Have you seen Donna Wilson’s first ever collection of fabrics, “Forest & Friends”? Printed with her signature creatures and other motifs drawn from nature, it’s available by the metre and got me all excited about two-tone children’s curtains. The patterns would look lovely as an edge with plain fabric – or the other way around. If that’s too much of a statement, you could make cushions, or simple tote bags or drawstring bags – lovely off a peg rail and great for storing toys.
Not so handy with a sewing machine? Take some classes this autumn! Check out The Thrifty Stitcher (where you’ll find great free downloadable sewing tutorials too).
Here are some more of Donna Wilson’s fabrics to get you inspired – happy crafting!
Staying with the back-to-school theme today with some interiors inspiration around kids’ desks – these are currently some of my favourite images. I’ve noticed there are a lot of vintage school desks in there (instant whimsy), and I seem to have a penchant for simple desk tops suspended on wall mounted brackets. These offer plenty of room to spread out and make a practical work and play space to share.
There are many ways to make sure a desk doesn’t feel isolated on a wall. You can use wallpaper behind, or maybe just an accent strip like the supersize hare below. Wall stickers, prints or postcards can do the trick, and of course, shelves. I like the playful effect of box shelves, plate racks and vintage tins for storage and display. The house desk above also does a clever job at anchoring the desk and creating a cosy nook.
If you study these images, you’ll spot some nifty little ideas, like keeping pens and pencils off the surface with wall mounted pots, and using wall hooks to keep things out of the way. Space saving fold-down desks are great for small rooms of course (leaving room for sleep-overs), and no desk is complete in my opinion without a bank of small drawers for little treasures.
image sources, clockwise from top left | 1. vintage wooden school desk, tree desk, geo bamboo kids desk, blue vintage school desk | 2. desk with dog wallpaper, double vintage school desk, house desk, alcove desk | 3. bed with fold-down desk, vintage desk, desk in front of window, suspended timber desk | 4. yellow desk with book rack, desk with hare wallpaper, blue bed with desk, yellow fold-down desk
I used to favour the kitchen table, and later my bed or the couch for homework. But when it was time for serious revision, my mum made me sit at my desk to help me concentrate. So what are the things to bear in mind when creating a space for study? Make sure that your child is seated comfortably and correctly, especially if in front of a screen, and that there is adequate light. For older children it’s important to have enough room to spread out their books and personalise their desk space – add a pinboard if you can. Good storage around the desk is a must – if not part of the desk, use drawers on castors, stacked crates, or shelves and display boxes on the wall.
Sources: 1. harvard children’s desk 2. laurette L50 desk 3. vintage school desk 4. les gambettes romy desk 5. lola dolls house desk atelier sans souci 6. irene writing desk xo in my room 7. sebra white metal desk 8. K desk with internal storage rafa kids 9. geo bamboo kids desk
Here is the second inspiration board I created for super stylish children’s wallpaper and fabric brand Hibou Home. The board features their Secret Garden in Waterlily, a versatile, quite ethereal blueish green colour. It would make a great feature wall in a woodland themed kid’s room or nursery and is easy to combine with a number of colours.
For the walls, I usually go for a slightly darker or lighter version of the wallpaper’s background colour, or pick out one of the other colours in the design. Over on Hibou Home’s website I’ve suggested a list of colours and fabrics that will look great with Secret Garden in Waterlily, check them out here.
sources: desk lamp, wall display boxes, harmonica lamp, mushroom print, children’s bed, bunny soft toy, rug, bambi lamp
I’ve featured Hibou Home’s children’s wallpapers and fabrics a few times on this blog as I love their whimsical designs and colours. So I was delighted when they got in touch and asked me to create an inspiration board for two of their wallpaper designs.
First up is Animal Parade in Mint Green, a really versatile, sophisticated blue-green colour that looks great in a kid’s room or nursery as part of a calm, tonal scheme or accented with contrasting colours. To make things super easy, I’ve listed a number of paint colour and fabric suggestions that would look fab with this design over on the Hibou Home website, check them out here.
sources: letter D light, fairground star lights, elephant money-box, pendant light, bear print, tiger card, wooden frame, cot bed, dollhouse, rug, teepee, drum tin
If you’re on Pinterest or Instagram, you’ll have seen that monochrome decorating is a super strong trend in kids’ room design right now. This simple black and white style forms a great background for colourful kids’ stuff and is easy to pull together. Stop it from looking flat and unwelcoming with my tips for monochrome kids’ rooms over on My Baba. Happy decorating!
(image sources: 1. zigzag wall, teepee, grey bed, mini library 2. scallop wall, zigzag wall, car track, star wallpaper 3. wallpaper tree, house bed, dollhouse, green star 4. bunk bed, car lamp, stripe rug, yellow apple 5. play kitchen, playroom, rocking horse, blackboard)
There are a couple of staples for kids’ rooms that I love at Ikea, but this season they have topped the list with some limited edition goodies that not only look great, but are an absolute steal too. First up is the balancing bench – the perfect piece to perch on whilst tying shoes in a hallway, and of course for balancing games in a playroom. Second is the gym mat in a range of tonal greens, a soft surface for indoor and outdoor tumbles. I love the way these images are styled too – those red and pink floor boards look edible!
But, as VT Wonen stylist Cleo Scheulderman shows in their July issue, the bench looks great in a monochrome space too!
(images: ikea, photography for vt wonen by alexander van berge)
I love decorating with vintage wallpaper in kids’ rooms – using it a on all four walls in a box room, on just a feature wall, or working with small pieces to up-cycle furniture. One of my favourite shops for retro wallpaper is Retrovilla (based in Denmark but shipping worldwide). They currently give 25% discount on all wallpaper until the end of Sunday 13th July (mention “SOMMERTILBUD” in the comments field), so now might be good time to have a browse! Here are some images to get you inspired:
(image sources: -pink- milk, the style files, nordic bliss, vt wonen -orange- mes caprices belges, mokkasin, nooshkids, mokkasin -blue- morganours, kmldesign, little big magazine, room to bloom -yellow- 101 woonideeën, mokkasin, decopeques, frokenbauer -green- mail online, design sponge, miluccia, pure style home)
These mini tree houses by Dutch designers Ontwerpduo make plants look like giant forests! Rosie’s house, Jasmin’s house, Olive’s house and Lily’s house together form Cottage Town, a group of tiny paper constructions that can withstand a shower from the watering can. Ontwerpduo’s designs are often inspired by a child’s perspective. Cottage Town harks back to designer Tineke Beunders’ childhood memories of using houseplants as trees for her barbies. Love it!
(image: photography by lisa klappe)
Monochrome kids’ rooms are hot news at the moment, and whilst looking for some white accessories I found a lot of sweet things at Zara Home Kids. There’s a sale on right now, which includes some lovely star themed kid’s bedding (duvet set & blanket) and cloud wallpaper that didn’t quite fit in with the monochrome theme. Call to see if your store has items in stock before heading out, or otherwise order them in. And no – this is not a sponsored post!
image: room to bloom 1. numbers cupboard knobs 2. blackboard house desk 3. plant fibre kid’s chair 4. bentwood children’s chair 5. dinosaur light 6. white cot on castors 7. tree trunk kids’ chair 8. baby clothes hangers 9.white storage crates 10. cut-out paper lampshade
