Archive for 2013
Earlier this year I was invited to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For those of you who aren’t familiar with their work, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants magical wishes to children who are fighting life-threatening conditions. One of such wishes is a room make-over.
My wish child was a little boy called Jack, who like many a 4-year old, is mad about Toy Story. Jack’s illness means he is severely limited in his mobility and his parents wished for him to have happy place where he would be surrounded by his favourite characters.
This was Jack’s room before the make-over:
And this is his new bedroom – with all Jack’s friends present!
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I couldn’t have done it without the help of some very generous sponsors who all rallied around to make Jack’s wish come true. Thank you so much to all of these wonderful people and organisations:
Photowall (self-adhesive Toy Story wall mural – adapted to fit Jack’s wall)
Wooden Blinds Direct (wooden venetian blind)
Love Carpet (Wilton Victoria carpet)
London Flooring Contractors (carpet fitters)
Skandivis (Happy Cat beanbag)
Little Baby Company (cloud duvet set)
Hello Monkey (number art print)
Babyface (denim letter J, bunting and other goodies)
Curtains Made Simple (cushions)
And of course Tony, who hammered, sawed and climbed into the loft without a grumble to make Jack’s wish come true.
Thank you guys! x
(images: room to bloom)
I recently bought this world map (in grey) for a two recent additions in our family. Titled “My roots lie here”, the map comes with little heart stickers that can be be used to indicate a family’s origins. I love the idea – it makes such a great gift for new parents of mixed backgrounds and/or children and their families who move around a lot. The maps are available in pink, blue and grey from Children Inspire Design, the brainchild of artist, mother and social entrepreneur Rebecca Peragine. You can order them here or here.
(image: children inspire design)
Today I’d like to show you another nursery that I completed a while ago. This grey baby room was for a sweet little boy called Tobias:
And this is what the room looked like before it became Tobias’ nursery:
Quite a difference, right? I’m super pleased how it all turned out, and more importantly – so are Tobias’ mum and dad : )
You can read a bit more about this project here.
(images: client’s & room to bloom, photography by brett charles)
Today I am guest posting over on My Baba about one of the ways to find inspiration for your baby’s nursery. See you there!
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(image: room to bloom)
This is Fadila‘s childhood bedroom in the early 90s. Nowadays she works a self-employed Marketing and Market Research Consultant and has been writing a successful blog for five years about what inspires her as a mum on Un blog, Une Maman, and occasionally on Petites Inspirations about kids fashion and design. She lives in Casablanca, Morocco where she moved a year ago.
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I asked Fadila to share some childhood memories:
♥ Can you tell us a bit about this photo? This is a picture of my teen bedroom (taken in 1990 or 1991). You can see me in the picture, I think I was fifteen! I always shared my room with my little sister. When we were kids, we first had a big bed in which we slept together (Minnie the cat always woke us up in the morning), then we had bunk beds until we moved to a new apartment in a new country. There we had the 2 separate beds you can see in the picture.
The secretaire [desk] is part of my childhood and teen bedroom décor. My mother still has it as I asked her to keep it for me. I don’t have a place for it in my new home but I will definitely take it back, one day …
♥ What kind of things did you do in your room? When I was young(er), I loved to read and write: I read everything that came my way and loved to write poems and little stories. I would sit down at my “secretaire” given to me by my mother and write endlessly. I also had penpals in different countries and would sit down for hours to read their letters and write back.
♥ What did you like most about your room? I definitely loved my secretaire. I would keep my secret diary hidden in its drawers and later, my love letters from my first love.
I also loved the light in my room, the bed sheets in satin, so cheesy nowadays but so romantic when I was fifteen. I liked the smell of the authentic sheep rug, sourced from my mother’s village; the black & white picture of the port of Amsterdam, where my father used to work; the flamenco dancers on top of my closet bought during a trip in Spain; and of course my Kylie Minogue poster (I used to love her duet with Jason Donovan !!!)
Thank you Fadila!
Do you have photos and want to share memories of your old bedroom? I’d love to hear from you so get in touch!
(photo: fadila & a bit of room to bloom)
A little while ago I completed this sweet bedroom for a little girl called Georgie:
And here’s what Georgie said about her new room:
That just made my day : )
This is what the room looked like before:
You can read a bit more about the transformation here.
(images: room to bloom, photographer brett charles)
I found this cheerful paper birdhouse diy via my friends at Bambino Goodies the other day and thought it would be a nice one to share with you. The template was provided by Spanish blog Karmuca & Cuquino.
Download, print (scale up or down for different sizes), cut out and stick together. Then decorate with patterned paper and mix it up to your heart’s content with wallpaper, Japanese craft paper or wrapping paper. The wallpaper in the images is from Pip Studio.
Great for a kid’s room, but they would also make cute birth announcements don’t you think? You could add a little name tag under the entrance and send the template pre-papered to your friends and family to announce the arrival of a new addition to the family.
Happy crafting!
(image: pip studio)
The biggest baby news over the last 8 months has of course been that of Kate and William. I’ve been asked a lot “how I would design the royal nursery?” Unfortunately Kate herself hasn’t asked though – I’m sure she must have misplaced my business card. 😉
The Little Style Book (über-stylish resource for mother & child) also asked me to put my ideas forward for the young prince or princess’ room on their blog. I decided to have a play, et voilà, my board was born.
The inspiration came from a wonderful photograph taken by Cecil Beaton of Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth and her first son Prince Charles as a baby. She stands admiringly over his cot against the backdrop of a painted landscape. For more background and sourcing information for the items above, hop on over to The Little Style Book.
(images: room to bloom, cecil beaton)
Last week I spent a great day with interiors photographer Brett Charles, to capture some of the rooms I have completed over the last year. I met Brett on a shoot for GoodHomes, when he photographed the home of a client of mine, including Rosie’s nursery below. He has a great eye and is brilliant to work with. Watch this space for new rooms soon!
(images: brett charles photography)
This week is Child Safety Week, the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s annual community education campaign to raise awareness of serious childhood accidents and how to prevent them.
Every year babies and young children come to harm in the UK because of unrestrained blind chains and cords. To raise awareness about the risk of injury, I’ve teamed up with Interior Goods Direct, a company that specialises in window coverings. They are giving away four types of simple child safety devices which can be fitted on your window frame to keep blind cords and chains safely out of children’s reach. To request your free child safety device, click here.
Keep in mind when designing your child’s nursery or bedroom not to place the cot or bed in reach of cords near a window and keep cords as short as possible and away from the floor. After you’ve used the cord or chain, secure it with a blind safety device.
(photo: heidi lerkenfeldt)
