Characterful Gifts for People Who Love Their Homes
Some presents are chosen in a hurry. Others make you think of one particular person the moment you see them.
We have always had a soft spot for the second kind.
The slightly unexpected things. The sheep that makes you smile every time you walk past it. The greyhound bookends bought for the person who is never without a book. The tiny wooden robin that comes out every Christmas. The wonderfully wiry little animal that nobody actually needs, but somebody will absolutely love.
At Angela Reed, we've been choosing things for people's homes since 1880. And while the furniture might be what first brings you through the door, it is often these smaller pieces that give a home its personality.
So, if you're looking for a gift that feels as though you actually chose it for somebody, rather than simply bought it, start here.
For the person who has a thing for sheep
Apparently, one sheep wasn't enough.
Our collection includes everything from the wonderfully woolly Woolly Ceramic Sheep to the gloriously curly Scroll Sheep, available in colours including mustard and green.
And then there is Fluffy Sheep, who is rather more dramatic.
That's precisely why these make such good gifts. They have enough character to stand alone on a shelf, console or side table, without requiring you to know somebody's precise taste in interiors.
You just need to know that they'll appreciate a sheep.
For the dog lover with too many books
There are dog gifts. And then there are gifts that happen to feature a dog.
We'd put our Greyhound Bookends firmly in the latter camp.
The pair sit either side of a row of books, with those unmistakably elegant greyhound silhouettes doing the useful job of keeping everything upright.
They're particularly good for somebody who loves both interiors and dogs because they don't scream dog-themed gift. They simply look rather handsome on a bookshelf.
And if the recipient happens to have a greyhound, whippet or other sighthound at home, so much the better.
For the Christmas traditionalist
Our Robin Wooden Bauble is a little different.
This isn't a wooden robin designed to sit on a shelf, as the name might suggest. It's a simple wooden Christmas bauble, painted with a traditional robin and suspended from natural twine.
At £5.95, it is also the sort of small present that works beautifully when you want to give somebody something without turning it into a grand gesture.
Tie one onto a wrapped present. Add it to a stocking. Give it to somebody who collects Christmas decorations. Or simply add another robin to your own tree.
Some Christmas decorations are bought for a season. The nicest ones gradually become part of the family's Christmas.
Shop the Robin Wooden Bauble →
For the person who doesn't want anything sensible
And then we come to the Wiggles.
These are exactly the sort of things we mean when we talk about characterful gifts.
Made into wonderfully simple animal forms with their distinctive curled wire bodies, the collection includes the Wiggle Lamb, Wiggle Kid, Wiggle Duckling and more.
They're small. They're playful. And they are almost impossible to look at without choosing a favourite.
At £11.95 for several of the designs, they also make excellent stocking fillers, Secret Santa presents or little additions to a larger gift.
The difficulty is stopping at one.
Why small gifts can be the best ones
Furniture sets the structure of a room. It's the smaller things that tell you something about the people who live there.
Books. Photographs. Things brought back from holidays. Objects that were inherited. And, very often, slightly ridiculous little animals that somebody bought you because they knew you'd love them.
That's why we don't think a good interiors gift necessarily needs to be expensive.
It needs to feel personal.
If somebody loves dogs, start with the greyhounds. If sheep are inexplicably their thing, we've got rather more options than you might expect. For somebody who adores Christmas, choose something that can appear on their tree year after year.
And for the person whose shelves already contain an eclectic collection of things that make absolutely no sense together?
Buy them a Wiggle.
They'll understand.
Gifts chosen with character
After nearly 150 years of choosing things for people's homes, we've learnt that the pieces people become attached to aren't necessarily the biggest or the most expensive.
They're often the ones with a story attached.
She bought me that because I love greyhounds.
We get that robin out every Christmas.
I saw this ridiculous sheep and immediately thought of you.
Those are rather good reasons to give something in the first place.
