Bonnie Hame

Updating home décor and refreshing accessories is good for the soul, lifting spirits and ringing the changes and completely altering the look and atmosphere of a room.

New curtains, cushions and lighting will spruce up your lounge while treating yourself to some sumptuous new bed linen will give you sweet dreams. But what if you were to receive a selection of on-trend, seasonally-themed accessories every few months?

That’s exactly what’s on offer from Glasgow-based married entrepreneurs Aman and Ranu Kooner whose innovative service offers a quarterly subscription box of hand-selected home décor pieces via their online business BonnieHame.co.uk.

Drawing on their Indian heritage, the couple also sells a high-end collection of furniture which the Kooners have personally soured from sustainable manufacturers in Rajasthan, India.

BonnieHame’s boxes contain at least seven quality items and mirror a concept that is said to be “huge in the States but has not really taken off in the UK”. Ranu explained: “BonnieHame combines our desire to sell beautiful and unusual furniture from artisan producers in our homeland, with what we see as a yet untapped market in home accessory subscription boxes.

“We’re aiming at those who like to refresh their home accessories every season,” she added. “They want to be shown a curated collection with mix-and-match items that tell a story. They can keep the whole collection for themselves, or regift some of the items to others.”

So, where did the name for the business come from? “Aman is Scottish, and our two young sons were born here too,” said Ranu, who is English. “We were playing about with names for the business which is all about creating a ‘beautiful home’ – straight away Aman said, ‘Oh, in Scotland that could be ‘Bonnie Hame’.

“We liked it as we are based in Scotland and it works well in terms of branding with the letters B and H creating a nice clean logo. Our sub-brand is Beautiful Home Interiors, so it all comes together well with a clear message to our target market.”

Meanwhile, a future aim of the business is to present collections that champion small, artisan producers. “In the American market, for example, I discovered boxes containing products handmade in Mexico and the Caribbean,” said Ranu.

“Clearly, moving forward, we would love to source beautiful items from other parts of India. These could be offered to our customers as exclusive one-off collections.”

Aman suggested that busy consumers are increasingly looking “to have the hard work done for them”, with boxed collections of items hand-picked by experts becoming increasingly common in the online marketplace.

“Cosmetics, wine and toiletries are just three categories of products where the concept of a collection every few months is instantly appealing to consumers,” he said. “They can receive products which are just released, or are perhaps exclusive to these brands. Items for the home are a great fit with this, especially as the pandemic has meant consumers have lavished far more love, attention and money on their homes than ever before.

“Online shopping is here to stay and some people won’t be visiting physical shops as often as they were before,” said Aman, acknowledging that Instagram and other social media platforms would play a huge part in helping Bonnie Hame grow. “They’re now looking for that brand loyalty online, and we’re well placed to grab a share,”

“Our concept is very visual, so we’re encouraging our customers to share everything on social media to build a community. We want to know how they end up using our products, where in the house they are placed, how they perhaps mix and match with other lines and favourite items they have.

“We provide our own styling tips with each box too, so we hope that it’s all very engaging.”

Admitting that she is “obsessed” with home accessorising, Ranu revealed that a gifting box was also in the pipeline, targeted at those who don’t want to subscribe to the full service but would love to send a BonnieHame box as a housewarming present, or a gift marking another special occasion.

“Other plans include taking the boxes into the corporate market by offering bespoke boxes to housebuilders and developers to give to clients as they take possession of their new homes,” she said.

The subscription box service costs £49 every three months. Find out more at www.bonniehame.co.uk