Furniture brand ROOMIX has revealed a significant strategic shift away from whole-home custom furniture to focus exclusively on children’s furniture.
The decision was driven directly by customer demand, which has resulted in 120% year-on-year growth within that category – now representing 85% of the business.
The shift follows its investment raise back in July last year, with the company securing £850,000 to support its next phase of growth.
Founded in 2022 by Shona Chalmers and Mark Apter, ROOMIX has continued to evolve as it now looks ahead with its new direction.
Shona Chalmers, co-founder, explains: “Over the past few years, we’ve seen our product mix evolve organically. What started with custom furniture solutions for the whole home has increasingly become focused around family and child-centred pieces, particularly children’s furniture.
“In fact, 85% came from this category and with 120% year over year growth, it became clear this is where our customers are placing their trust, the spaces they most needed solutions for, and where we can create the most impact.
“At the same time, our brand and our own lives have become increasingly family and child-focused. We found ourselves designing, innovating and problem-solving around children’s spaces more than anything else.
“The decision to focus fully on children’s furniture is both a commercial and a purpose-led one as it allows us to concentrate our energy, product development and customer insight into one category where we believe we can genuinely lead and innovate — and one that is currently dominated by mass-produced and throw-away over quality and design.
“By narrowing our focus, we can go deeper — investing more in safety standards, child development principles, sleep and wellbeing design and long-lasting, modular furniture that grows with families. We’re now building ROOMIX to be a specialist in thoughtfully designed children’s furniture and that clarity is already shaping our next stage of growth.”
Shona also sat down with Big Furniture Group to discuss the new direction further and what it means for the business moving forward.
How customer demand revealed their strongest growth opportunity?
While ROOMIX launched with a broader DIY and interiors proposition, it was our children’s furniture ranges that consistently outperformed across every metric – conversion rate, engagement, organic sharing and repeat purchase.
It became clear that we were addressing a real unmet need in this category: children’s furniture that isn’t generic and throwaway. What resonated was our focus on adaptable, long-lasting designs that grow with the child – furniture that is considered and design-led, but remains practical and durable for real life.
That data – both quantitative (sales velocity, AOV, LTV) and qualitative (reviews, customer feedback, UGC, mentions in parenting communities) – made it clear that children’s furniture wasn’t just performing well; it represented our most defensible and scalable opportunity and the foundations of our brand.
Rather than spreading ourselves thin across categories or trying to be a brand that spoke to all people, we chose to lean into where we had the strongest product-market fit and the most engaged community.
What has driven the 120% growth in children’s furniture
The 120% growth has been driven by a combination of brand clarity and product focus. Firstly, we invested heavily in understanding our customer. Parents shop differently: they value safety, durability, longevity and aesthetics. More than other customer segments they need things to be easy to assemble and delivered fast. By responding directly to that insight – through better product development, clearer messaging, and more lifestyle-led content – we improved conversion and retention.
Secondly, we refined the range around our best-performing SKUs – doubling down on hero products, re-designing when we thought they could be better, and expanding thoughtfully within the category.
Thirdly, we’ve benefited from organic advocacy. Parenting communities are strong and content which celebrates all the many modern ways to parent and design your home is highly shareable. Our community has been instrumental in driving awareness through social channels and peer recommendations.
How investment has enabled them to refine and scale the business?
Investment has allowed us to move from proving demand to building infrastructure. We’ve strengthened our supply chain, improving lead times, quality control and margin. That operational stability has been critical to scaling without compromising customer experience.
We are currently moving to a small batch model in which we intentionally sell out of all stock before it even hits the warehouse. This means we can optimise margins and customer experience without taking on large inventory risk or adding waste to the system.
We’ve also invested in brand, content, and smarter product development, launching our AI-driven Product Pilot – a proprietary tool that analyses customer behaviour, trend data, and category gaps to identify high-potential opportunity areas and accelerate more confident product decisions.
Importantly, capital has allowed us to focus. Rather than chasing short-term revenue opportunities, we’ve been able to invest in long-term brand equity and category leadership.
What plans are in place to build a category-defining brand in children’s furniture?
Our ambition is to become a beloved household name for families across the UK and beyond – the go-to children’s furniture brand that parents trust, recommend, and return to as their children grow.
That means continuing to:
- Expand our core children’s range with complementary products that increase lifetime value.
- Lead with thoughtful, modular design that grows with the child and extends product longevity.
- Build a joyful customer experience that is empathetic to the needs of busy young families
- Build deeper brand recognition through community, content and partnerships
We see an opportunity to define the modern children’s furniture category – design-conscious, practical, planet-positive and built to last. Our focus now is on disciplined expansion within the category, strengthening our brand authority, and becoming the go-to destination for children’s interiors.
