Homeware has been available from Marks & Spencer since the Company was founded.

In our Penny Bazaar shops, items such as stair rods, brushes and candles were available at 1d.

Our customer magazine ‘The Grand Annual’, featured adverts for our home ranges including gardening tools, bolts, nutmeg graters and dress hangers.

By 1926, departments included: Household Goods, Glass, China & Earthenware, Cutlery, Household Goods, Hardware and Tin & Enamelware. Quite a range!

There was continued demand throughout the 1930s for household goods, as more new homes were being built.

Window displays often featured homeware promotions including ‘National Aluminium Week’ in 1932, and displays of batteries perfect for listening to Coronation events in 1937. Our own brands included Marspen and Monster.

Homeware was advertised in our 1932 customer magazine, ‘The Marks & Spencer Magazine’, including this ‘Tango’ teaset.

Our range of homeware shrunk during the war as raw materials were in short supply.

In 1948 we gave Sales Assistants training to help sell our ‘Thermomatic Irons’.

Homeware re-appeared in the late 1960s in the form of towels and woven bedspreads.

In 1969 we were selling nylon fitted sheets, pillowcases, blankets, nylon bedspreads, cotton and Terylene sheets, towels and nylon rugs.

The Home Furnishings department was formed in 1970 offering a wider range of towels, as well as the first bedding sets with matching sheets, pillowcases and throws.

According to a staff magazine, in 1971 ‘the emphasis on St Michael household textiles’ was ‘quite definitely colour’. The products available included towels, rugs, sheets, bedspreads and throwovers.

By 1974 customers could buy carpets and ready-pasted vinyl wallpaper in store.

We launched our custom-made curtain service.

Our range of coordinating items for the whole house expanded through the 1970s and 80s.

In 1985, the first Home Furnishings catalogue was published, introducing coordinating ranges of bedding, curtains and table lamps and tableware.

Ranges included Edwardian Lady and Harvest.

The St Michael Furniture Collection was introduced, offering seven new ranges to ‘furnish every room in the house – and even the garden’.

Net curtains became available to buy at M&S for the first time. We also introduced a range of microwave-safe cookware.

The St Michael Nursery range was launched in May 1986. The coordinating range in grey and burgundy stripes included a rocker chair, a white wooden cot and a highchair that converted into a table and chair.

We sold kitchen electrical goods for the first time in 1989.

There were three products available – an automatic kettle, cordless jug kettle and toaster in Harvest and Ashberry designs

The Home department expanded, offering a wider range. As store space for furniture and homeware was limited, the M&S Home catalogue played an important role in showcasing products, and each issue included most of the range.

In 1990 we launched a range of bathroom furniture including a sink, bath, taps and bath panels.

The stainless steel range was launched, helping homeware sales increase by 8.4%.

In the September issue of our On Your Marks staff magazine we reported that ‘impact zones, dramatic lighting, state-of-the art display equipment and customer work stations are all conspiring to bring a fresh new concept to home furnishings department.’

A new look was unveiled for the Home Catalogue. It presented ‘three new inspirational lifestyle looks for the home’. These included Simply Elegant, Modern Living and Country Comfort.

‘Get the Look’ pages showed how to recreate the styles, offering complete room solutions for living and sleeping.

In 2010 we sold towels made from 100% Supima cotton, making them luxuriously soft and thick.

Only 1% of the world’s cotton supply carried this high-quality label.

We launched Loft – a range of ‘Stylish designs for modern living, from compact sofas and armchairs to contemporary crockery and lighting’ created to work well in smaller spaces.

Sleep Shop arrived, aimed at helping customers get a good night’s sleep.

The range includes everything from mattresses to bedding, even scented sleep sprays and pyjamas. Our innovative Comfortably Cool bedding made from a smooth and breathable Tencel™ blend fabric was a key product in the range.

We launched guest brands across M&S, including home brands like Denby, Joseph Joseph and Laura Ashley.

The following year, the M&S X Fired Earth collection launched. The M&S design team carefully curated the collection of furniture, bedding , cushions and towels featuring prints inspired by the brand’s iconic tile designs and signature colours.