Our story

A Sunny Sill, and a Towel on the Oven Door

Last updated: November 12, 2025

Maplesill is named for a very particular kind of place: a maple-wood windowsill in a bright kitchen, where herbs grow in clay pots, lemons ripen in a bowl and a painted tea towel hangs from the oven door. That little ledge of sunshine is often the happiest spot in a house, and it's the feeling we try to fold into every set we make.

Why tea towels?

A tea towel works harder than almost anything else in the kitchen. It dries the good glasses, lifts a hot tin from the oven, covers the bread while it rises and wipes floury hands in the middle of a baking day. Yet so many are plain, thin or forgettable. We wanted to make ones you'd be glad to see every single time you reached for them.

Original art for everyday linen

Each Maplesill design starts as a painting made for a kitchen: pots of basil and thyme, a jug of lemon branches, a bowl of June strawberries, figs split open on a plate, folk tulips and painted-tile blues. We print the artwork edge to edge on 100% cotton, so there's no plain border, just colour right to the hem.

Our designs are gathered into three collections. Windowsill is bright and fresh, full of herbs, citrus and still lifes. Orchard follows the fruit through the year, from painterly harvests to crisp mid-century repeats. Folk & Tile borrows from stencils, paper-cuts and hand-painted tiles found in kitchens around the world.

Always a pair

Every set holds two towels that are meant for each other. One shows the full scene, like a picture hung by the stove. The other carries a smaller coordinating repeat that's happy to do the everyday drying. Together they make a kitchen look cared for without trying too hard.

Made to be used

We'd rather you used your towels than saved them for best. They're absorbent and lint-light, they wash on a gentle cold cycle and they get softer the more you use them. Give them a wash before their first job, and they'll be ready for years of spills, suppers and Sunday baking.

Here for you

If you have a question about a design, an order or a gift, write to info@maplesill.com. Our customer service email is available 24/7, and every note is answered by someone who knows the towels well.