For six years, Meg Domett, husband Duncan and daughter Grace have run Stacks Furniture Store, which specialises in locally made sofas, chairs and tables. When the dilapidated shop next door came up for lease, the family jumped at the chance to open a second shop, filling it with gifts and homewares from around the world.

After knocking out a few walls, drenching the space in crisp white paint and lime-washing the floors, the new store was christened The Axe. “An axe is such a practical, timeless object and that’s our interiors philosophy – anything simple and functional that doesn’t cost too much but lasts for years,” says Meg, who now splits her time between the two shops.

The Axe stocks a range of covetable items including organic, sustainable body care ranges from Denmark’s Meraki and New Zealand’s Triumph & Disaster, food items such as McClure’s pickles from Detroit, and cloth children’s toys from the US, UK and Australia.