Our Story
Our Origin
We are a family business creating & curating
UNUSUAL GIFTS & HOMEWARE
since 1999.
Our origin story is a bit of a love story!
My dad was an antique & repro dealer from London who travelled to Indonesia looking for new products. My mum was working in the office of a repro wooden furniture factory in Central Java ,and that’s where they met.
Not long after, they took a risk, left what they knew and built something of their own. In 1999, my mum opened our woodworking workshop, starting out with reproduction furniture. She ran the numbers and logistics, while my dad handled sales, creative direction and even more antiques!
In the 2010s, when demand for furniture shifted, they pivoted to smaller homeware bits and wooden boxes inspired by the ones my dad remembered from Billingsgate Market in Lower Thames Street, which eventually grew into the wider range of homeware we make and curate today.
In 2024 my dad passed. I had made a promise to him I would continue to build upon what he started. The business they built never had a brand, website or any kind of online presence, so I created the green man emporium as a way to honour my dad.
The name "Green Man" felt right from the beginning. He worked with wood, lived close to nature and believed in craftsmanship that would outlast us...he was our very own green man.
Our Workshop
Based in Central Java, our family-run woodworking workshop has been going strong for over 25 years - and many of the wonderful people in this photo have been with us since the very beginning!
These are the hands that make our pine wooden homeware what it is. From boxes and trays to signs and boards, every piece is made from scratch in our workshop — hand-cut, hand-sanded, and hand-finished. No conveyor belts, just people with a lot of patience, skill, and care.
This snapshot was taken during our most recent team trip to Prambanan, a 9th-century Hindu temple in Indonesia (I'm in the big hat on the top far left).
The Business Kiddo
I'm Elle — the only child and daughter of those two nutters I mentioned above. I was born and raised in Central Java, and a big part of my childhood was spent helping out in the family business:
- on the production line in my mum’s workshop
- designing new pieces with my dad
- sourcing antiques & new products between the UK & Indonesia
- spending summers selling at antique & collectors fairs
- and helping with shipments and deliveries up and down the country
Because of that childhood, I developed a lifelong fascination with history, nature, and unusual creations.
At 17, I moved to London to pursue Design at Goldsmiths, focusing on product development. While studying, I worked as a private fine art tutor and eventually started my own little business crafting unusual gifts and curating antiques. I sold at pubs & markets around London — and even at Tate Britain. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?
Our Founders
Another proper love story.
I met my co-founder in London during my final year of uni. I was looking for a flatmate, and this very dapper Scottish man was interested. Before we met in person, we had a conversation where he asked what I’d been up to that day. I told him I’d just bought a crow’s foot and a few antiques and was decorating the flat with them — my way of vetting him out.
Turns out, he was a massive history geek. We got on instantly. So well, in fact, that we’ve been living together ever since - and we’re now engaged.
He ended up helping me run and manage my unusual gift & antique business. Eventually, we start something new — combining what we had learned with our first endeavour with what my parents created before us...and that became Green Man Emporium: a family business, rooted in two generations of ideas, stories, and craftsmanship. We hope to pass it down to our own children one day.
Starting Out in Scotland
Green Man Emporium began its first chapter in Scotland by joining local farmers markets during the summer of 2024. We quickly learned that our handmade pieces don’t mix well with relentless Scottish rain, so peak summertime was our sweet spot.