Archive for January, 2012
Last week at Home London I came across Clare Nicolson’s stand and really loved her Lotta bird cushions. Vintage patterns are of course still very hot, and Lotta fits right in! I think they are great for any modern family room or kids room, just so fun and fresh. An orange and brown pair would do me nicely – which one is your favourite?
(images: clare nicolson, room to bloom)
Meet the latest addition to the Lapin & Me baby bunny lamp family, Posy Pink! Her blue and white siblings are still my favourites, but she makes a sweeeet addition, don’t you think?
You can buy these sweetpeas at online shop Lapin & Me – a true treasure trove for vintage inspired, quirky home decor and gifts for grown-up and children’s rooms alike. Enjoy your browse!
(images: lapin & me)
Whilst visiting trade shows Top Drawer & Home last week, I discovered some lovely new child-friendly products and was reacquainted with others. I’ll try and cover some of these finds over the next few weeks or so. The first I wanted to highlight was a Danish company called Manostiles, whose children’s bedding and patterned storage boxes I particularly liked. Owner Mette Lindeberg was ever so helpful in helping me to get a good picture of the stand with a quick restyle, but the product shots on her website are waaay better, so let’s stick with those.
Manostiles’ children’s bedding is not quite the same size as standard UK junior duvet sizes, so you’ll need to check whether it will fit. I still wanted to show you these images as I love the use of colour in a mostly white room. Perhaps Mette can be persuaded to produce UK sizes too? Remember that duvets are not recommended by health professionals for babies under 12 months as there is a risk of overheating. Take a look at the John Lewis website for guidance on buying children’s bedding from a safety point of view.
To keep a baby room clutter free, Manostiles’ patterned storage boxes would keep your changing supplies nicely organised – use them without their lid on the changing table for example. They’d also make great coordinated storage for small toys, hairbands, pins, jewellery and other trinkets.
(images: manostiles)
Last Sunday I visited Kleine Fabriek, Holland’s biggest childrenswear tradeshow which also showcases a selection of home & gift collections. Below I’ve put together a few highlights. Strong colour still seems to rule (Dutch) kids rooms, though here and there I noticed a return of neutrals and naturals. For those of you who’d like to find out more about the autumn/winter 2012 fashion at Kleine Fabriek, head over to Junior Magazine afterwards for a brilliant report.
First up was Anne-Claire Petit with a stand bursting at the seams with crocheted goodies. Aside from many of my favourite products, such as the trophy heads, poufs, mushroom stools, giant fruits and vegetables, this crocheted bear rug made me smile.
At Rice there was the usual happiness with lots of bright colours. I love the new cup holder and floral melamine tableware. One day I would love to design a day nursery from head to toe and use Rice tableware as part of the total concept.
At Bakker Made With Love these Poetic floral fabric lanterns are now available in new shapes. Sooo pretty!
Wu & Wu stood out with a beautiful colourful stand – not difficult with their colourful Asian vintage inspired design. I loved their new fox and deer cushions.
Chispum wallstickers made me smile:
And finally this light blue Kili cot and junior bed from Sebra was filled with the new ‘Sebra goes graphic’ range of bedding in lots of ton sur ton patterns to mix and match, a metal lamp and the ubiquitous owls. Love.
Do you have any favourites? Let me know what you think will be big this year in children’s design.
(images: room to bloom, bakker made with love, chispum, sebra)
I’m visiting Kleine Fabriek in Amsterdam on Sunday, so will be travelling to Holland again. Kleine Fabriek is an international bi-annual trade show for children’s fashion, shoes, accessories and home & gift collections. It’s my first visit and I’m really looking forward to it. Watch this space for a full report ; )
Whilst I’m away I wanted to share this cute little find I came accross the other day. It’s a duvet cover called ‘Bob’ from Dutch label Snurk (meaning ‘Snore’). Bob is the dog of the photographer who created the image for the duvet cover. Apparently Bob loves sleeping on his owner’s bed, but of course, Bob wasn’t sleepy at all on the day of the shoot. He finally succumbed to a nap under the warm lights of the studio – et voila.
Wouldn’t you have loved to have a dog sleeping on your bed like this when you were little? You still can. Bob is available from the Snurk online shop in a range of UK sizes.
(images: snurk)
Whilst over in Holland for Christmas, my eye was caught by the beautiful December stamps people were using to send their Christmas and New Year cards. They have a definite Scandinavian feel and are all so sweet, but my favourite has to be the little deer with decorated antlers!
A little bit of research brought to light that they were designed by one of my favourite Dutch magazines, Flow, in partnership with the German artist Elisandra Sevenstar. Elisandra sells her prints through her Etsy shop, where I found many colourful prints of the type of retro pottery I love, as well as a customisable “kiddie shelf” print. You can have different book titles printed on the book spines (your childhood favourites or your child’s name for example) and change the letters on the wooden blocks as well. Sweet!
If your child has a play kitchen you could hang some of these pottery prints nearby.
(images: elisandra sevenstar, post.nl)
