Sabulo started with a baby, a beach day and way too much stuff.
Not long after having my first son, Tommy, we headed to Noosa Main Beach for one of our first proper family beach days. Like most new parents, we packed everything we thought we could possibly need. By the time the pram, nappy bag, towels, toys and all the other baby gear were accounted for, our bulky beach chairs were the first things left behind.
A few hours later, sitting on a towel trying to feed a baby who would eventually fall asleep on me, I really wished we’d brought them.
I started looking for something smaller.
There were compact chairs made for hiking and camping, but nothing I actually wanted to take to the beach. They were practical, but they looked like camping gear. And the traditional beach chairs I liked were still big, awkward and another bulky thing to carry.
I wanted something different.
A chair that was genuinely compact, but still comfortable. Something designed for Australian conditions using high-quality, rust-resistant, mould-resistant and fade-resistant materials. Something that wouldn’t sink into soft sand. And just as importantly, something that looked good.
So I created it.
We designed our chair with a white frame because I couldn’t find a compact chair that had one. We added a matching sand and grass mat to help stop the legs sinking into soft ground. We obsessed over the size, weight, fabrics, finishes and all the little details that make something feel less like equipment and more like an accessory you actually want to take with you.
And then something unexpected happened.
Once we had our chair, we realised we weren’t just taking it to the beach.
It came to the park. Kids’ sport. School events. Picnics. BBQs. Festivals. Open-air cinemas. Weekends away. Anywhere we knew we might want somewhere comfortable to sit without lugging a full-size chair around.
That’s when Sabulo stopped being just a beach chair.
It became the chair we kept in the car, threw over a shoulder and took wherever the day might lead.
Sabulo was also born during a time when I was thinking deeply about what I wanted life to look like after becoming a mum. I wanted to build something of my own, something creative and meaningful that could grow alongside my family.
What began as one very ordinary problem on a beach has grown into a brand built around a simple idea:
Sabulo is for beach days and sidelines. Picnics and parks. Backyard drinks, festivals, school events and afternoons that turn into evenings.
We want to make you comfortable while you’re making memories
Heidi x