Home décor brand Kasoobi might never have been born had it not been for Sarah Maddison’s fourth child. Like many women on maternity leave, while at home pregnant in 2012 Maddison found herself searching for a creative outlet, and she landed on designing branded packaging and wedding stationery, which she sold on Etsy.
A year later business was booming and Maddison decided to invest in a laser cutter. Once she realised what the machine could do, packaging became a thing of the past and home décor and signage business Kasoobi came to life.
The business is now four years old and everything is still produced at the Kasoobi workshop and retail store in Echuca, Victoria using non-toxic timbers. Products include home décor, like wooden signs and bunting, along with keyrings, cake toppers and business signage.
“Kasoobi is all about feeling the love,” says Maddison. “We want our designs to make the recipient feel loved and special and have a much-loved memory or keepsake item.
“When we make business signage we want to reflect the love and passion that a small business owner puts into their brand.”
Finding the right timber supplier was important to Maddison from the start, as she only wanted to work with ethically sourced, non-toxic wood.
“After months of research and phone calls we found our saviour and started working with a small Australian timber supplier to manufacture our own non-toxic feature grade timber,” she says. “We believe that early step and passion for quality is what set us apart from the beginning.”
Kasoobi launched its latest range, the nursery rhyme collectors’ series, at Life Instyle Melbourne and Maddison says visitors commented on the uniqueness of the products.
“That to us is the biggest compliment because we work hard on developing our own techniques; we don’t use other people’s products for inspiration and we try materials and techniques not yet really discovered,” she says.
“It’s about challenging ourselves, fulfilling our own curiosity and designing beautiful things.”
By Ruth Cooper
