Our studio flooded, and what came after

Looking back on July 2026 · written in 2026

Hi friends, Maisy here.

There was a lot happening in the studio that summer. We'd just released our first Wood Collection and were working on your orders when a huge storm brought water into the space. It wasn't the update I'd expected to share in my first vlog back.

Seeing water and dirt around the couch and wood furniture was upsetting. We'd spent so much time making this place feel like ours, and suddenly we were looking at a very different kind of work ahead of us.

We mopped and pushed the water out together. Thankfully, keeping things up on tables and shelves had helped, and the damage wasn't as bad as it first looked. We were okay, and nothing important was ruined. There was still a mess to clean up, but that was a relief.

What else was happening here

The vlog wasn't only about the flood. I also wanted to show how the studio had been changing. If you watch the videos a few months apart, there's usually something different to spot. We'd built the shoji doors that spring, and there were still ideas on my list, including a bench and a little holder for my teacups.

I enjoy figuring out how the workshop can sit alongside the spaces where we work at our desks or take a break. I don't want those to feel like completely separate places. Making the studio comfortable is part of enjoying the time we spend creating here, even while we're still working on it.

July was also when I started printing cards for our summer collections and stamping them with my Chinese seal. Finding the right paper took more tries than I'd expected, but I liked having a note to tuck into the boxes we were packing.

I wrote more about that in The card in every box, so I won't tell the whole story again here.

Getting back to sharing

Making videos again felt a little uncertain, too. I wanted to share what we were doing without putting pressure on every video to be a big update or have everything figured out. This one ended up holding quite a mix: cleaning up after a storm, changes around the studio and the cards on my desk.

Thank you for watching and leaving us comments. It helps to know you're interested in these ordinary parts of the studio as well as the finished pieces. I'm glad we can share what it's actually like here, even when the update isn't quite what we'd planned.

Maisy

From our family, to yours.