I wear many hats, my most important being a mum of two busy wee boys and one big furry black dog! I am also trained as an archaeologist and when I’m not working with my husband renovating our historic villa I’m working in our lab processing artefacts. In order to satisfy my more creative side I started Eclectika. Initially I bought in most of my products wholesale, but I’m slowly replacing them with my own handmade items and products from around NZ. I love sourcing old disused items, recycling and giving a second life to offcuts that would normally be discarded.

Eclectika is a bit of a family affair. My talented husband does all the woodworking, which he learnt from scratch, 100% self-taught. My parents own a well-established upholstery business (B & M Stevens Upholstery) and do much of the sewing. I’m the creative ‘ideas’ person and come up with designs, but I am slowly learning to sew a straight line!

I’m often asked where the name came from, to be honest I’m a bit of a magpie at heart and love to mix and match styles, patterns and products. I don’t want to be pigeon holed into one area. So, it’s just a play on the word ‘eclectic’ and allows me to legitimately ‘go with my gut’ when sourcing or making products.