If you’ve ever lit an Etikette candle in your kitchen and felt your shoulders relax about a centimetre, you already know something about Georgia Walker. The Adelaide-based founder co-built Etikette into one of Australia’s most loved home fragrance brands by paying close attention to how products make a space feel. Now, mother to a toddler and a newborn, she’s pouring the same instinct into a different kind of business – Australian baby brand Bubnest, built on organic cotton, calm design, and a slower way to shop for babies.
Why she pivoted
Becoming a mum changed Georgia’s understanding of what wellbeing at home actually means. It’s one thing to design for a calm kitchen; it’s another to design for a 3am feed.
“I’ve always believed in the power of products to shape how a space feels,” Georgia says. “With Bubnest, that became about creating simplicity, calm and connection during a period of life that can often feel overwhelming.”
Bubnest’s range is grounded in functional design – pregnancy and feeding pillows, play mats, pram liners, nursery pieces – all made exclusively from 100% organic cotton and fibres free from harmful chemicals. The aesthetic is understated and the philosophy is even more so: fewer things, made well, that last.
The problem with the baby aisle
The other thing that hit Georgia hard as a first-time mum was the sheer volume of products parents are told they need.
“One of the biggest overwhelms for me was the sheer volume of baby products I was made to believe I needed. At times, it disconnected me from trusting my own instincts about what was actually essential.”
It’s a familiar feeling for anyone who’s ever stood in front of a baby-store registry list, second-guessing whether they need a wipe warmer. Bubnest is built as a deliberate counterweight – fewer products, longer use, less stuff.
The brand’s hero Pregnancy Pillow is the clearest example: designed to stay on the bed long after pregnancy rather than getting bundled into the charity bag after a few months. A small shift, but a meaningful one.
“New mums already carry enough mental load without the pressure of trend-driven gadgets and overflowing cupboards,” Georgia says. “I really believe parents deserve to understand the ‘why’ behind the products they bring into their homes. Buy once, buy well, and take the time to look at what things are made from.”
Building a brand while building a family
Georgia launched and grew Bubnest while pregnant with her second child, working through first-trimester nausea, product development and a full brand evolution. Now, with a newborn in her arms, she’s running the company through the same chapter of life her customers are in.
“I’m living and breathing the same season as my customers. And honestly, that feels like a superpower.”
It also means Bubnest’s product decisions come from someone who’s actually testing them – at home, at 6am, with a toddler in tow.
“Bubnest has been born from this exact stage of life – the toddler chaos, the newborn haze, the mental load, but also the beauty and connection within it all. It’s shaping not only the business itself, but the kind of founder, woman and mother I want to be.”
Why this matters for Adelaide families
Bubnest is part of a small but growing wave of South Australian small businesses making considered, beautifully designed products for families. It sits comfortably alongside other Adelaide-born brands that have rejected the “more is more” model of baby shopping in favour of something quieter and more lasting.
For parents who feel slightly drowned in the baby aisle, that’s good news. And for anyone who’s followed Georgia’s work from Etikette, Bubnest reads like a natural next chapter – the same eye for how products shape a home, applied to the home’s most demanding new occupant.