Rural Kind
Tell us a bit about Rural Kind.
We are Mike and Nia, husband and wife, owners of two scruffy dogs and co-founders of Rural Kind. We design and make simple, functional and gently rugged waxed canvas and leather carry goods. Goods that are made for everyday adventures and that are built to last. At the core of our designs is a love of simple clean lines, considered detailing, and functionality.
Everything is made entirely by our four hands, from the first stitch to the last hand hammered copper rivet from carefully and ethically sourced predominantly British materials, in our small workshop in the hills of Wales.
What makes your products special?
We make a range of functional, durable and well crafted carry goods ranging from a small hand-stitched leather card wallet to a roll-top rucksack. In between, you'll find a sturdy glasses case, a cross-body musette bag and a tin-tie lunch bag - our quirky waxed canvas take on an old paper groceries bag. Our goods are made with care, using time tested and traditional construction techniques and the best materials we can find. We use Scottish waxed canvas for it's weather resistance and durability; oak bark tanned leather from Devon for it's strength and character; and solid brass hardware and solid copper rivets for the beautiful patina that they will develop through use.
What inspires you?
We take inspiration from a whole host of sources - we are inspired by the functional and beautiful craftsmanship of an ancient oak table, or the simple palette of materials see in contemporary Japanese architecture. Objects, buildings and furniture that combine function, craftsmanship and a simple and clean aesthetic.
We undoubtedly take additional inspiration from the big outdoors too. It's not so easy to pin this one down - but we certainly feel the benefits and get much pleasure from exploring wild landscapes, and we're sure this feeds into what we do somehow.
Describe your perfect day.
It would be autumn, a crisp frost on the ground, and after a slow and gentle start to the day (most likely involving porridge and a cup of tea), we'd be packing up a rucksack with lunch and a flask of hot chocolate for a day of walking in the hills with our dogs. The walk would be one that encompasses all of our favourite things; a stretch beside a river, then high up onto a wild moorland ridge, then down through a wooded valley, leaves crunching underfoot. Back home there would be a roaring fire, a comforting vegetable stew on the stove, we'd feel exhausted but cosy and content.
What's on your bedside table?
A pretty simple selection of things really. A lamp, a pot of handcream on Nia's side, a few random beach finds and often a handful of copper rivets on Mike's side, and a stash of good reading books on each. The books will be an eclectic mix of fictional tales and there will likely be themes of adventure and mountains and mystery and murder and intrigue and wolves running through a lot of them. Darkly comic novels that combine much of the above, like The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, are some of our favourites.