Archive for 2012
1. leather squirrel coat hook 2. hedgehog lamp 3. mushroom wall lamp 4. twig coat hook 5. children’s suitcase 6. leather rabbit coat hook
(image: room to bloom)
Happy Monday everyone! Today I’m starting a 3-part series on how to design your dream nursery over on Lisa Barnwell’s blog.
Founder of Lisa Barnwell Pregnancy & Early Postnatal Care, Lisa offers her signature treatments to expecting and new mums in the comfort of their home with her bespoke At Home range of pregnancy and postnatal massage and reflexology treatments. She is also the exclusive provider of complementary therapies to The Kensington Wing, the private maternity unit at London’s Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
For tips and advice on anything pregnancy related, health or otherwise, hop over to Lisa’s blog, where today you’ll find the first part of my Eight Steps to Designing Your Dream Nursery. See you there!
x Ursula
(images: Sissy + Marley, Smallable, Design Sponge, Line + Liv)
This cool boy’s nursery belongs to Alfie who is one and a half years old. He lives with his mum and dad in a small wooden house outside Uppsala in Sweden. Alfie’s mum Sara is an art director and illustrator. She owns a blog called SMÄM and posts regularly about Alfie’s room to document the changes as he’s growing up.
Sara has some great tips for decorating kids’ rooms:
1. Keep the amount of toys down and make sure everything has it’s place in the room.
2. Look for old stuff in second hand stores or in grandma’s basement. I’ve hardly bought anything for Alfie’s room. I’ve been over to my mum and dad’s place and stole some old chairs from when I was a kid, and I also found a great shelf that used to belong to my grandfather.
3. A simple yet fun way to style a room can be a wall decoration, poster or garland attached to the ceiling, to give more life and character to a room.
4. Stalk Pinterest 🙂
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Without further ado, let’s find out a bit more about Alfie now! Tell us Alfie…
♥ What is your favourite food? Pasta with tomato and cheese. I also like olives.
♥ What do you play with at the moment? The wooden railway from Ikea and building towers with Mega bloks.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Green.
♥ What is your favourite animal? A dog. Woof woof.
♥ Your favourite book? I like Winnie the Pooh.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? Don’t know. But mummy says I can be anything I want.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My books.
♥ What is your favourite duvet cover? A green polka dot set with my name on the pillow and a night prayer on the duvet. My auntie made it for me.
♥ What are your favourite pyjamas? My black and white zebra pyjamas.
Thank you Alfie, it was very nice to meet you!
(images: sarah woodrow)
I came across this super sweet bunting whilst looking for something to brighten up a nursery I’m working on, and I just had to share it with you.
Handmade by Dutch designer Lydia Louw of Mizzle Studio and Mizzle Kids, you can order it via Etsy here.
(images: mizzle kids)
(image: room to bloom 1. bandit bat toy 2. orange polka dot paper lampshade 3. lucky boy sunday lou lou doll 4. brown mushroom light 5. bear side table 6. donna wilson rill soft toy)
This amazing boy’s bedroom belongs to Jonah who is four years old. He lives with his little brother Lowe and mum and dad in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Jonah’s dad built him a cabin bed made from scrap wood from the old shed that was demolished. His mum Tynke is a scrap metal dealer and commercial manager of an electronics recycling company. She loves buying and selling second hand goods on the internet and at the freemarket that takes place during Queen’s Day.
Tynke’s best tip for decorating a kids room is to get creative and make your own with bits and bobs from around the house.
Let’s find out a bit more about Jonah now.
♥ What is your favourite food? Chocolate and vanilla tiger sprinkles on a slice of bread – but I’ll only eat the sprinkles.
♥ What is your favourite pastime? Playing with my fire breathing dragon, and jumping off my bed as far as I can.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Dark blue and black.
♥ What is your favourite animal? A dragon.
♥ Your favourite book? I like The Circus Ship.
♥ Which country would you like to visit? Hong Kong because that’s where grandma lives, and Madagascar.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A dragon tamer.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My secret dragon room inside the wardrobe and Haassie my cuddly.
♥ What would you take with you to a desert island? My little brother.
♥ What is your favourite duvet cover? The cowboy one.
♥ What are your favourite pyjamas? My spiderman pyjamas.
Thank you Jonah, it was super nice to meet you!
(images: 101 woonideeën, photography by Henny van Belkom)
Earlier this year I visited the children’s day care centre that my sister runs in Haarlem, The Netherlands. The Teddyzolder (teddy attic) is a nursery and after school club inspired by the principles of Reggio Emilia. This approach puts the natural development of children at the centre of its philosophy, as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment.
The nursery aims to provide a homely environment, as it believes that when staff and parents feel at home, children will feel at home quicker too and thrive. It’s a comfortable and inviting space, thoughtfully designed to stimulate interaction and communication, whilst also offering children the opportunity to find a quiet nook and spend some time by themselves.
The spaces are organised in open areas for energetic play and lots of movement, and smaller zones or ‘corners’ where children can retreat and experience different atmospheres. There are corners for quiet reading, crafting, building, playing ‘house’, a dolls corner, dressing up room and a mini theatre with a stage, to name a few.
Through the use of materials and colours, the centre has created a warm and welcoming atmosphere that is a long way away from the “institutional” design, or lack of interior design, that I’ve seen at many day nurseries. I love the bright, cheerful colours, bunches of artificial flowers everywhere, large colourful lamp shades, bold wallpaper, and layers of differently patterned curtains. I would love to design a day nursery – so if you’re hiring… drop me a line! ; )
(images: room to bloom)
Back in August I decided to take a short break from blogging to go on holiday, recharge my batteries, and start again with new energy… Well, that break lasted a bit longer than planned, but whilst not blogging, I have been working on a number of lovely new rooms which I hope to be able to share with you soon. Here is a sneak peek of a little girl’s bedroom that is nearly completed. More soon!
(image: room to bloom)
Huge apologies to everyone who entered the giveaway for this customised storage house, and who has been waiting to hear who has won! I have been working very hard on a number of new projects since the the giveaway closed, and my blog has suffered a bit as I couldn’t find time to post. It’s time to put things right now… We have a winner!
The random generator picked number seven, meaning that Anna Nowinska-Boardman has won the house! I hope it will be a worthy new home for her daughter’s pebble collection.
If you would like to be kept up to date about the next giveaway, make sure to subscribe to the Room to Bloom newsletter at the bottom of this page. Promise I’ll be quicker to announce the winner next time : )
x Ursula
(image room to bloom)
There has been a big trend for photo realistic animal prints on kids bedding of late, and now that H&M have joined the party, I couldn’t resist doing a ‘high vs low’ post.
So, let’s have a look at the range. First off (left) on the highest end of the scale is the iconic, beautiful kids bedding from Danish designers By Nord. The 135 x 200cm size costs £92 and is available here. (I’ve also posted on their new baby bedding range here.)
Mid-range: Bob the dog from Snurk bedding (above right). I love this design so much, as it’s simple (no repeat print on the pillow case) and imaginative – I would have loved a dog sleeping on my bed when I was little. Bob loves stealing sandwiches from the kitchen counter apparently, which makes him even more appealing (read more about him here). Snurk ship from the Netherlands – the single size 140 x 220cm is approximately £47 plus postage.
On the budget end of the scale, H&M has now also included two animal print kids duvet sets as part of their recently launched H&M Home Kids collection (which includes some nice, modern, not-too-sweet designs by the way, so do check it out). The husky puppy and baby rabbit sets cost £14.95 each – I was surprised to see that they are made from organic cotton at this price. I’m still trying to make my mind up about the design ‘cross-pollination’. What do you think – and which do you prefer?
(images: By Nord, Snurk, H&M)
