What Inspired the Creation of the Zebedee Hanging Rail?

The Story Behind the Zebedee Hanging Rail

Welcome to Zebedee — the home of the original any‑angle hanging rail designed especially for sloped ceilings, loft conversions, attic rooms, eaves, and all the awkward spaces traditional wardrobes simply can’t handle.

Zebedee wasn’t created in a boardroom.
It wasn’t dreamed up by a faceless product team.
It began in one woman’s loft bedroom — with a real problem that needed a real solution.

This is our story.

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Where It All Began

My bedroom is in a loft conversion with sloping ceilings at both ends of the room and is quite narrow. Like many people, I had moved in with large freestanding wardrobes that were never designed for lofts. They took up the tallest, most valuable part of the room and forced my bed under the low slope. 

The room felt cramped, unbalanced, and far from relaxing.
I loved my home… but my bedroom simply didn’t work.

I knew the space had potential — I just needed a wardrobe solution that followed the shape of the ceiling instead of fighting it. What I needed was simple:

A hanging rail that matched the angle of the slope.

It seemed obvious. It seemed practical.
But when I searched for one, it didn’t exist.
Not in the UK, not internationally, nowhere.

That’s where everything changed.

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Inventing Something That Didn’t Exist

I’ve always been hands‑on: restoring furniture, running a retro‑industrial furniture business, and renovating homes mostly by myself. I enjoy solving problems. So when angled hanging rails didn’t exist, I decided to create one.

I sketched ideas, tested prototypes, and refined designs.
Three versions later, I had a rail that fit any angle — securely, smoothly, beautifully.

When I installed the first Zebedee Hanging Rail in my loft, the transformation was instant. My bulky wardrobes were gone. My bed could move to the centre of the room. The whole space opened up.

Under the slope, I suddenly had:

• Full‑length hanging space
• Room for storage baskets below
• Floor space instead of awkward triangular shelves
• Clear, organised, visible clothing
• A calmer, more balanced bedroom

And in that moment, I realised something important:

If I needed this, thousands of others probably did too.

That’s how Zebedee was born — from practical need, real‑life frustration, and a desire to help people make the most of their homes.

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A Small Idea That Made a Big Leap — Onto Dragons’ Den

In 2023, everything shifted again when I received an unexpected email from the BBC asking if I’d appear on Dragons’ Den.

I thought it was a scam.
I nearly said no.
I hate cameras.
I find the show terrifying.

But after thinking long and hard, I knew I had to do it — not for TV, but for Zebedee, and for everyone living with sloped ceilings and struggling to find solutions.

The journey was intense:
months of preparation, mountains of due diligence, and memorising seven years of accounts. But I walked into the Den determined… and walked out with a deal.

The episode changed everything:
Orders increased, messages poured in, and customers who had installed Zebedee years ago wrote to congratulate me. It was overwhelming in the best way.  

That experience confirmed what I already knew:

People needed this product. And I needed to keep sharing it.

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What Makes Zebedee Different

The Zebedee hanging rail isn’t just another wardrobe accessory.
It’s a new category — the first rail designed specifically to:

• Fit virtually any angle
• Work with sloped ceilings
• Create full‑length hanging space where none existed
• Make lofts, attics, eaves, and under‑stairs spaces truly usable
• Replace bulky wardrobes
• Remove the need for custom carpentry
• Make awkward spaces beautiful and practical

Whether your home is quirky, characterful, or full of unusual shapes, Zebedee helps you celebrate those angles — not hide them.

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Our Mission

To reinvent the way people use awkward spaces by creating clever, original storage solutions that are simple, stylish, and built to last.

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Our Values

Practicality: Every product must solve a real problem.
Innovation: We make what doesn’t exist — then make it better.
Quality: Strong, British‑designed, long‑lasting engineering.
Honesty: We build what we believe in, not what trends demand.
Empathy: We understand awkward spaces because we lived with them too.

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From My Loft to Yours

Zebedee began as a personal project to make my own home feel right again. Today, it’s helping customers across the UK — and beyond — reclaim their rooms, maximise storage, and finally enjoy the spaces they once found difficult.

Every time someone installs a Zebedee hanging rail and messages me saying, “Why didn’t this exist before?!” I smile. Because that’s exactly what I once thought too.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Diane x
Founder & Inventor
Zebedee Hanging Rail