Shop Girl: Meadowsweet Farmhouse
Hands up if you remember my Shop Girl features?
Well, not necessarily due to popular demand, but I miss sharing these with you, so she’s back, baby!! I ran Shop Girl stories back in 2019 I think, and people seemed to love them so I am excited to hopefully begin sharing more with you.
First up on my interview list is Kristy from Meadowsweet Farmhouse. Her shop is an absolute vibe and worth a visit if you are ever on Mount Tamborine in Queensland, otherwise definitely check out her insta or website for all the lovely herbal and pretty things.
When did you first open your shop?
We opened just before Christmas 2019
What is your shop story? How did the idea come about?
When I was 12 I received a herb book that belonged to my Nana (my mums mum) after she passed. It opened up a whole world of gardening with herbs and using flowers and leaves in oils and balms, in handmade paper, to scent and beautify the home and it just enchanted me. I grew my first herb garden that year and everywhere I went after that I tried to have a herb garden, even if it was on a tiny balcony in a city.
It became a dream of mine when I was 18 to start a botanical bath and body shop, but life got in the way and it wasn’t till after I had my second child and we moved to acreage as a family that I found I had room to grow a garden that could provide enough flowers and herbs and decided to make that dream finally a reality.
I started markets and online and one day serendipitously discovered our first space on Gallery Walk, Tamborine Mountain and opened the doors a short month later. Since then, we’ve added more the range to create more of a concept store based around slow and seasonal living, always with plants at the core.
Is there a story behind your shop name too?
Yes, we chose Meadowsweet because of it’s unique history and story. It was used as a strewing herb, which means it was strewn on the floor of manor houses and castles to scent the air. It’s one of the first times we see an herb used to make a home feel good, to make the people living within feel good. It was said to be a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and was grown in abundance in her gardens. But it was also a meadow herb (hence the name), and was used for bridal bouquets and as a headache remedy. Much may have changed in the world, but the same meadowsweet flower you gaze upon and smell today is the same one countless people for thousands of years have done so with as well.
Just like the stories of people, plants have stories as well. We have lived in relationship with plants since the beginning of time, and they are woven into our ancient myths and legends. That aspect truly fills me with a sense of wonder and belonging and it’s what drives me. I want everyone to feel the history that is bound within these plants every time they shop with us. Whether that’s an extract of nettles for a hair mist that makes your hair grow long and luscious or a piece of clothing made of the stem of the flax flower (linen) that feels like a caress on your skin.
What kinds of things do you sell?
Botanical skincare, bath and body line as well as scents for the home like hand soap and lotion, reed diffusers and diffuser blends. We also have a line of heirloom quality sleepwear and nighties in embroidered cotton and natural linen, vintage inspired clothing, as well as a small selection of homewares. We try to craft a range that encompasses what you would need to create a beautifully simple day or even moment, where you can relax and rest and breathe deeply and enjoy a lovely sensory experience with sight, touch, taste and smell. That might mean popping on a silk slip after a milky bath that clouds the air with the scent of roses and spicy cardamom or putting on a linen dress and going outside to enjoy an iced herbal tea.
Do you make any of the products yourself?
We handcraft our botanical line in our Apothecary in the back of the shop and grow many of the herbs and flowers we use in our oils. We also make our own extracts and infusions for our perfumes as well.
What sets your shop apart from other similar businesses?
Our values are based on leaving a light footprint on the earth and encouraging people to bring more joy into their lives with beauty in a natural way. We believe that natural can be beautiful and that the more we can grow to beautify our homes and create more pleasure in our lives the better our live will ultimately be.
What did you do before opening your shop?
I owned a wedding hire and styling business which also involved wedding flowers. We created beautiful styled weddings with wild cottage style flower arrangements. Its always been about flowers somehow!
What’s the best thing about having a shop as a small business?
The freedom to create purely from what I love and helping people enjoy their lives more. Nothing makes me happier than a review from someone who we’ve helped get a better nights sleep, feel more beautiful in their clothes or improve their skin.
What’s a reality of running a shop that most people will not be aware of?
How much goes on behind the scenes and how many hats we have to wear in any given moment.
What’s next for the shop? Any future plans you can share with us?
We plan to expand more into the sleepwear, creating a line of clothing that is made from natural fibres, that blurs the line between loungewear and day wear. Clothing we can live in and pass down through the generations.