Homewares wholesaler and online retailer Milk & Sugar has added kids products to its portfolio with a range of clocks, cushions and prints in pastel colours.
Creative director Cameron Taylor, who founded the company with Peter Sinclair in 2009, says developing the children’s range was a ‘juggling act’ as they wanted to create playful products that would appeal to kids while keeping to the aesthetics of the Milk & Sugar brand.
Colour is an important aspect of the products, and each collection starts with a colour palette that the designers experiment with. Monochrome pieces and geometric patterns feature strongly, as do pastel shades of blush and mint.
“It took us a bit of time to get [the children’s range] right but we’re super excited about the results and the customers have really warmed to the products too,” says Taylor. “We’re now of the age that many of our friends and some of our siblings are having kids, so it seemed to be a natural progression for us.
“Also, a large part of our target demographic is young women, many of whom have kids themselves or know people who do, so it just made sense.”
Taylor and Sinclair founded Milk & Sugar after failing to find tableware that they liked for the right price, and so decided to make their own.
“We struggled finding nicely designed and thought out pieces that were affordable and attainable,” explains Taylor. “Obviously there are many gorgeous things out there, but often they come with a hefty price tag.”
Today, Milk & Sugar has expanded into a lifestyle brand offering textiles, lighting, tableware, and a variety of home products from clocks to doormats, and Taylor says while they didn’t plan this expansion, it came about through a willingness to experiment and try new things.
“We’re happy where we’ve ended up, as covering many product categories is more interesting and keeps us on our toes,” he says. “Because of our wide range of product categories we can put our products into home stores, furniture stores, kitchen and table stores, nurseries and now kids stores—so it certainly makes every day at work interesting.”
The kids products are available now, and the brand has lots of new releases planned for early 2016.
By Ruth Cooper
