About Elmcroft

My grandmother ran a small pottery and textile workshop outside Albany for about thirty years. She sold at the Mount Barker Farmers Market on weekends and kept a handwritten ledger of every piece that left the shed. When she passed in 2019, I drove down from Adelaide and spent a week going through the workshop. The kiln still worked. There were roughly 400 pieces of unfinished stoneware stacked along the back wall, glaze samples labelled in her writing, and a folder of supplier contacts going back to the early 1990s. I was not planning to take anything over. I was planning to pack it up and sell the equipment. Standing in that shed changed that.

Before Elmcroft, I had been working in procurement for a mid-size furniture importer based in Port Adelaide. Decent job, nothing wrong with it. But I knew the supply chain end of homewares reasonably well by then, and I kept thinking about how much of what we were bringing in from overseas was not made to last more than a few years. My grandmother's pieces were thirty years old and still solid. She had sourced her clay from a supplier near Manjimup and her wool runners came from a small mill contact in the Margaret River region. That combination of durability and local sourcing stuck with me the whole drive back up the South Western Highway.

— Still using the same kiln. — Linn, Linn Knuckey

Our team

• Dervla Oates — Fulfilment and Warehouse Lead: Dervla joined Elmcroft in mid-2022 after six years running the stock room at a homewares wholesaler in Thebarton, Adelaide. She manages all inbound stock, packing, and dispatch from the Verdun workshop, and introduced the current inventory tracking system that cut mispick errors to near zero. On a busy week she moves around 200 parcels through the shed, and she knows the fragile-pack process for stoneware better than anyone.
• Callum Sze — Digital and Customer Experience: Callum came to Elmcroft in early 2023 after freelancing for several small South Australian food and homewares brands out of his home office in Unley. He looks after the website, product photography coordination, and all customer correspondence, typically responding to enquiries within a few hours on weekdays. He also manages the relationship with the Stirling Farmers Market stall, which runs on the first Saturday of each month.
• Bronwyn Naidoo — Supplier Relations and Product Development: Bronwyn grew up in Bunbury and spent a decade working across textile sourcing and small-batch manufacturing before moving to the Adelaide Hills in 2020. She joined Elmcroft part-time in late 2023 to help manage supplier contacts, particularly the wool and seagrass producers, and to assess new products before they go to sample. She travels to regional Western Australia two or three times a year to maintain those relationships in person.

Frequently asked questions

How long will my order take to arrive?

Standard delivery takes 3–8 business days depending on your location. Express orders placed before 2pm AEST Monday to Friday typically arrive within 1–3 business days. Remote and regional areas may take a little longer.

Do you offer free shipping?

Yes — orders over $120 AUD qualify for free standard shipping Australia-wide. Orders under that threshold are charged a flat rate at checkout based on your delivery option.

What is your returns policy?

We accept returns within 30 days of delivery, provided items are unused and in original condition. Sale items and custom orders are not eligible for change-of-mind returns. If something arrives damaged, contact us within 48 hours and we'll sort it out quickly.

How do I care for the stoneware dinner service?

The speckled stoneware is dishwasher safe on a gentle cycle, but hand washing will extend the glaze life. Avoid sudden temperature changes — don't move pieces straight from the fridge to a hot oven. The stoneware is microwave safe.

Is the merino wool table runner machine washable?

We recommend hand washing in cold water with a wool-specific detergent, then laying flat to dry. Machine washing on a delicate wool cycle is possible but may cause some shrinkage over time. Do not tumble dry.

Do you offer custom or personalised orders?

We take on a small number of custom orders each quarter, including sizing variations and colour matching for the table runners. Email hello@elmcroftsupply.com with your request and we'll let you know if we can accommodate it and what the lead time looks like.

Can retailers or stockists apply for wholesale?

Yes, we work with a select number of independent retailers across Australia. Send your business details and a brief note about your store to wholesale@elmcroftsupply.com and Linn will get back to you within five business days.

Do you offer gift wrapping?

Gift wrapping is available at checkout for $6.95 per order. We use recycled kraft paper and a plain card — just add your message in the notes field and we'll include it. Gift wrapping is not available on oversized items like the serving platter.

Customer reviews

• 5/5 “Solid dinner set, great value” Ordered the speckled stoneware dinner service and it arrived in five days, well packed with no chips or cracks. The finish is consistent across all twelve pieces, which I wasn't necessarily expecting at this price point. We've used it every day for three weeks and it's holding up really well.
• 4/5 “Good candle holders, one minor gripe” The burnished copper candle holders look exactly like the photos and feel solid in the hand. They arrived faster than I expected given I'm in Sydney. My only note is that one had a small scratch on the base — not visible when displayed, but worth mentioning. Would still buy again.
• 5/5 “Table runner is exactly what I needed” I bought the oatmeal merino table runner for a long dining table and the 2.8m length is perfect. The weave is even and the colour is a true natural oatmeal, not the yellowish tone I've seen in cheaper versions. Shipping to Brisbane took four business days on standard.
• 4/5 “Platter is a workhorse” The acacia serving platter has been used at three dinner parties since I got it and it hasn't warped or dried out. It's heavier than I expected from the listing, but that's not a complaint — it feels like it'll last years. Delivery to Freo took about seven business days on standard, which is fair.
• 5/5 “Great storage solution” The extra large seagrass hamper is genuinely spacious — I use it for throw blankets in the lounge room and it holds more than I thought it would. The handles are reinforced and haven't shown any wear after two months of daily use. Arrived within three days, which was a nice surprise.
• 5/5 “Bought as a gift, recipient loved it” I ordered the stoneware dinner service as a housewarming gift and added the gift wrapping option. The packaging was neat and the card was included as requested. My friend said the boxes arrived in perfect condition and the set looked exactly as described online.

From the journal

• Finding the right wool took longer than expected — I drove four hours to a farm outside Kojonup before I found the fleece weight that actually worked for a table runner.
• How I actually set the table for twelve people — Twelve people for lunch in a Hills summer means planning the table the night before, or everything falls apart by eleven.
• Dad's workshop is still standing, mostly on his terms — The bench is the same one Dad built in 1994, but the lighting and the tool wall are entirely mine now.
• Caring for the acacia platter, the honest version — Most care guides for wooden servingware are either too vague or recommend products that are hard to find outside a specialty store.
• June in the Adelaide Hills, when things slow right down — There are exactly three weeks every winter where the Hills feel genuinely remote, and I have started to rely on them.
• What actually happens before the dinner plates arrive here — The speckle on our stoneware is not an accident, but it is not entirely predictable either, which is the part I find interesting.