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People sometimes imagine a pottery studio as a calm, sunlit room where everything comes out exactly how the maker pictured it.
In reality, there are glaze tests taped to walls, clay dust in places it definitely should not be, and at least one mug of tea going cold while someone says, “Hang on, that colour might be the one.”
Designing ceramic jewellery and pottery homeware at Habulous is a mix of careful planning, curious experimenting and slow, steady making. Nothing appears fully formed. Everything goes through sketching, shaping, trimming, glazing, firing, re-thinking and usually firing again.
So, pop the kettle on and come behind the wheel with us.
Most pieces begin in very unglamorous ways.
A scribble in a notebook. A shape we keep coming back to. A colour test we cannot stop thinking about. A handle that felt particularly good in the hand and made us pause and say, yes, that works.
We are not interested in chasing trends for the sake of it. We want to make handmade ceramics that feel timeless, useful and genuinely good to live with.
We think a lot about how things are actually used.
Mugs get picked up half-asleep. Earrings go on in a hurry. Bowls get stacked. Vases get nudged when someone opens a window.
So when we design pottery homeware and ceramic jewellery, the questions we keep coming back to are practical ones:
Those questions are part of sustainability too. If a piece is pleasant to use, people keep it. And keeping things is one of the simplest, most underrated eco choices going.
This is the bit that looks the most fun on Instagram.
Shelves of test tiles. Small batches of experimental glazes. Kiln opening days where everyone gathers round hoping the colour in our heads is the colour that comes out.
It does not always go to plan.
A glaze might run into a little puddle at the base, or turn unexpectedly matte where we wanted gloss. A colour that looked perfect in the jar can surprise you once it sees heat.
It is all part of working with clay.
We test constantly because we love it, but also because careful testing means fewer surprises later, fewer rejects, and less waste overall.
We make in small runs.
That means we are not filling warehouses with thousands of identical pieces. It means we can tweak designs as we go, and respond to what people actually love rather than guessing months in advance.
Small batch making also means we can be mindful about the small things that add up, like how often we fire the kiln, how much clay we reclaim from the table, and how we package parcels so they feel like gifts without relying on excess materials.
Our ceramic jewellery goes through the same process as our pottery.
Shapes are sketched. Samples are made. Pieces get worn around the studio to check how they feel and how they sit. Glazes get tweaked until they look right on curves and edges.
Some are subtle. Some make more of a statement. All of them are meant for everyday wear.
Explore our Elements-inspired jewellery collection
We do not pretend we have solved everything.
Kilns still use energy. Materials still come from somewhere. Running a small business is a constant balancing act between doing better and keeping things moving.
What we can do is pay attention, and keep improving.
We have completed carbon literacy training to understand our footprint properly. We have moved to a green energy tariff. We have switched to a green bank account. We use recyclable and biodegradable packaging and keep materials minimal where we can.
Sustainability for us is not one big dramatic decision. It is lots of small decisions made quietly and consistently.
Read our Small Changes, Big Impact blog
People tell us they love knowing how something was made.
Not just where it came from, but who shaped it, glazed it, loaded the kiln, unpacked it the next morning and held it up to the light to check the finish.
That connection is one of the nicest parts of handmade ceramics. When you know the story behind an object, you tend to treat it differently. You look after it. You keep it.
And that is exactly the point.
Thoughtful design leads to longer lives. Longer lives are kinder to the planet.
Nothing here is static.
We are always adjusting shapes, refining glazes, trialling new ideas and looking for better ways to do things. Some designs click straight away. Others take time, testing and patience to land properly.
That is the joy of being a small studio.
We get to keep experimenting, and keep making pieces that are meant to be part of real life.
