Studio Vision
Interior design excellence, guided with clarity
Sonya Cotter is an award-winning luxury residential interior design studio founded by Sonya Cotter, based in Auckland and working across New Zealand and selected international locations. Shaped by more than two decades of experience, the studio is recognised for creating refined residential interiors defined by proportion, materiality and lasting quality.
Each project is led directly by Sonya, ensuring clarity of vision and consistency throughout the design process. Her ongoing involvement provides continuity and a clear point of decision-making, supported by a skilled studio team responsible for structure, detail, and execution. Together, the studio delivers complex residential projects with care, confidence, and discretion.
The studio’s work reflects a forward-looking design approach, blending creative vision with technical precision. Flow, balance, and proportion underpin each interior, while material expression, custom design elements, and thoughtful layering are resolved with exceptional attention to detail, introducing depth, warmth, and a sense of resolution.
Working in close alignment with architects, builders, and specialist craftspeople, the studio provides clear leadership across the full project team from early planning through to design development and execution. This collaborative approach ensures decisions are coordinated, design intent is maintained, and each project is delivered with clarity and consistency.
Sonya Cotter’s clients are often time-conscious or internationally based, choosing a highly guided design process that removes uncertainty and decision fatigue. Projects are led with clarity and discretion, allowing clients to step back while their home is carefully shaped and resolved on their behalf. The result is an interior that feels bespoke, cohesive, considered, and effortless to live in.
Interiors Attuned to You
Every home tells a story. At Sonya Cotter Design, we begin by listening. We uncover how you want to live, what inspires you, and what feels effortless. From these insights, we shape interiors that are refined, deeply personal, and beautifully resolved.
Translating Needs into Design
From these conversations, we craft interiors that are not only beautiful but deeply attuned to you.
Proportion, flow, and materiality guide every decision. Bespoke joinery, curated artworks, and tactile surfaces add depth and meaning, creating homes that feel unmistakably yours.
Understanding You
No two clients are the same. Some seek calm, others energy. Some want their home to welcome generations of family, while others long for a retreat of quiet ease.
We take time to understand the rhythms of your life. How you move through spaces, how light shifts across your day, and what details bring you joy.
Our Process
Interior Design Grounded in Understanding
Each project begins with a deliberate process of listening and discovery, focused on how the home is lived in and the atmosphere it is intended to create. Design decisions are informed by lifestyle, light, and context, allowing interiors to feel intuitive rather than imposed. This early clarity establishes a strong foundation, ensuring each home remains distinct in expression while cohesive in its overall language.
Clients consistently describe both the experience and the outcome as exceeding expectations, valuing the studio’s calm guidance, clear direction, and considered attention to detail throughout the design journey.
Clarity Through Collaboration
Projects include new builds, renovations, and refined holiday homes. Across every commission, the studio works in close alignment with architects, consultants, and craftspeople to maintain continuity across all stages of the project.
Decisions are made deliberately, documentation is thorough, and each element is resolved in relation to the whole. This collaborative approach ensures design intent is maintained from early planning through to completion.
Translating Needs into Design
Insight is translated into a clear design direction, shaping each interior through considered decisions rather than a predetermined aesthetic. Interior architecture, including spatial planning, material selection and bespoke joinery, is developed in response to the project, ensuring cohesion from early concept through execution.
Projects are led with clarity and discretion, allowing clients to step back while decisions are guided and resolved on their behalf. Each element is considered in relation to the whole, with accountability and attention to detail maintained throughout.
An interior shaped to feel cohesive, considered and effortless to live in.
Our Expertise
Interior Design
New Builds – collaborating with clients and architects to create beautiful, resolved interiors.
Renovations – reimagining existing homes to improve flow, function, & architectural clarity.
Material & Finish Selection – flooring, tiles, paint, stone, and surface curation.
Custom Kitchens & Bathrooms - spatial layouts and detailed design with resolved precision.
Bespoke Joinery & Wardrobes – tailored cabinetry and integrated storage solutions.
Interior Decoration
Furniture, Lighting & Rugs – selections that balance scale, proportion, and aesthetic.
Window Treatments – designed for both interior harmony and environmental performance.
Upholstery & Soft Furnishings – bespoke cushions, fabrics, and textiles.
Art & Object Curation – sourcing and placement of artworks, objects, and decorative pieces.
Full Service Completion
End-to-end coordination of procurement, logistics, delivery, and installation.
Styling and final placement to ensure the home is fully resolved and ready for occupation.
A seamless handover experience, allowing clients to arrive to a complete and considered home.