Sandrine Zhang Ferron: ‘It’s the thought, not the money, that counts’ -

I’m bad at planning and usually leave everything until the last minute. Every year I get caught out. Last year, I even forgot to buy a present for my husband. So this year, I have started compiling a list on a to-do app on my phone. Every time someone in my family says they like something, I capture it.

My parents were born in China, so Christmas is not such a big thing for them — we tend to have a big celebration with them at Chinese new year instead. But my husband is French and Christmas and all its rituals are very important to my in-laws.

When I emigrated with my parents from China to France in the 1990s, they started to buy me presents at Christmas. I was about five when they first did the whole thing with a tree, and I was like, “Oh my God, France is such a great country!”

The first time I opened a present, my hands were shaking. Santa was a concept I had known nothing about before then, but I really believed. I think it turned out to be a Barbie doll. Young children are very innocent.

It’s very important to give gifts that you have thought carefully about, not just something you bought online in a rush. I don’t like mass-market products; I look first for quality, and second for something that will be well used.

For my parents, it’s all about practicalities. They live in a cold house, so high-quality fleece jackets will be a good choice. They would probably never spend the money to invest in quality, so I’m looking forward to buying them jackets that will last.

Or I might give my mother a cast-iron pan that will last her for ever and she will remember me whenever she uses it. And a hamper full of all the food she used to have in China and loves the most: Chinese confectionery, biscuits shaped like a panda, and special tea that she can’t find near her home in France, but which I can buy in London’s Chinatown.

An Asian woman stands in front of a shelf unit that displays pieces of porcelain

I will buy shoes from Veja for my mother-in-law. I like that they are not a commercial brand and they use sustainable materials. I want to encourage the older generation to buy things that look good, are good for the planet and don’t cost too much.

I live in Highbury in north London, so I’m surrounded by small independent shops. Wandering around is a great way to discover homeware. I like Search & Rescue on Stoke Newington’s Church Street, which stocks a great mix of candles, vintage homeware and cosmetics. On the same road is Know & Love, where I bought a bag made in Kenya from recycled materials for my co-founder, Leslie Fournier. And there’s a beautiful children’s clothes shop called What Mother Made where I buy things made to order.

My daughter is two, so she will receive books, and perhaps tools to help her express her creativity in crafts. I like to make her small bundles of books tied in a bow, which I buy from second-hand shops. It doesn’t matter if they are in an imperfect state; she doesn’t care, right? And it’s good to reuse books.

My best piece of advice is to remember that gift-giving is not about the money you spend. My husband and I don’t spend more than £100 each on each other’s gifts. Now we have our daughter, spending time with her grandparents is very special for her and for them. So I will select a photo, one for each set of grandparents, as their very special present.

Sandrine Zhang Ferron was born in China and moved to France as a child. She is co-founder with Leslie Fournier and CEO of London-based Vinterior, a pre-owned furniture platform founded in 2016 to champion ‘the unique, the interesting and the timeless’ and independent sellers

De La Jardin

Onsen check terracotta and off-white vase, £340, delajardin.com