A wee chat with: Maven

Here at The Inside Trek, we believe great design and style enhances the ‘every day’. Especially when it’s made with care by skilled craftspeople with a story to tell. It lifts your mood & makes a smile play across your face. And right throughout our hiking holidays & experiences, we seek every opportunity we can to surround our guests with beautiful, considered items of every kind.

And, when it comes to design and style, one of our biggest inspirations/enablers is Maven. Maven is a fantastic homewares & furniture shop based in a gorgeous old hall just off the Lisburn Road in Belfast. It’s run by two of the bestest humans Patricia & Catherine McGinnis with an amazing eye for style & a great sense of fun. Maven was named Independent Retailer of the Year at the “Image Interiors & Living Design Awards 2019 and rightly so. Do check out their range online. And pop in to their shop if you’re ever in the area (once COVID has allowed small shops to open again, obvs).

The Irish Project

We’ve known Maven for a few years now and they played a pivotal role in making our home base a wee bit special. They conceived and led “The Irish Project” that we ran to furnish it as far as possible with objects that were made on the island of Ireland. It was one of the most fascinating and interesting things we’ve ever been involved in.

We always knew Ireland was a creative place. But we were amazed by the number of incredible makers from every part of Ireland we found. And we were truly blown away by the craftsmanship that is flourishing & thriving on the island – like the ceramics by Adam Frew, carving knife by Rory Connor and ebonized spatulas by Non-violent Cutlery that are in the photo at the start of this post. And we love that there is a common thread running through almost everything in our home base & that there is a story behind every one of them.

Lockdown: At Home

We said that Maven were good eggs. Well, they’re also generous/foolish eggs too, as they asked us to answer a few questions for them. This is all part of an interesting series of articles they’ve been running called “Lockdown: At Home”, where they’ve asked some friends and customers about life at home during the lockdown.

Not only was I chuffed to be asked and delighted to take part, it seems I was also very, very, very happy to talk. Come and read me wanging on about topics ranging from starlings, to burgers, to excuses for not doing DIY, to live albums, to The Inside Trek, here.

Massive thanks to all at Maven for giving me the opportunity. In return, we’ll have to get you up into the hills round here and get you to give us your reaction!

A