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Studio
Sonya Cotter is an award-winning luxury residential interior design studio based in Auckland, working across New Zealand and select international locations. With more than two decades of experience, the studio is recognised for creating refined, highly considered homes shaped by clarity, proportion, and lasting quality.
Every project begins with a deliberate process of discovery, grounded in understanding how a home is lived in. Guided by expertise and intuition, interiors are shaped in response to lifestyle, light, and context, establishing a clear design direction from the outset and giving clients confidence in every decision.
The studio’s work is defined by a willingness to push boundaries in pursuit of truly individual homes, balanced by spatial intelligence and restraint. Flow, balance, and proportion underpin each interior, while material expression and thoughtful layering introduce depth, warmth, and quiet assurance. The result is spaces that feel calm, resolved, and intuitive to inhabit.
Many clients are internationally based, entrusting Sonya to lead projects with discretion and confidence from afar. Homes are delivered seamlessly, reflecting each client’s sensibility and success without the need for them to be hands-on.
Approaching each commission holistically, Sonya Cotter blends creative vision with technical precision. Working closely with architects, builders, and craftspeople, the studio leads projects from early spatial planning and architectural collaboration through to bespoke joinery, furniture and material selection, art curation, procurement, and final installation, ensuring continuity from concept through to completion.
Sonya Cotter’s clients live in homes shaped with uncommon clarity and care. Spaces are composed to support daily life with ease, while expressing individuality in ways that feel natural rather than designed. If you are considering a new build, renovation, or considered interior, we invite you to begin a conversation and explore what your home could become.
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 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