About Us

I'm Sue Ingram and John Barr (JB - or him-in-the-shed) is my other half.

We set up a small business from our home in Wellington so we could devote more of our time to creating beautiful products that fill us with pride and joy.

We handcraft each item, putting time and effort into creating something that is distinctive and special.

I launched Shades at Grays in June 2019 focusing on making fabric lampshades.

The New Zealand based business was born out of the frustration of not being able to find the shades I wanted for my own home.  So, like many others, I bought a lampshade kit and made my first lampshade.

I enjoyed the process so much that I began to wonder whether I could provide others with fabric lampshades, of the type I wanted: shades in beautiful colours and patterns - at a reasonable price.

And so Shades at Grays was born. (Our address on Grays Road in Plimmerton providing some of the inspiration for the name.)

In September 2019, with about 40 handcrafted shades to my name, I took the plunge and applied for a stall at my very first craft market - the Underground Market in Wellington.

This was my very first retail experience and despite first time nerves I loved it!

Just one market in and I knew I had created something others appreciated too!

The market stall also provided John with an outlet for his recycled timber and iron posts - first it was Keep Me Posts (door stops), and then it quickly grew into the crafting of wharf timber, ancient tōtara posts and discarded carpenter's planes to make stunning table lamps.

John loooves wood. He has stores of timber under the shed, under the house, in various parts of the garden - you get the picture.

He loves the smell of it, the feel of it and working with it.