Molly Meg

There are companies we like for one reason, and some (there are few) for two or more. The people behind Molly Meg are part of that circle of friends of Monapart that we are honoured and cool to share with you because what they do is great... Doubly so: trawling the universe in search of children's furniture contemporary and vintage of the 1950s.

This means that not only do they recycle a lot of little chairs, armchairs and rocking chairs that would otherwise be lost to oblivion until the end of time, but they make it possible for our children to sit on chairs and desks where other children before them ate, played and learned.

Girls and boys from other countries and other times who perhaps wrote in little stapled notebooks, or put numbers together in pencil until they reconstituted a hidden figure to colour it in later... It's not the same as one of the 100,000 Färgglad chairs from Ikea for €9.99, is it?

As you can imagine, much of this furniture comes with marks and small imperfections from previous use, which only add to the depth that new things lack.

Prices range from £40 to £100 plus postage and packing. Not a bargain, but what do you want, after all, they may have crossed the world to get to you.