Abbey, Heather and John of Curated Botanics

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your brand Curated Botanics?

Launched in 2019, Curated Botanics is an Auckland-based collaboration between Interior designer Abbey Lang, husband John and her sister, and floral artist, Heather. Being an interior design-led business, we are firm believers that the finishing touches can make a house feel like a home and that botanicals complete a space.

At Curated Botanics we aim to bring joy by helping our customers complete spaces within their home or workplace (or as a beautifully packaged gift) with a curated, well-thought-out approach to faux botanical pieces, premium artificial flower arrangements and complementary homewares and styling items.

How did your journey start?

ABBEY: As an interior designer with Abbey Lang Home, I always see space for beautiful flowers in clients’ homes. I’m a big believer that botanicals are an important finishing touch in most spaces, helping houses feel like home. As much as we love fresh flowers, the downside is that after a week or so, they’ve finished their life and left an empty space.

Fortunately, I have the most incredibly talented sister, Heather, who’s an experienced florist with a fine arts degree in floral sculpture, while my husband John has a sales and marketing background. He was ready for a new challenge and had been keen to build a family business for a long time. So, we all created Curated Botanics.

Can you share an interesting aspect of your work or part of the product-making process?

HEATHER: Having been a fresh florist for 20 years, I am amazed at how quickly I have adapted to using artificial stems and can see so many benefits to using faux. The quality of the stems has come such a long way that most people assume our arrangements are real. My experience with fresh flowers does make me very picky in choosing what we work with, and I’m always naturally drawn to the flowers or foliage that are most true to nature. I do get great satisfaction in being able to design our arrangements with the vases or vessels and knowing that these will get placed as is for a permanent art piece in someone’s home or workplace. I also love that when I have a specific brief for a bespoke arrangement, I’m not restricted by what’s in season. I can source stems in various sizes, colours, and styles, which allows me to be quite particular.

What are your plans and aspirations both personally and professionally?

Our goal is to continue to change perceptions of artificial flowers by delivering premium arrangements that bring joy in a form that lasts.

Regarding future plans, we all love Christmas, and our Christmas range is always highly anticipated. The team are currently working on the 2024 'Curated Christmas' collection of faux wreaths, garlands, trees and everything Christmas, which will be launching for pre-order with an open-home event in September. We plan to continue and grow Abbey's Interior Designer home styling blog which provides tips on styling various spaces throughout a home and supporting these by offering an increased range of curated homewares. We love building connections with our clients by offering advice and service, and we will further develop our 'Ask the Team' website function and' 'In-Home Viewing' offerings.

Beyond the home, there is also excitement about the growth in corporate work. Heather loves having a brief for bespoke projects whether it be a small arrangement for an office reception or a large faux floral/plant/tree installation in a venue.

What can you tell us about the Spacefor activation?

JOHN: For this activation, we are showcasing our 2024 Mother's Day Curated Collection. As an online-only business, we are excited to have a store presence during the lead-up to Mother's Day and to be able to meet new and existing clients in person.

We look forward to helping make Mother's Day extra special with a beautifully wrapped gift that will provide an ongoing 'finishing touch' to a space in their (or your) home!

PS. We have partnered with Ortolana (next door), offering a free coffee when you show a Curated Botanics receipt (to be used the same day).

Quick Answers

Currently, my favourite brands are: ABBEY: Noto Studio, Le Labo, Astier De Villatte

An object or item I can't live without: Our ZAFFERANO cordless lamps - we even took these away on holiday with us!

My favourite online destinations is: We can't live without Pinterest and Instagram

My favourite place to shop is: Hong Kong

Offline VS Online? Both!