Where does designer Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́ keep his best ideas?

My wife and I live in south-east London now, but we come from Nigeria. Her parents currently live in the Republic of Benin, which is where my father-in-law bought this special box he gave to us for our wedding eight years ago. Sometimes, they’ll come back to stay in Lagos for a few months – it’s just a short drive between the two countries. The box is made of many granular pieces of malachite that seem to have been forged together in some kind of mould.

I don’t know whether the actual malachite came from Benin or another part of Africa. Inside, the lining is all tatty from being used so much. The surfaces aren’t smooth; I think it was made by hand in a small workshop, perhaps, or by an artisan. My father-in-law used to keep it on his desk, but I’m not sure he necessarily bought it brand new; it might have been given to him – it’s definitely a few decades old.

Malachite is such a precious material, so I love the fact he hasn’t been overly precious with it, choosing to use it everyday to store correspondence. In architecture and interior design, malachite’s a stone best used in small amounts, like little ‘gems’, perhaps inlaid into cabinetry, to make the biggest impact.

I now use this box in the same spirit as my father-in-law. I place important Post-it notes in it and pages torn from magazines, just like before Pinterest. It’s tiny, but I just fold and fold. In the studio, I often say: ‘If you’ve got a good idea, it could be worthy of the box!’ I have two daughters and definitely want to keep this in the family. It will be passed on to them. adeko.co