The Kraft Faktor is a brand that promotes the art of crafting as a means to thoughtful, slow living. Deepa Sam and Nabeela Rahman’s goal is to encourage more adults to take up crafting as a practice in their day to day, a simple escape from the rat race of everyday life.
Crafting with care
“We started The Kraft Faktor spontaneously, as a quiet experiment in mindful making,” says Deepa, referring to her and Nabeela’s passion project. “We had been toying with the idea of co-creating a crafting brand for years. We even had a joint space before COVID, where we wanted to host workshops, but it didn’t work out. We finally set up our brand in February 2024. We are both keen on crafting as a form of mindfulness, and wanted to see how we could transform objects around us, all while being sustainable. Our core philosophy is pausing, creating with purpose, and reconnecting with one’s own rhythm. Every product, every workshop, every collaboration is an invitation to live a little slower, a little kinder.”
Deepa is a practising architect with a background in design, and Nabeela has an engineering background. Deepa handles the personal grooming and clean aroma products, while Nabeela handles the decoupage and home decor line. “We live in an age where people are too busy; no one has the time to pause. It’s just the truth, though; no one is to blame. Life happens, and it’s a matter of convenience most of the time. We want to engage more people in crafting, with a focus on easy projects, upcycling, and sustainability. Other than different styles and aesthetics, we aim to make useful products that people would actually use,” Nabeela explains.
Building a conscious collective
With a myriad of products in hand, they do pop-ups regularly, to connect with an audience and customer base, having a new addition at every event. There is an element of surprise and discovery every time a customer explores their product range. Handcrafted in small batches, they experiment with new products constantly. They team up with other local crafters in Chennai and are gradually expanding their catalogue. “If someone meets our ethos of conscious creating and eco-friendly products, we collaborate with them. We carry lovely candle stands, ceramic containers, and soap accessories, from other entrepreneurs. We absorb their products into the brand, giving them all due credit, and promote them through The Kraft Faktor. Every collaboration at The Kraft Faktor is a celebration of shared values, where makers lift each other. Bringing out more crafters’ skills and showcasing their talents to the world is something we strive to do,” Deepa emphasises.
What made them start a handmade business? As an architect, Deepa noticed that even the most conscious people contribute to a lot of wastage in the industry. She also notes how a space is an extension and reflection of the person—it is distinctive to them. She puts it poignantly, “When you buy a mass manufactured product, multiple people own the same product. The identity lies with the product company, not the person who owns the product. Craft has the ability to transform and become unique in each person’s hand, whether you choose to buy it or make it.”
Philosophy of the handmade
Nabeela details the essence of the brand. “First, we focus on the individuals themselves by providing them with an identity and helping them find their self-care routine. Through Soaplore, we turn everyday rituals into mindful moments—with handcrafted soaps, balms, and perfumes rooted in nature and self-care. Second, we look at their spaces and environments with our utilitarian decor products. Through the Houz of Artistry, we celebrate the uniqueness of daily life. Each piece—a tray, coaster, or runner, turns ordinary spaces into soulful corners, reminding us that beauty belongs not just in galleries, but in the homes we live and breathe in. We have our Serene Aromas range that transforms your spaces into sanctuaries. Natural aromas drift through corners, soft light flickers, and suddenly, the air feels gentler. Each scent is blended with intention to comfort, uplift, and restore balance. Candles, wax tablets, potpourri, and wardrobe sachets. Last but not least, we want to create a community of like-minded people who rediscover the joy of making, so we host workshops and create the Kwiet DIY kits, like a zentangle kit and a decoupage kit.”
The Kraft Faktor’s work tries to elevate the individual, their spaces and their communities. Their custom gifting options with personalized messages are a go to for many who want to add meaning and warmth to occasions and people.
Their workshops cater towards adults. “We don’t have anything against kids, but we feel if adults take up crafting kids will automatically follow,” Deepa laughs. “We want to connect with those in adulthood, missing out on slow living, owing to, well, life. People want to slow down, but they just don’t get the chance to. We want to bring back forgotten hobbies that we had as kids and fill in the emptiness that you don’t know how to fill. They remain part of a WhatsApp group to share their art or queries and go home with a printed booklet as a continued learning resource.”
Lessons in patience and trust
In terms of challenges and lessons learnt along the way, they describe them as everyday events. “Both of us have run our own businesses for over 20 years. The Kraft Faktor is our new venture, but we have seen our fair share of challenges. The primary goal is to identify suitable, high-quality raw materials and establish trust. Trust works both ways—with the vendors we procure from and the customers we supply to. They take a chance and buy our products, so we need everything to be of the best quality. We had a few bad, rusted batches of our perfume tins at one point which we realised only when customers complained. We were flustered initially, but we realised it was just something we had to make our way through, so we replaced it with fresh perfume tins. Our customers were fortunately very understanding; they are aware of the care we put into our work to be sustainable and of top quality,” Nabeela expressed.
As for their determination towards being sustainable, The Kraft Faktor uses plastic in its packaging only when essential. They solely use natural or naturally derived materials, no synthetic additives. Their decoupage product bases are sourced from artisans, custom-made with seagrass and reed-based materials. They commonly echo that sustainability isn’t a trend. It’s their quiet promise—to use what exists, to waste less, and to craft beauty that returns to the earth as gently as it came.
Chaos and creation
Another challenge for any creative is burnout. Too many things to do, too many side-quests, and not enough time. “Multiple facets in a business sometimes make it hard to handle. There is a good balance between the two of us,” Deepa smiles. “Nabeela is the practical and grounded one; she takes care of all the systems, planning and formalities, and I take care of the design and creative aspects of the business. Ultimately, there are always 10 things left on our to-do list, and it feels like there’s never enough time. We have been rolling with it since the beginning,” she chuckles.
When they registered for their first pop-up, they went all in with no Instagram page or business cards. All they knew was, they wanted to do this, and they would do it well. Apart from the handmade products themselves, they don the hats of photographers and editors, and do the packaging and shipping. Adding to their sustainable and local community goals, they hope to sell, influence and ship more locally within Chennai.
Crafting a memorable, sustainable future
On the topic of memorable customer experiences, they mention a story where a customer bought a solid perfume, used it for a month, and reordered almost 60 perfumes soon after for gifting. Another customer bought a car fragrance at their pop-up and has bought multiple refills over time. Deepa’s signature fragrance blends have gained popularity and have become associated with The Kraft Faktor as bestsellers. Nabeela calls their journey a fluid growth. Positive feedback, returning customers, and people buying gifts for their loved ones kept them going. They are motivated every day to continue, solely by the love of making things.
Wrapping up, Deepa and Nabeela talked about the future of The Kraft Faktor. “Our vision is strong and clear. We want the brand to reach as many people and spaces as possible. More so as an experience than a product. Our products can become conversation starters. They could attend a workshop or even just hear about us and share their creations. We want to create an ecosystem where people are consuming mindfully, creating things with joy, and inspiring each other as a crafting collective. We don’t tell people to buy from us; we tell them to make something meaningful for themselves and gift it to friends and family. People are socially distant nowadays, and we want to foster a sense of community and warmth through crafting and rekindling a personal connection between people. We want to be remembered a certain way; the rest will fall in place. The Kraft Faktor isn’t simply a product brand. It’s a movement towards mindful making—where every hand-touched object, every shared workshop, and every fragrance carries the quiet joy of living artfully.”
