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.
Pottery Towns We Visited in Japan
New blog post!
Over the past two summers in Japan, we took several small trips from our base in Kyoto, many of which were to pottery towns.
In this blog post, I’m focusing on sharing our visits to those Pottery Towns.
The trips to Pottery Towns were clustered in with other things we wanted to see too, so I included info about all the things we did on the same trips. I have left off things that we saw that I would not recommend. We always take the time to refine our travel suggestions. This isn’t just a list of everywhere we happened to go—it’s a carefully edited selection based on our own research and first-hand experience, or suggestions from local Japanese friends. We see far more than what ends up on these tips blog posts, but only the places we truly rate make it onto our recommendations.
Checkout the blog post about the pottery towns we visited here (including other things we saw on the way).
Beautifully made by local woodworker Emile Drescher
Introducing our new range of wooden pieces: a Book Rack and a Paper Coffee Filter Holder. Like all Klay items, these have been a long time in the making — shaped by months of testing, samples, conversations, and small but important developments. They’re finally ready, and available to buy in a small, limited batch of each style.
The Coffee Paper Filter Holders are designed and developed by Mason through multiple rounds of prototyping to ensure the correct fit and proportions for both filter types. It attaches to the wall with a single screw (included).
Mason was originally inspired to make the book racks after seeing similar objects at temples and antique markets in Kyoto. If you are interested to see/ read more about the inspiration and process of making these, then please checkout the blog post here.
New in!
The Sori Yanagi Appreciation Society Book
We've been collecting Sori Yanagi things for years. They're prized possessions. We have his ceramic bowls, steel bowls, cutlery, strainer set, strainer, ladle, pots and pans, butter beater, whisk, serving plates, ice cream spoons, kettle and more. The next items I want to get are the tape dispenser & wine glasses from the Yanagi Design Store in Tokyo (recommend if you're in Tokyo - more info on our Tokyo Tips Blog Post here!)
I love using well designed things. I really do appreciate the great work of Sori Yanagi-san. We don't sell any Sori Yanagi products (they are available in quite a few other stores already!), but I am really happy to now be stocking this excellent new book by the Sori Yanagi Appreciation Society <3 It is the first book dedicated to Sori Yanagi to be published outside of Japan.
In addition to the new book about Sori Yanagi, we have quite a few new + restocked architecture/ design books and cookbooks. You can see our full book range here and to the right are some of the titles we just got in.
A collaboration with Shirai-sama in Kyoto
Our NEW limited edition Flat Squab Cushions <3
We began this collaborative project around two years ago with Shirai-sama, a second-generation cushion maker in Kyoto who is now 96 years old. We sent Shirai-sama’s cushion covers back to New Zealand, where we filled and finished them using our signature, labour-intensive recycled wool inners, though with a new style, shape, and feel. We’re pleased to share a limited range of both Round and Square styles. For more on the story behind these cushions, please have a look at our new blog post here.
We designed the square shape to be used as floor squabs. The final size is 48cm x 48cm and 3.5cm high. They are a bit smaller than our usual Floor Cushions.
Please read the new blog post about making these new Squab Cushions here!
We sell fabric samples of our cushion ranges if you ever want to see colours/ textures in person before ordering a cushion. We are getting really low in lots of our cushion options now, but our stockists might still have some options we have sold out of. Check out our full stockist list here.
Klay Duvet Covers come in both Queen and King sizes
We have KING & QUEEN Duvets, as well as Pillowcases all in stock. You can read about the work that goes into making these duvet covers in the blog post: Making our Patched Calico Duvet Covers.
More posters have arrived from Italy: a Re-stock of the posters by Bruno Munari.
Blog post about the things we use in our studio kitchen.
Most of the items in our studio kitchen are things we also sell. We import items from around the world that we personally use everyday and recommend, so I thought I would show our most commonly used items and tell you about some of the other things we don't sell too, but do get asked about from time to time :) such as my favourite red rice cooker, our vintage braun coffee filter, changing our cupboard doors, where to get fizzy water gas bottle refills that are NOT soda stream (BDS!) and where to get the best S hooks. Read the blog post here.
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 are getting low in stock of the baking book ' 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 but we are getting low and aren't stocking this one again once these are gone.
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.
Our aprons are 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.
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 made a blog post of about some of the purple things I saw in Japan that reminded me of our Iris Purple Cushions.
The bright blue thick linen tea towels and the brown tea towels are back in stock. I took some camping over summer. They are so absorbent and fast to dry.
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.
