Dreaming of transforming your home into a modern, sustainable, family hub? Don’t know where to start? Motide is a Raglan-based bespoke kitchens and design business. Christina and Sascha started Motide in 2016, and it was born from their shared passion for high-quality woodwork, simple design and love for the natural environment. Their products represent their values of quality, simplicity and sustainability. We spoke to Christina to learn more.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
For a long time we have shared this dream of designing and making furniture, natural furniture out of real wood.
We grew up in Germany being surrounded by creative people, like cabinetmakers, architects, Zimmermänner and boat builders. We all shared a love and passion of design and a natural, sustainable lifestyle. Our wish to work with wood was almost a natural response.
We believe that a holistic approach to life is key to a happy and healthy life, and living with natural and sustainable materials is part of this holistic approach to a healthy environment in our homes. When our daughter came into our world we were even more inspired to create a healthy environment for her to grow up in. The seed of a sustainable joinery started growing in our minds and hearts.
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
We kept dreaming about working creatively with wood for quite a while. We were both employed, Sascha by a joinery business in Raglan and I worked as an architect in Hamilton. Some time went by and then the “best drama” happened to us. The business Sascha worked for moved away from Raglan and had to let most employees go. There we were, I was still on maternity leave and Sascha was without work.
It was some of our close friends who helped us kick off our own joinery business. They asked us if we could build them a kitchen. And this was our opportunity! The joinery in Raglan was now available for rent and people who believed in us, and in our dream of a sustainable joinery business, gave us our first job.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Working with sustainably sourced timbers and recycled or reclaimed woods is very rewarding and satisfying for us. It is such an amazing and inspiring process to turn pieces of wood into furniture.
The biggest breakthrough for us was that we were able to offer kitchens that are made from natural, healthy and long-lasting materials. It was amazing to realise that there aren’t a lot of companies around who offer these kinds of kitchens. And the best thing is that now, not only can we make the furniture we always desired for our home, but we can also build healthy furniture and kitchens for other people who wish to live more sustainably.
Our clients have high standards when it comes to design and they value the longevity and sustainability of our products. We love working with them on this common ground. I naturally love designing and Sascha works with a lot of attention to detail. So together we make quite a good combo.
It is a priority for us to use high quality materials. Not only is this the best way to reduce waste and the impact on our environment, but it also means that our clients buy a better product that will last for a long time.
Work Process: How do you realise your designs?
We design our kitchens and furniture to be functional and simple. By finding the best individual solution for our client’s home and their needs, we believe that we can help in making their flow at home a little bit smoother. This sometimes means that it is a long and very detailed design process. And we don’t stop designing until everyone is happy with the design.
We use natural products and materials wherever possible combined with traditional craftsmanship to create honest furniture and kitchens that support a healthy and sustainable environment in our client’s home. It is a priority for us to use high quality materials. Not only is this the best way to reduce waste and the impact on our environment, but it also means that our clients buy a better product that will last for a long time, so long term it is even more economical for them.
