of mass-produced high street buys and in search of something more, she scoured craft fairs and studios to find designers and artisans who could produce unique handmade home accessories. Roost Living was born.
Laura is English but grew up in Australia before returning to London, where she now lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of the eclectic and all things crafty is reflected in her small but perfectly formed home collection, which she has spent the past three years meticulously piecing together.
Every item is beautiful. There are gold-painted porcelain birds by the ceramicist Shan Valla - handy as paperweights or cute perched in a row on a shelf. You'll find elegant rugs and throws by the felt-cutting queen Selina Rose, with her trademark silhouette patterns formed of cut-out leaf shapes. I love the hand-thrown Wobbly bowls in pretty pastel hues by the potter Mizuyo Yamashita. They have an iridescent, almost shell-like quality and their unevenness is a delight; no two are the same.
Elsewhere, you'll find embroidered skyline cushions by Charlene Mullen and teeny tiny silver-lined bowls made from paper-thin porcelain by Emma Grant. The silver leaf inside these bowls tarnishes over time to give them a subtle, golden sheen - they're as delicate as birds' eggs and look lovely arranged on a window sill where they can catch the light.
Laura's method of stocking timeless, one-off pieces from skilled designers works. There aren't hundreds of products to browse through and it's not cheap, but Roost Living is a rare gem - an edited selection of stunning, handmade accessories from a woman who clearly has impeccable taste. In this case, less is more.
www.roostliving.com, 0044 020 7485 3455. Standard international delivery from £10 (Dh59).
