There’s lots of love in children’s furniture says Incy Interiors’ founder Kristy Withers

QUITTING eBay to market her own brand of furniture was kid’s play for Kristy Withers

Kirsty Withers shares some of her favourite things at home in Spring Hill. Pictures: Supplied

• WHO: Incy Interiors founder Kristy Withers

• WHERE: Spring hill, near Orange, with her husband Simon and their children Oscar, 9, and Polly, 5

• FAVOURITE THING: I received a rose gold watch one Christmas and I asked a manufacturer to make me a bed in rose gold. It went horribly wrong, I ended up having to send my watch over to match the colour

• INSPIRATION: Modern farm house

• HOME IS: This is our forever place

As a marketing manager for eBay, Kristy Withers was frustrated seeing great products available in the US and the UK that were not making their way to Australia. Top of her list was a decorative children’s bed.

In between juggling a full-time job, travelling for work and caring for two young children, Kristy was inspired to launch her own company retailing children’s furniture.

She had seen hospital-style beds on eBay that she was interested in buying for her son Oscar (now 9), but besides not being available locally, it was also painted in lead. Kristy started to think about how she could make a better product for the Australian market.

AT HOME WITH CHLOE BROOKMAN

“We had gone away on holidays and I was still talking about it, and my husband said, ‘stop talking about it for God’s sake and just do it’,” she says.

Seven years on and Incy Interiors products, which meet Australian and New Zealand standards, are shipped internationally. The range has grown beyond beds, and includes desks, storage, cushions, rugs and wall art.

Kirsty Withers with her favourite rose gold bed.

“It was very liberating to start my own company, I could do what I wanted and I didn’t have to get anyone to agree to it,” she says. “Ultimately, if anything stuffed up it was all on me, but it was something I felt passionately about.”

While the business is going smoothly, Kristy is tackling another major project.

“We are building our forever house, so we are all living in the guesthouse we just completed,” she says. “It’s kind of a modern farm house with Hamptons and New Zealand influences, but it will still be a farm house.

“My husband is a carpenter and I’ve always had an interest in styling. It’s taken a while to get to this point, but now it’s happening.”

More:incyinteriors.com.au

Kara Rosenlund artwork: That colour is so striking on that chicken, My daughter has crazy, blonde hair and that picture reminds me of her. It’s very cute.

Home book: Author and stylist Emma Blomfield designed my Chatswood Chase store. I love her ideas and the way she has broken down styling ideas in this book.

Thermomix: Cooking while helping children with homework is the thing that pushes me over the edge. I went to a Thermomix party to drink wine. Three minutes in, I wanted one.

Polly’s art: My son is an amazing artist and Polly has always been abstract with her drawings, so this kind of came out of the blue. I asked her, ‘Is this Oscar’s?’

Hand cream: My mother-in-law buys me hand cream every Christmas, but it only lasts half the year. So I have one next to my bed, one on my desk. I’m never without.

Country CD: I am obsessed with the Nashville TV show and Garth Brooks. I grew up on a farm in Oberon and lived in Sydney for 14 years, but I am still a country girl.

Hermes bangle: When you start a company, every cent you make goes back into it. I didn’t get paid for about two years, so this was my first big purchase and it’s very special.

Orchid: It’s from the IGA here in Bathurst. I get about six months out of it before I have to replace it with a new one.