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Mum turns tidy profit selling kids’ homewares

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Eleanor Cullen went on maternity leave before the birth of her first child, she was bombarded by kids’ homewares solely decorated with TV characters and Disney princesses.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Melbourne designer decided to take matters into her own hands to make her own placemats for her newborn son, sinking $15,000 from the family’s savings into the venture.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After putting the design up on </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/wemightbetiny/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at the end of 2015, she said it “went crazy”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The widely popular placemat has since led her to launch her own business called We Might Be Tiny, which now stocks more than 32 products featuring a bear, bunny and cat: a signature part of her brand.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I love animals and cute things and it’s all from my childhood, so it's things I have loved as a child,” she told </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/melbournes-we-might-be-tiny-rakes-in-4m-from-stylish-childrens-homewares/news-story/e78097f144a85356ff81f9dc45dd8e03" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “The products are then centered around the bear, bunny and cat theme and become iconic to the brand.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRYi0xCg9sF/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRYi0xCg9sF/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by MINIMALIST TABLEWARE FOR KIDS (@wemightbetiny)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I then designed some snack boxes in a similar shape to the bear, bunny and cat, divided plates that suction to the table, suctioned bowls, cutlery sets and moved into kitchenware. So there’s icy pole moulds and freezer moulds and I was working with silicone as it’s a great material for kitchenware as well.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her bestselling products have been the suctioned plates, with 50,000 being sold for $29 to $32 since she launched the business.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 42-year-old said her designs appeal to parents wanting a “minimalist” look. Her placemats have also been so popular among parents that she has even made adult versions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Rather than having characters like P J Masks or Disney princesses printed on tableware it’s a neutral palette and that kind of thing appeals to mums,” she said.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRV4xoGJW6W/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRV4xoGJW6W/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by MINIMALIST TABLEWARE FOR KIDS (@wemightbetiny)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her side hustle has gone from making Ms Cullen $100,000 in her first year to nearly $4 million six years later.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was a hobby. I wanted to earn a bit more money and pay off our mortgage and what happened was I ended up selling out and making the money I invested back in one month,” she revealed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I haven’t had to reinvest our own money, I am just reinvesting the profits.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mother-of-two has credited the pandemic for the boost in sales, as people started eating at home with their kids more.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also launched a new product in February called Stampies, which was around the time parents began looking for new ways to entertain their kids. The cookie stamp set features cute animal designs, and Ms Cullen says it can be used for baking or playing with playdough.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since her business started, Ms Cullen has seen a huge growth in competitors offering similar silicone products.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, she says hers stand out since they are made from scratch, rather than being “stock standard products that are templated from a factory” with a competitor’s label stuck on the front.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking to the future, Ms Cullen said she is looking to start creating products for kid’s play.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ve got a bath book and some bath toys made from the material silicone, which means it’s dishwasher safe and lends itself to bath toys being thrown into the dishwasher so they are not going to get mouldy,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added that sensory toys, such as teethers and textured toys, would also be rolled out by the end of the year.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: We Might Be Tiny (Facebook)</span></em></p>

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IKEA product designer claims that her $1.49 design is the “world’s best”

<p>Iina Vuorivirta “loves doing the dishes” and it was this passion that took the IKEA product designer to the ultimate level.</p> <p>She was given a brief from Ikea to make “the best dish brush in the whole world”, which is a dream come true for the designer.</p> <p>“It still makes me a little bit shaky,” Ms Vuorivirta said to<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/why-this-149-ikea-product-is-the-worlds-best/news-story/b38a51076082b5d3b93d874da95cf3c9" target="_blank">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p>The brush that you can buy for a low $1.49 from the furniture giant might not look like much, but it took a full 18 months of design, testing and iteration to meet five requirements set by IKEA.</p> <p>These elements are:</p> <ul> <li>Form</li> <li>Function</li> <li>Low price</li> <li>Quality</li> <li>Sustainability</li> </ul> <p> Vuorivirta worked across the whole product range but said that her favourite products are “these kind of everyday life little heroes that you sort of take for granted, but when you have them right it’s a fluid part of your daily routine”.</p> <p>She spoke at IKEA's recent Democratic Design Days conference in Almhult and went into detail about the extensive testing the dish brush went through.</p> <p>“It was a long learning curve, together with a big amount of people to get this thing done,” she said.</p> <p>“We made it out of recycled plastics. I even designed air bubbles inside the handle to be able to maximise the material but not (compromise) when it comes to the ergonomics, how it feels to handle, how balanced it is, and how it of course looks.”</p> <p><br /><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" class="post_image_group" src="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/big-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" alt="" data-asset_id="37749882" data-url-thumb="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/thumb-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-url-thumb-small="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/thumb_small-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-url-thumb-big-scaled="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/thumb_big_scaled-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-url-large="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/large-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-url-big="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/big-Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-url-original="https://over60.monday.com/protected_static/657795/resources/37749882/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-12%20at%2010.18.20%20am.png" data-filename="Screen Shot 2019-08-12 at 10.18.20 am.png" data-is-gif="false" data-post-id="411604433&quot;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="text-center"><em>Photo source: IKEA</em><span></span></p> <p class="">The brush went on sale in Australia in April and has since sold 20,000 units. Ms Vuorivirta said that a lot of thought went into the whole process.</p> <p>“With this one we didn’t only want to make the best dish brush in the whole world but also we were really being picky when it comes to the price tag,” she explained.</p> <p>“This will be the dish brush for the many people and the price tag also needs to be according to that. So it was a long journey. But it still makes me really happy.”</p> <p>IKEA is known for the obsessive and minute changes that are made across its entire range which is used to drive down costs.</p> <p>“You would be surprised if you knew how much time we spent on each single detail of a product,” said Henrik Heegaard, product design manager and co-create Ikea manager. “Cut down assembly by five seconds, cut down the time it takes from the start of the production line to the end, these things make the whole difference.”</p> <p>Heegaard also explained that the recent addition of sustainability to the design requirements of Ikea have meant that sometimes, the company may compromise on price.</p> <p>“Where we look at products where we supply high volumes, of course we are very, very keen on making sure that is planet-positive — how can we go from virgin plastics to recycled plastics, for instance — and today that is more expensive,” he said.</p> <p>“There we go in and say, you know what, here we take our responsibility and put recycled plastic in there since this is a need our customers have. Then there's also times where we need to have a very specific price point where we just need to try harder to add in sustainability."</p>

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