Before we go into 2015, I wanted to share one of the children’s rooms I designed this year: Phoebe’s grey nursery. Having worked on her big brother’s room previously, it was great to be back and create a little haven for his new baby sister.
We needed to do quite a lot of work to get the room up to scratch before we could start decorating – you can see progress photos and read more about this here.
Phoebe’s mum asked for a peaceful nursery that would last, and didn’t want the room to be too girlie or pink. The inspiration for Phoebe’s nursery was a pretty baby blanket made with Liberty fabric from Sture & Folke. With an eye on the colour scheme for the rest of the house we chose a soft grey for the walls and woodwork, adding pretty bunny wallpaper behind the cot. The grey furniture has a vague fifties feel to it – which connects with other pieces in the house in this style.
The room was accessorised with violets, plums and a hint of pink. I am thrilled with the result, it feels so peaceful and pretty but not too cutesy. More importantly, Phoebe’s parents love the nursery too – in their words it’s now the best room in the house!
(images: design & styling by room to bloom, photography by brett charles)
This beautiful toddler bedroom belongs to Beau who is four (nearly five!) years old. He lives with his parents Maaike and Jeffrey and his brother Luca in a townhouse in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
Beau’s bedroom was designed by his mum Maaike, who is an interior designer, graphic designer and art director at My Deer. The room was inspired by the green travel chest which used to belong to Beau’s great-grandfather. The deer print above Beau’s bed is by Maaike and available from her shop.
When designing your child’s bedroom, Maaike advises to start with a calm base colour (white) and add colour using accessories and eye-catchers such as a wardrobe, a toy chest, or an entire a wall. Don’t be afraid to combine different styles of furniture, like vintage with contemporary design, as this is what gives a room character. Store small toys in baskets or boxes, and large unattractive toys in a closet or a toy chest, out of sight. Keep the best looking things out for display on a desk or shelf as decoration.
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Time to speak to Beau now! Tell us Beau,
♥ What is your favourite food? I like lots of different foods, but pasta is the best!
♥ What are you into right now? I love drawing and playing with my Lego.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Black is cool, but I also like blue and green.
♥ Your favourite animal? A tiger! But dinos are also cool!
♥ And your favourite book? The Big Dino Book.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? Spiderman or Batman.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My horse swing is super cool!
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The really soft white one.
♥ Your favourite pyjamas? My dino pyjamas!
Thank you Beau, it was super cool to meet you!
(images: My Deer)
This bedroom belongs to Kira who is nine years old. She lives with her parents and two sisters in an old apartment block in Stockholm, Sweden. Kira shares her bedroom with her sister Masha who is six.
The girls’ bedroom was designed by their mum Mina, who is the founder of contemporary kids’ furniture brand IO Kids Design. The room features a vintage yellow IO Bunk Pod and is decorated with quirky details.
Mina’s advice for designing your child’s bedroom is not to worry too much about trends, and to actively involve children in creating their own spaces. If possible, buy furniture that can grow with children and be around for a long time.
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Let’s find out a bit more about Kira now. Tell us Kira,
♥ What is your favourite food? Ravioli – my nonno makes the best.
♥ What are you into right now? I like reading about WWF and my polar bear that I adopted last year. I would really like to go and visit the scientists who work with polar bears in Norway.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Blue.
♥ Your favourite animal? A polar bear – because it’s so cute and fluffy but ferocious too!
♥ And your favourite book? I like so many, it’s difficult to choose… Harry Potter, My Sister the Vampire, Madame Pamplemousse and her incredible edibles, Varjak Paw.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A scientist.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My bunk bed because it’s super comfy.
♥ What do love doing in your room? Reading and sleeping.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? My big grey cover is definitely my favourite .
♥ Your favourite pyjamas? My cow onesies!
Thank you Kira, it was great to meet you!
(images: IO Kids Design)
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!
This shared boys’ bedroom belongs to Merlijn and Julius who are six and four years old. They live with their little sister Kate and mum and dad in a new built townhouse on one of the canals in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Merlijn and Julius’ room was designed by their mum Femke, who is a designer and founder of interiors boutique Femkeido. The room features a rustic bunk bed made from scaffolding boards and retro elements like vintage wallpaper silhouettes and an old school desk.
Femke’s advice for designing your children’s bedrooms is to experiment – and not just with “kid’s stuff”.
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Time to find out a bit more about Merlijn now. Tell us Merlijn,
♥ What is your favourite food? Spaghetti with red sauce.
♥ What are you into right now? Football and lego.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Green.
♥ Your favourite animal? A snake.
♥ And your favourite book? Mouk.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A professional footballer.
♥ What is your favourite thing in your room? My globe.
♥ What do love doing in your room? Reading and sleeping.
♥ Which is your favourite duvet cover? The one with the trees [from Ferm Living].
♥ Your favourite pyjamas? The FC Barcelona ones!
Thank you Merlijn, it was super to meet you!
(images: photography by Ernie Enkelaar)
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
This super cool bedroom is shared by Frank, 7 years, and his brother Robert, who is 3 years old. They live with their mum Agata and dad Arek in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Their apartment is located in an old city building.
The boys’ bedroom was designed by their mum Agata, who is an architect and co-owner of kids’ furniture company Rafa Kids. She and her husband founded the company after their sons were born, with the aim to design high quality, good looking products for children. Their distinctive, imaginative designs have taken the world of kids’ design by storm!
Agata’s advice for designing kids’ rooms is to simply listen to your child. Watch their needs and activities – which are specific to their age – as this will help to divide a room into zones, which is a good start. You can read more about how she designed her boys’ bedroom over here on the Rafa kids blog.
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Let’s find out a bit more about Frank now. Tell us…
♥ What is your favourite food? Jacket potatoes.
♥ What are you into right now? Making bracelets from elastic bands.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Orange.
♥ What is your favourite animal? Falcon.
♥ Your favourite book? Donald Duck cartoons.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A footballer.
♥ What do you like most in your room? I like my books and I like reading. I’d love a bedside lamp to help me read at night!
♥ What is your favourite duvet cover? I’d love to have one with cars!
♥ What are your favourite pyjamas? The ones with the white stripes [from polarn o.pyret]
Thank you Frank, it was great to meet you!
(images: rafa kids)
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)
