This gorgeous girl’s bedroom belongs to Liv who is seven years old. She lives with her family in a converted farm in The Netherlands in the countryside between Utrecht and Amsterdam.
Liv’s room was designed by her mum Larissa, who is an interior designer at design studio Viva Vida. The room features a custom made built-in cabin bed, a bit like the Dutch cupboard beds of days of old.
Larissa’s advice for designing your children’s rooms is to consider their character, listen to their wishes, and to translate this to your interior style.
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Time to find out a bit more about Liv now! Tell us Liv…
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti with ketchup and cheese, chips.
♥ What are you into right now? Crafting, playing in my tree house, and playing games on my mum’s old phone.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Pink.
♥ What is your favourite animal? My cat Zonnestraaltje [Sunbeam].
♥ Your favourite book? I have two: Otje by Annie MG Schmidt and The BFG by Roald Dahl.
♥ Dresses and skirts or trousers? Dresses and skirts.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? An artist.
♥ What would you take to a desert island? My toy horse.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My cabin bed – it has a secret cupboard.
♥ What do love doing in your room? Dressing up with my friends and crafting at my desk.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the red and pink hearts.
Thank you Liv, it was great to meet you!
(images: Henny van Belkom and Jean – Marc Wullschleger)
This cool boy’s bedroom belongs to Floor who is six years old. He lives with his mum, sister and brother in a lovely and light new-built house in Zutphen, The Netherlands. Puk the cat, Daan the dog and Chocolat the rabbit also share the house with them.
Floor’s room was decorated by his mum Carla, who is the owner of the wonderful Met Melk & Suiker blog and a self-confessed Pinterest and Instagram addict. Carla’s blog feels beautifully serene with lots of interiors inspiration, unusual angles and peeks into her family’s life. Having run an online kids’ and home accessories store for 2 years, she currently works part-time in HR.
Carla’s best interior design advice for kids’ rooms is to combine a calm base with original accessories and let the room develop from there – a room needs to grow. Because of her interest in interiors and styling, she’s always changing things around at home, including in her children’s bedrooms. She suggests looking for inspiration on Pinterest and in magazines to create a moodboard with your child.
Time now to find out a bit more about Floor! Tell us Floor…
♥ What is your favourite food? Anything that starts with a “P” – pasta, pizza, pancakes, poffertjes and patates frites – but I also love brie and olives : )
♥ What are you into right now? I love playing football outside (and on Wii ; ). I also like playing with my friends and my sister Pip – with my Lego train and Cars cars for example.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Orange and blue.
♥ What is your favourite animal? Dinosaur.
♥ Your favourite book? Football books!
♥ Where would you like to go one day? I’d like to travel around the world.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A goal keeper.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My bed!
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the wolf in the pictures.
♥ Which are your favourite pyjamas? My mum wanted to buy me pyjamas with moustaches from H&M, but I prefer to sleep in my jogging bottoms.
♥ Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your room? I love my birdhouse and toadstool lights because I can switch them on to read before I go to sleep. The toadstool light always stays on at night – ever since I was a baby.
Thank you Floor, it was super to meet you!
(images: met melk & suiker)
This is Ester’s bedroom when she was a baby. Today Ester is mum to Bregje (4) and Joep (2) and owner of De Oude Speelkamer (The Old Playroom), an amazing online shop in the Netherlands specialising in vintage and retro style kids’ toys, decor and even a retro style cotbed designed by Ester herself. Keeping childhood memories alive, the shop celebrates all things fun and nostalgic.
I asked Ester to share some childhood memories:
♥ Can you tell us something about these photos? This is my old baby room, the pictures were taken just after I was born. The man in the first photo is my father.
♥ What did you like most about your room when you were a child? The best thing about my room was that it was my own little world where I could let my imagination run free.
♥ What kind of things did you do in your room? I loved playing in my room by myself. I used to pretend that I was on safari in the jungle, with my cuddlies playing the part of wild animals. The challenge was to get through the jungle as quietly as possible, to avoid being eaten and to make it out alive. I think maybe we’d just finished reading The Jungle Book at that time 🙂
♥ Were you into books, dolls, building, playing outside… or something else? A bit of everything really. I loved playing with Lego, but also with my Barbies and My Little Pony – they used to get ambushed by my Transformers. Reading was (and still is) one of my favourite pastimes. I loved Suske en Wiske (Spike and Suzy) and later books by Jan Terlouw and Thea Beckman.
♥ Who was your favourite cuddly? The orange rabbit that’s next to me in the cot was my favourite soft toy. He’s still perched on a shelf above my bed today.
♥ What did you want to be when you grew up? A vet.
♥ What was your favourite food? Pancakes.
♥ What was your favourite animal? A horse.
♥ What is the best part of running your store? The best part is coming across things that I used to have in my own room when I was little. I tend to keep these for myself and use them to decorate my children’s rooms. It’s a great way to pass on a bit of nostalgia and childhood memories!
Thank you Ester!
Do you have photos and want to share memories of your old bedroom? I’d love to hear from you so get in touch!
(images: from esther verheijden at de oude speelkamer with a bit from room to bloom)
This sweet girl’s bedroom belongs to Kenzie who is four and a half years old. She lives with her mum and dad in a Scandinavian style home in Boise, Idaho, USA.
Kenzie’s room was decorated by her multi-talented mum Rachelle, editor and owner of everything gorgeous and kids La Petite Magazine and the Kenziepoo blog. To find out how to get the look of Kenzie’s room, take a look at this post here.
Rachelle’s best interior design advice for kids’ rooms: “I am all about built in’s! My daughter’s room is small so we had a good friend build her a beautiful desk for her room. I also would choose decor items that will grow with your child!”
Time now to find out a bit more about Kenzie! Tell us Kenzie…
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti and pancakes.
♥ What is your favourite play thing? I like to play on my slide in my playroom. I got it at Ikea with my mom.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Green and purple.
♥ What is your favourite animal? A cheetah because they go super speed fast!
♥ Your favourite book? My favourite book is my Minnie Mouse book.
♥ Dresses & skirts or trousers? Dresses AND trousers!
♥ Where would you like to go one day? I would like to go to Disney World again this year.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A ballerina.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My desk which I play with my dolls and do my homework on.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? I love the one that my mum got me from Oh My Kids.
Thank you Kenzie, it was great to meet you!
(images: kenziepoo)
This cool boy’s bedroom belongs to Danthe who is two and a half years old. He lives with his family in an old farmhouse in de Meern, The Netherlands.
Danthe’s super creative mum Antoinette designed his bedroom using grey as the main colour. She found the Jeep on Marktplaats (a Dutch version of eBay) and turned it into a bed – complete with working lights. Antoinette made a lamp out of a washing machine drum, and the framed collage you can see above. (If you would like her to make one for you, contact Antoinette by email at abrundel[at]gmail[dot]com).
Antoinette’s best advice for designing your child’s bedroom is to let your imagination run free – the sky is the limit. Create a colour plan beforehand, but take care not to repeat colours too much, as this will tend to make it look too matchy-matchy and a bit boring.
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Now let’s find out a bit more about Danthe! Tell us Danthe…
♥ What is your favourite food? Fried eggs.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Green.
♥ What is your favourite animal? Cat.
♥ Your favourite book? Dikkie Dik [adventures of very curious cat].
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My car bed, I love playing with it.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the stars.
♥ Which are your favourite pyjamas? The ones with with diggers and tractors.
Thank you Danthe, it was lovely to meet you!
(images: Ursula Kemp)
This super sweet bedroom belongs to Lise who is four years old. She lives with her parents Bas and Wendy and her little sister Mette on a houseboat in Zaandam, the Netherlands. The boat used to be a commercial barge and was converted by Bas & Wendy into a light and spacious living space. You can take a peek aboard their amazing home here.
Lise’s mum is a spatial designer, and her dad is the founder and owner of Waterloft.nl, a company that is involved in projects near or on the water. Their best advice for creating an amazing space for your child: keep children’s scale in mind when designing the room. Create small nooks that make your child feel comfortable and secure – cabin beds or beds built into walls are a great example of this.
Now it’s time to find out more about Lise! Tell us Lise…
♥ What is your favourite food? Pasta and pizza.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Blue, white and pink.
♥ What is your favourite animal? A polar bear and a normal bear.
♥ Your favourite book? My fairytale book.
♥ Dresses and skirts or trousers? Trousers.
♥ What would you take to a desert island? My bed and my polar bear.
♥ Which part of the world you like to visit one day? China.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A Pilot.
♥ What do you like playing with most in your room? My pirate boat.
♥ What is your favourite duvet cover? The one with Little Red Riding Hood.
♥ What are your favourite pyjamas? The ones with the polar bear.
♥ Is there anything else you want to tell us about your room? I also like foxes and wolves but I don’t have any of those in my room.
Thank you Lise, it was really nice to meet you!
(images: featured in 101 woonideeën, photography via InsideHomePage by Louis Lemaire, styling by Gieke van Lon)
This extraordinary bedroom belongs to Willa who is nearly nine years old. She lives with her parents Freddie and Ben and three cats, one of whom has three legs (the cat not the parents). They share a 16th century timber framed barn in the Essex countryside, which Ben converted into a family home, studio and workshops. The conversion of the barn was filmed for Grand Designs which you can watch here and here to see more of their spectacular house.
Willa’s parents are both creatives. Freddie is an artist (she knits blood-soaked gloves and murderer’s houses) and senior tutor in Textiles at the Royal College of Art in London. Ben is an artist, sculptor, project manager, blacksmith, builder, forester, farmer, janitor and Grand Designer. These are their tips for designing your child’s bedroom:
1. Remember that your child won’t stay young forever. Design and decorate the space so that it can grow and change as your child does.
2. Use things that your child has made, their toys and collections. It is their room after all.
3. Always buy your child a good, adult sized mattress and bed as you will end up sleeping in it a lot!
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Now let’s find out a bit more about Willa! Tell us Willa…
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti Bolognese
♥ What is your favourite colour? Mint green
♥ What is your favourite animal? Chihuahua
♥ Your favourite book? I’m reading Dork Diaries.
♥ Dresses and skirts or trousers? Skirt and leggings.
♥ What would you take to a desert island? My bed, my daddy made it for me.
♥ Which part of the world you like to visit one day? New York
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know yet.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My book shelf full of books and toys books.
♥ What do you like doing in your room? Playing with my dolls and dolls houses.
♥ Is there anything else you want to tell us about your room? My Daddy built our house, my whole bedroom and my bed. I have a round bathroom, my daddy built that too.
Thank you Willa, it was great to meet you!
(images: James Brittain)
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)
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)
This light and bright girls bedroom belongs to Britt who is six years old. She lives with her family in Haarlem, a town near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Britt’s room was decorated by her mum Mascha, who is a freelance event manager.
Mascha’s best tip for decorating a kids room is to keep the background white. It’s timeless and flexible, so the room is easy to adapt as your child grows older. She’s provided plenty of storage in Britt’s room – cupboards with doors keep things looking tidy. Mascha prefers to look for small pieces of furniture, such as little cabinets and chairs, in charity shops and at flea markets – they have more character than new furniture and are often much cheaper too.
Let’s find out a bit more about Britt now!
♥ What is your favourite food? Tortillas.
♥ What is your favourite pastime? Playing on my swing, skateboarding, playing outside, painting and jumping rope.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Yellow, gold, silver, pink, purple, light blue.
♥ What is your favourite animal? Horse, cat, dog, guinea pig, hamster.
♥ Your favourite book? Tow Truck Pluck (Pluk van de Pettenflat).
♥ Which country would you like to visit? Bali (we’re going there on holiday soon!)
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A hairdresser or cook.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My swing.
♥ What is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the rabbit (new from H&M Home Kids).
Thank you Britt, it was really nice to meet you. Have a great holiday!
(images: 101 woonideeën, photography by bart brusse, styling by valerie van der werff)
