Discussing interior styling with Claudia Kozub of Indie Home
Written by
13 November 2024
•
5 min read
Spearheaded by partners Neel Giri and Claudia Kozub, their combined wealth of knowledge has built Indie Home to become an essential stop when it comes to designing your interiorscape, and this has remained so since its opening in 2013. However, Indie Home extends beyond a simple showroom full of beautiful things—we sit down to discuss with Claudia and Neel their newest soft furnishings range, the story behind their material choices, and Indie Home’s sister brand, Indie Home Interior Styling by Claudia Kozub.
SOFT FURNISHINGS
"Our general aesthetic moves towards modern luxury - we use a lot of textures to layer up a space, and I think that's what makes us quite different from other retailers. We have a very curated look," explains Claudia as we talk about their newest collection of soft furnishings.
As we sit down with Claudia, their showroom brings a sense of calm to our conversation, surrounded by crafted-with-love couches and cushions, candles and curtains, all to touch and feel and become familiar with before you put them in your home. Their pieces are designed with ethical considerations kept at the forefront, from the inner to the exterior materials, only reflected through their designs. With a less is more approach, their highly sought-after cushions are only collated of four to six designs per release, keeping that bespoke, quiet luxury feel behind each addition, and are filled with ethically sourced New Zealand feathers.
Claudia also designed their sofa range in New Zealand, allowing her to channel her expertise and years of experience in the interior industry into curating the perfect centrepiece for a lounge, striking an even balance between aesthetics and functionality. For the ‘Malibu’ and new 'Ibiza' Modular Sofas, high-density foam is used and enveloped in New Zealand’s finest sheep wool, specifically Wise Wool. Also known as nature’s miracle fibre, New Zealand wool not only provides durability but is a hypoallergenic, fire retardant and health-conscious material, perfect for your home.
“We’re really working to move a lot of products over to Wise Wool; in saying that, some designs work better with feathers, achieving a slouchier look, but New Zealand wool is a new way forward for us. We always try to use materials with as few chemicals as possible, and we take all of that into consideration when designing our sofas.”
INDIE HOME INTERIOR STYLING STUDIO BY CLAUDIA KOZUB
Claudia Kozub is no stranger to the sheer extent that interior design can take you to, working as a creative designer and editorial stylist for top publications, as well as working with everything from window dressing to kitchen design, visual merchandising, property dressing, and so much more. Her love for textiles and raw materials shines through Indie Home’s organic aesthetic, and her expert eye in the industry is the perfect way to bring that extra edge to their brand, that being Indie Home Interior Styling Studio by Claudia Kozub.
“Although under the Indie brand, it is a separate identity for us. It’s essentially an interior design service where homeowners can work closely with a team that holds many years of experience in the industry. Our team will then work to curate our client's homes through mood boards, product examples, floor plans and more,” Claudia shares.
With a plethora of ‘white box’ rooms filling up the New Zealand housing market, it’s often hard to bring your perfect homescape to life. A professional interior designer can make all the difference. The Interior Styling Studio allows you to completely immerse yourself in Indie Home and work closely with Claudia and her interior styling team who will take you on a journey, sourcing and collaborating and making the most of your inner creative. They will get to know you, what you love and how to bring your personality into your walls, and if you can’t find your perfect piece in the Indie Home showroom, they source from all over the country to find it for you.
“We go to our client's home, have a look and then take ourselves away and put together a curated concept, swatches, etc. The client can then come in for a presentation, and the last client we had was able to turn our store upside down and really find what they loved because our store also works as a big, beautiful showroom.”
Indie Home Interior Styling Studio covers all areas, from bathrooms to bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and even small-scale landscaping. “I think we’re one of the only ones who offer an experience like this. Our Styling Studio extends beyond classic pieces; we also look at rugs, carpets, timber flooring, paint, etc. To me, styling is building layers; for one home, we added plaster onto walls, and we had bespoke marble and stone plinths and pieces made."
"We will pull pieces from companies all over New Zealand, just whatever needs to be done to create a beautiful space for our clients."
