The eggs come out of the cage with a soft blue color, one washed towards sage, the other towards olive. Olive Egger and Cream Legbar chickens are laid to rest on Martha Stewart’s farm in Bedford, New York, and their pale shells set the palette for a collection of buckets and watering cans by Hachiman, a cult furniture maker named for his hometown, a riverside pocket in the mountains of Japan’s Gifu region.
Martha Stewart with one of her farm hens. Image courtesy of Marquee Brands.
The five-part special edition grew out of Stewart’s ongoing collaboration with Chilewich, the company that introduced Hachiman to North America. Two egg-based tones are added to two of the brand’s most recognizable indoor/outdoor designs: the multi-purpose bucket with a lid and the open-top watering can, both made in Japan.
“Hachiman products first caught my attention in Rome a few years ago when I visited the Nozzoli design store, Chilewich’s wholesale partner,” said John McPhee, CEO of Chilewich. “The signature buckets were beautifully displayed, and the combination of beauty and utility—thoughtful design—was immediately apparent.”
Multi-Purpose Bucket in Olive. Photo by Megan Senior.
Soon after, the Hachiman team happened to come by Chilewich’s stand at the Ambiente trade show in Frankfurt, and the talk started working together. A selection was introduced in January 2025 in various colors, such as mustard and navy.
Chilewich has worked with Stewart since 2024 and sent him pieces of Hachiman to try at home. “When we asked him what Martha’s version of these things might look like, he didn’t hesitate,” said McPhee.
“When we first shared our Hachiman collection with Martha, she was sitting in her kitchen, a basket of eggs on the counter,” says Kristin Harris, Chilewich’s vice president of design and creativity. A brief moment with a dark green watering can and a bucket was all it took: Stewart was looking for the colors of his favorite eggs in Hachiman’s forms.
The Multi-Purpose Bucket lids go well with Martha Stewart’s Olive Egger and Cream Legbar. Photo by Kristin Harris.
Transported with great care, the eggs made the journey from Bedford to the Chilewich design facility in Flatiron County, where the team held the shells against Pantone chips looking for colors that would retain their beauty translated into plastic. “I’ve matched many unexpected things in my work—yarn, hosiery, hand-printed swatches, nail polish—but never eggshells! Hachiman got the color right on the first try.
The Multi-Purpose Bucket, winner of Japan’s Long Life Design Award, is a ribbed, stackable container that holds much more than just water. The handle hole holds a garden hose for hands-free filling, and the lid supports 330 pounds, enough to serve as a seat. The new colors come in three sizes, from a 1.1-gallon mini to a large 5.3-gallon.
“Buckets with lids are very versatile,” says Stewart. “They’re great for all kinds of outdoor activities and double as chairs, side tables, coolers, and compost bins. Use them around the house to store everything from kids’ toys and jewelry to food and construction materials.”
The Green Beetle Watering Can has an open spout for soft water to flow. Photo by Megan Senior.
The Garden Beetle Watering Can, honored with the Red Dot Design Award and Japan’s Good Design Award, pours with an elongated spout with grooved channels.
Stewart explains: “Watering cans have a curved spout, so the water flows more like a sprinkler than a hose, and the open design makes it easy to add plant food—no more clogged pipes.”
The smaller of the two sizes, 0.4 liters, nests inside a 1.3-gallon larger than the last. Both designs are molded from recycled polypropylene, are free of phthalates and PFAS, and are finished to resist exposure to the sun.
The collection is available now through chilewich.com, the Chilewich Store in New York City, and select retailers worldwide.
