This amazing boy’s bedroom belongs to Arsène who is seven years old. He lives with his mum Isabelle, dad Matthieu and Milk the cat in the South Pigalle area of Paris.
Arsène’s bedroom was designed by his parents, who are architects and interior designers at L’ Atelier d’ Archi and Plugin Studio. Together they take on projects for private as well as commercial clients, offering a full design and project management service – you can take a peek at some of their amazing work here. I really love the colour choices in Arsène’s bedroom: a subtle layering of grey and greens that forms an easy, calm background to offset more colourful possessions. The built-in house bed creates a cosy and protected nook in the room.
Isabelle’s advice for designing kids’ rooms is to use subtle tones rather than lively colours, whether it’s a boy’s or a girl’s room. Dark colours such as green and black work well as a base, then colour can be added through decorative objects and toys.
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Time to talk to Arsène now! Tell us Arsène…
♥ What is your favourite food? My mum’s hamburgers.
♥ What are you into right now? I love playing with my legos, inventing stories and building things – like my parents 🙂 they are architects!
♥ Your favourite book? My Star Wars comics.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Green and dark blue.
♥ Your favourite animal? My cat, Milk. And hedgehogs.
♥ What would you like to be when you grow up? Sometimes a dancer, sometimes a forest guard.
♥ What do you like best in your room? I love my bed.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? They are all the same colour green and grey.
♥ Your favourite pyjamas? I sleep in my boxers – like dad!
Thank you Arsène, it was great to meet you!
(photography: Louise Desrosiers for Milk Déco, Le Labo de Fif)
I’ve always loved the colour green for kids’ rooms: it’s gender neutral and I find it restful, which is perfect for a bedroom. Depending on the shade of green – yellow or blue based, with white or black to produce pastels or dustier colours – you can create an invigorating or more calming atmosphere, playful or more serious. Here are some of my favourite children’s rooms using green:
It doesn’t have to be green all over. In this kids’ room the play tent’s bright red accents contrast beautifully with the green-and-black two-tone wall.
More two-tone gorgeousness in this gender neutral nursery. The soft green colour on the wall is used again on the painted changing unit, creating a simple, calm Scandinavian feel with the pure plywood bed and sleek floor.
Unusual and simply stunning: dark walls with a green ceiling that picks out one of the wallpaper’s colours – making this girl’s room feel contained and cosy.
In this super playful boy’s room a dark green built-in cabin bed in the shape of a house is accented with green bedding and a plain green curtain. A nice change from blue for boys rooms!
I just love the eclectic stye of this shared kids’ bedroom. It features mint harlequin wallpaper on all walls which is emphasised by a stronger green bed. Yellow, orange and red brown accents add cosy warmth to the scheme.
I love tonal schemes – in this image the soft green walls and darker green bed contrast beautifully with red and yellow bedding, giving the room a soft and happy feel.
The examples above and below illustrate how well green works as an accent in kids’ rooms with white walls, adding a splash of colour which doesn’t take over. As an accent wall, dark green almost becomes a neutral, offsetting other colours beautifully like grey can do.
images: bettina holst, vt wonen, georgia’s room, l’ atelier d’ archi, paul et paula, buisjes en beugels, vt wonen, bobo kids, the boo and the boy, flexa creations, sian zeng, oh my deer, instagram, dana van leeuwen
This romantic and eclectic girl’s bedroom belongs to Linnéa who is 1.5 years old. She lives with her family in Trollhättan, Sweden.
Linnéa’s bedroom was designed by her mum Charlotte, who works as a nurse in a hospital near Gothenburg. She loves decorating and frequently posts pictures of her house and her children’s rooms on Instagram. I love her pretty use of soft colours and the romantic detailing in Linnéa’s room, which is modern and not too sweet. The star of the room is the cute nook she’s created under the rafters – wouldn’t you want to curl up with a book in there?
Charlotte’s advice for designing kids’ rooms is to use different shades of the same colour plus one accent colour to achieve a harmonious space. Mix old and new to inject life into the room and make it more interesting.
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Time to learn a bit more about Linnéa now! Tell us Linnéa…
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti and sausage.
♥ What are you into right now? I love playing with my dolls.
♥ Your favourite book? I love looking at the pictures in my mum’s old Elsa Beskow books.
♥ What is your favourite colour? I don’t know yet.
♥ Your favourite animal? A dog – we have one at home!
♥ What do you like best in your room? My cozy corner – I love climbing in there and throwing all the cushions out!
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the pink trees from Ferm Living.
♥ Your favourite pyjamas? I love them all.
Thank you Linnéa, it was a pleasure to meet you!
(photography by Charlotte Bokstedt)
This month you can read my tips and advice on how to decorate a gender neutral nursery in Baby London’s November/December issue. Aside from tips there’s a section with my pick of the the prettiest gender neutral nursery decor and accessories, so if you’re looking for inspiration get your copy now!
Update: You can now read the article on my Press page here.
I love birch plywood and natural pine in kids’ rooms interiors. It has associations with purity and simplicity, which seems a natural choice for children’s rooms. Bare wood looks great with any colour, from pastels and brights to more earthy tones. It brings warmth to monochrome schemes, plus it’s is an economical choice for DIY projects. Here are a few examples of kids’ rooms that are all about natural wood.
Polish designers Kutikai are a relatively new children’s furniture brand that make beautiful beds, storage furniture and play tables for children’s rooms in a pure and simple contemporary style. I love the combination with soft dusty pastel accents in this room. The house shaped desk is part of their Roof collection which rides the trend for house shaped furniture for children. More about that later.
In this girl’s bedroom, a bespoke pine bed with plenty of storage underneath takes centre stage. The rug, bamboo furniture, wall desk, storage and light fittings echo the colour in an otherwise white room, bringing warmth to the scheme. It’s accented with soft pastels and I just love the attention to detail. Have you spotted the bamboo curtain pole? Don’t try this with heavier curtains!
A birch plywood storage wall with a cosy reading nook for the kids – what’s not to love? The combination of plywood with industrial concrete makes a beautiful backdrop for more whimsical touches – it’s all about the contrast.
Sometimes all you need are a few small wooden details. These are from kids interiors brand April Eleven.
In this playroom, a plywood panel with storage boxes on the wall frames the play kitchen. Echoing the colour of the linoleum floor, it grounds the individual small pieces that are dotted around the room, binding them together and making it feel like a cosy corner to play in.
This playroom features simple Ikea Ivar pine storage units on the wall. I love the addition of wallpaper on the back to create a small dolls house. In a previous post here you can see how these can be customised further.
And finally, who wouldn’t want a loft playhouse for a cosy retreat. Sign me up!
(images: kutikai, vt wonen, tas-ka, april eleven, mini mocks, ikea, blafre)
This sweet bedroom and play area belong to Livia, who is 2 years old. She lives with her mum and dad in the small town of Vianen in the Netherlands. Livia is going to become a big sister in February and will be moving to a big girl room soon!
Livia’s current bedroom and play space were styled by her mum Kirsten, who works as a teaching assistant in a daycare centre for children aged 0-4 years. She loves styling her home, and is forever changing the interior around to try out new things. You can take a peek at the family’s home on Instagram here. Kirsten’s advice for decorating kids’ spaces is to be a little bit brave, for example with eye catching wallpaper, to give the room a personal touch.
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Let’s find out more about Livia now! Tell us Livia,
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti.
♥ What are you into right now? My baby dolls and books, I love books!
♥ Your favourite book? The Gruffalo.
♥ What is your favourite colour? I don’t have a favourite colour yet.
♥ Your favourite animal? A cat. We have a cat at home, I love her!
♥ What do you like best in your room? My locker cabinet with books. It has keys which I hide 🙂
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the hearts, it’s going to go on my new big bed!
Thank you Livia, it was lovely to meet you!
(photography by Kirsten)
Have you come across these before? Tooth fairy doors. I would have loved to discover one in my room when I was little, but alas, in my family tooth fairies didn’t exist. Whilst looking if I could source one of these little secret doors for a new project, I came across the image above on Kate’s Creative Space, accompanied by a lovely DIY. I’m off to order some of that miniature hardware now. If you’re not up for crafting one yourself, you can buy one ready to go here.
(images: kate’s creative space)
Homes & Gardens asked me to give my expert view on creating schemes that last as part of their feature on children’s rooms. The issue is out now, with six pages of design ideas for kids’ spaces. Get a copy whilst you can!
Update: You can read the article on my press page now here.
There seems to be a lot of yellow popping up in kids’ rooms lately (including on this blog here, here, and here). Yellow is a very positive, energising colour, full of confidence, so if you are trying to create a calming space that promotes rest and sleep, it’s wise to use small doses only. It’s a great colour for playrooms where you can use it to your heart’s content. Here are a few of my favourite kids’ rooms using yellow.
Yellow storage….
I have soft spot for yellow curtains in a kid’s room – or why not paint the window frame in yellow!
Add small yellow accents or yellow bedding…
Yellow combines beautifully with grey, blue and green…
(image sources: mette hagedorn, country living, jana carson photography, unknown, unknown, klara’s room, rose uniacke, ensuus.nl, the little square gallery, vt wonen)
This modern kids’ room belongs to Felix who is nine years old. He lives with his parents and sister in an apartment in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Felix’ bedroom was designed by his father Erwin who is an architect and his mum Anna, who is a teacher at the Hogeschool Leiden. It features a F Bunk Bed by Rafa Kids and bold graphic circles painted on the walls. The room is composed with calming, grounding grey and lots of happy yellow. Anna’s advice when it comes to designing your child’s bedroom: ask them what they want.
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Time to chat with Felix now! Tell us Felix,
♥ What is your favourite food? Fries with ketchup.
♥ What are you into right now? Playing Minecraft on my iPad and playing with Kapla.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Orange.
♥ Your favourite animal? Dog.
♥ And your favourite book? Flip Fiasco.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know.
♥ What do you love most about your room? That there’s so much space to play.
Thank you Felix, it was great to meet you!
(photography by rafa kids)
