Our Story

Hi, I'm Tanya.

I'm a midwife and a mum of young kids, and Kinhood is mine - chosen, run and packed by me, from Tipperary, sent wherever you are.

It started with a gift I couldn't find.

Someone close to me was pregnant during lockdown, that strange, shut-in stretch when you couldn't call round, couldn't sit with her or couldn't do any of the small things you'd normally do. I wanted to send something. Not for the baby. For her. Something lovely enough to say I'm thinking of you, I wish I was there, when I couldn't be.

And it was surprisingly hard to find. Everything was for the bump or the nursery. Almost nothing was just for the woman in the middle of it all.

That stuck with me. Because in my work I see her, the mother, all the time often the last person anyone thinks to look after. Kinhood grew out of that. A place for the thoughtful thing, the well-made thing, the thing chosen with an actual person in mind.

So that's what I look for now. Everything here is hand-picked from the clothing, homeware, gifts and nothing goes in the shop unless I'd happily send it to someone I love, or bring it into my own house.

That's the part most shops can't say. Plenty of them carry the same lovely brands. None of them are chosen by someone who spends her days helping families at the very start of life, and her evenings finding out whether a thing survives a toddler. I choose through that lens. Does it last? Does it make life easier? Is it lovely enough to keep, and made well enough to pass on?

Made to last is, as it happens, the most sustainable thing I know (though I won't preach at you about it).

Kinhood is small on purpose. It means I can be picky. It means when you message, it's me who answers. And it means I'd rather sell you one good thing that lasts than ten that don't.

Every item here has a reason for being here. A story, if you want it - just ask.

Have a look around. I'm glad you're here.

Tanya x