Two centuries later, William Morris is still inspiring designers of beautiful home accessories

It began with a house. A red house. A house that seven friends came together to decorate and furnish. Not a factory-produced piece crossed its threshold.

In 1859 the seven friends carved wardrobes, collected antique chairs and cast and lavishly painted iron candlesticks and fire grates. They painted the ceilings in small geometric patterns, fitted the windows with stained glass and lined the walls with vast embroidered hangings.

The house belonged to William Morris and his wife Jane. Obsessed with the notion of authentic craft, Morris longed for a return to a time before artisans had been replaced by the machines of the industrial revolution.

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The decorating of "Red House" was such a success that in 1861 the group of friends launched the iconic interiors and furniture firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company, which went on to revolutionise the interiors of the Victorian era.

Morris set up a studio in London and "The Firm", as it became known, started out hand-producing stained glass and other ecclesiastical arts for church decoration.

In 1862 Morris turned his attention to designing wallpaper, and his first range was printed in 1864 using hand-cut wood blocks. During his career Morris designed 46 wallpapers and five ceiling papers, many of them botanicals inspired by English gardens.

The Firm also commissioned hand-produced ceramics, embroidered goods, stained glass, glass tableware and textiles. Obsessed with staying true to the crafts, Morris outsourced the work to other companies until the partners had all mastered the necessary skills to take on the work themselves.

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In 1875 The Firm was closed and started afresh as Morris & Co. In an era when the public was starting to take a keener interest in household management, Morris made the revolutionary move of creating a retail experience for customers. Up until then fabrics and papers had been sourced by upholsterers, but in 1877 Morris opened a showroom that customers could visit to select their fabrics and wallpapers.

People flocked to the store, leaving not only with orders for wallpaper, but ceramics, tapestries and other handmade homeware, too.

With the company running smoothly, Morris had time to pursue his other interests, and in an effort to halt the heavy-handed renovations of old churches, he co-founded the still-active Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Today heritage preservation is an accepted part of life, but at the time it was a radical idea. He also campaigned against poverty and capitalism and, having never stopped writing poetry and loving literature, set up his own publishing company, The Kelmscott Press, in 1891.

William Morris died on October 3 1896 at the age of 62. A doctor at the time famously said of the cause: "The disease is simply being William Morris and having done more work than most men."

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• Morris & Co is distributed in South Africa by St Leger & Viney. Visit stleger.co.za