British designer Faye Toogood has teamed up with estate agency The Modern House to curate a moving-in box, with six objects designed for the modern homebuyer, including a keyring and an apron.

The moving-in box was designed to offer an alternative to the traditional welcome gifts given to new home owners. It is filled with six minimal objects including an apron, a cup, a bowl, a keyring, a candle and a set of correspondence cards.

Toogood and The Modern House co-founder Matt Gibberd wanted to work with individual artisans, ideally those who are part of their community, to create the box. All six items have been crafted by UK-based designers, many of whom are friends or previous clients of The Modern House.

According to Gibberd, the intention is to provide design-conscious homebuyers with a collection of objects that will start them on their journey of personalising and curating their interior.

"The idea for the moving-in box was born out of a desire to celebrate the moment of moving into a new home with something more meaningful and long-lasting than a bottle of champagne or a bouquet of flowers," said The Modern House.

"The central themes of modernism – truth to materials and functional design – are at the heart of all the homes represented by the Modern House agency, and these qualities are echoed by the objects produced for the moving-in box," the firm continued.

Gibberd told Dezeen that he and Toogood wanted to work with materials that are essential and timeless, such as cotton, leather and clay. They avoided using strong colours or patterns so that the objects would work in different contexts.

"The Modern House appeals to a particular type of homebuyer, but within that audience there are people who actually have quite different tastes," said Toogood.

"We wanted these objects to enrich any home, so we kept all the pieces very pure and elemental," she continued.

"The materials we've used aren't up for discussion or judgment because everyone loves the purity of clay or fantastic leather."

Toogood and her sister Erica designed an apron for the box, which has been made from white plain cotton and features whipped-cord detail.

Ceramicist Olivia Fiddes crafted a cup from brown clay with an internal red glaze, while London-based designer Malgorzata Bany created a bowl from cream reinforced plaster with an internal varnish.

East London bespoke shoemaker Sebastian Tarek tried his hand at keyrings instead of footwear, offering a keyring made using shell cordovan leather and handmade copper rings.

Steve Benbow from the London Honey Company contributed a candle to the box, made from natural beeswax and set inside a black Miron glass jar.

Lastly, Valeria Armeni and Tom Watt decorated a biscuit card with litho-printed artwork to create a set of correspondence cards for the box.

Some objects, however, were discarded due to their size – a handblown glass vessel was created, for example, but was eliminated for being too heavy.

"They're not really supposed to be essential things," said Gibberd. "They are just a collection of objects that, hopefully, are beautiful in their own right and will find their place in a variety of different interiors."

Toogood and The Modern House produced a limited edition of 200 moving-in boxes, which will be gifted to buyers who purchase a home through the estate agency.

"At The Modern House, we understand that the objects you surround yourself with give a home its individual atmosphere," said Gibberd. "We asked Faye and her studio to curate a moving-in gift for the modern house-buyer; a selection of beautiful pieces to help them start the journey of enriching their interior and making it theirs."

"This project reflects our commitment to good design, and to the idea that an estate agency can have a cultural impact beyond the transactional element of selling houses. We want to inspire and educate people about how a well-designed home can have a positive effect on your day-to-day life," he continued.

This is the first time Modern House have ventured into product design. The estate agent is known for its modern property listings including selling four Summer Houses built to accompany BIG's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, and an 18th-century barn conversion in Norfolk, England, by Lynch Architects.

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