Welcome to Klay
Klay is a homeware label based in Auckland, New Zealand. Almost all of our items are made by our little team in our Eden Terrace workroom, ensuring quality and care in every piece.
In addition to our own creations, we also offer a curated selection of homeware products that we trust and recommend—items that meet our high standards for both design and durability.
Klay packaging
I have just made a new blog post about our packaging. How we send orders using recycled materials, the postcards & stamps that friends have made for us, the colourful tapes and the inspiration for the paper gift wrap and ribbon (from a pickle shop).
When we get deliveries we separate bubble wrap, paper, card, newspaper, tissue and packing peanuts and put these into different boxes and bags in our storage room, ready to be re-used for sending out your orders. Read more about all the scrappy packaging & stickers we use to package your orders on this blog post here.
I think these might be the most beautiful item we have ever sold. These are hand made pepper grinders from Built Editions, who are based in Mumbai. These grinders are made in Channapatna using a century-old woodturning technique and natural lacquer applications.
The shiny finish of the Spice Grinders is obtained by the application of lac, a non-toxic, natural resin. It is found on specific trees and used by lacware artisans since ANCIENT TIMES. The lacs are coloured with NATURAL DYES (!!!), extracted from plants such as turmeric, indigo, kumkum, Manjishta (natural Alizarin), Catechu, and the bark of the Ratanjyoth trees.
Built Editions is a brand established by architecture and design studio @site.practice based in Mumbai and Amsterdam. It was founded by architect Anne Geenen, who I met years ago in India when she was working at Studio Mumbai Architects. Anne is an extremely talented designer and her experience as an architect over the years in India have introduced her to a lot of traditional craft and beautiful natural materials.
We are so lucky to be stocking these.
Our aprons are finally back in stock!
We have two apron options: the Creamy Natural 100% Cotton Canvas, or the Indigo Blue which is a Linen/ Cotton Blend from Japan. The canvas is a thicker option than the linen blend, it has a bit more structure and has a lovely natural matte finish with husks speckled through it. I have one at home I have been using for a couple of years and it has worn well, and the stains wash out pretty well! I have a few on rotation. I use them everyday.
We also use the creamy canvas ones in the workshop when we are doing messy fluffy work with wool etc. Keeps our clothes clean. The Indigo is a fabric I sourced from a fabric shop in Kyoto that is 200 years old! It is soft, lightweight and more floppy. I find this to be a good summer choice on hot days.
We have lots of handy kitchen/ cooking things in stock at the moment, like the Fog Linen Tea Towels, Michael Marriott's amazing folding (cook)Bookstands, Utensil Stands, a beautiful Baking Cookbook & I very often use the Little Pocket Measuring Tape when cooking/ baking. See our full Kitchen range here.
Duvet Covers are in stock now!
We have KING & QUEEN Duvets, as well as Pillowcases all in stock
We have new and re-stocked items arriving all the time. We are a tiny business & order from a lot of other small businesses. We make items in smallish batches & often sell out of things fast too. We are constantly updating stock. If anything is sold out, we very likely have more on the way. If you want to be notified when we get top ups - then please subscribe to our email newsletter. I will also continue to add new + re-stocked items to this part of our website. Click here to shop all of our new and restocked items.
We have a blog post called about our cushions to give more info about how Kirsty first got into making these 15 years ago, why the inners are special and what the differences are between the shapes (aside from the obvious... shapes!), and I have tried to explain about why once we sell out of certain colours we can't make more. Read the cushion blog post here.
Purple things I saw in Japan that reminded me of our Purple Cushions
I saw purple a lot in Japan. Of course in temples, but also in modernist architecture, train stations & on trains, as carpet, noren curtains and grapes. I have just made a new blog post of about some of the purple things I saw in Japan that reminded me of our Iris Purple Cushions.
We have just had a delivery of ' More than Cake' by Natasha Pickowicz! This is a very inspiring and refreshing cookbook - lots of exquisite cakes :) but heaps more than that! Tarts, galettes, desserts, cookies, frangipane, pies, danish, focaccia, pizzettes and more! This book is packed with interesting flavours and ways of combining unexpected ingredients. There are GREAT step by step directions for layer cakes and more. And diagrams! She is a pro. We have this in stock now <3
The bright blue thick linen tea towels and the brown tea towels are back in stock. I recently took one camping.
Check out the blog post of my Tokyo Tips! I hope this is the start of something I can edit/ update as we keep visiting Tokyo. I have been to Tokyo a few times, but only spent a few weeks there, so my tips are not as comprehensive as the Kyoto Tips. The Tokyo Tips are based on personal research & things that Japanese friends that lived in Tokyo suggested.
I have updated my Kyoto tips a bit & added some photos! You'll now find Hannah's Kyoto Tips on this blog post here.
