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
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)
Proud to be a contributor again to Baby London’s interiors pages. This season’s theme for your nursery or child’s bedroom is the circus – get a copy whilst you can!
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)
This colourful playhouse is a hideaway for Alexander, who is 7 years old. He shares it with his brother Adrian and lives with his family in Norway.
The boys’ playhouse was designed by their mum Anne Lene, who is a musician and blogger with a keen eye for interior decoration. Her blog Ralfefarfars Paradis if filled with beautiful photographs of her home and the updates she makes to it.
Anne Lene’s advice for decorating kids’ rooms is to make it an inviting, cosy and safe place. Avoid filling it up with too much stuff so there’s room to play.
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Let’s find out a bit more about Alexander now. Tell us…
♥ What is your favourite food? Pancakes.
♥ What are you into right now? Exploring nature, finding small animals and insects.
♥ What is your favourite colour? Yellow.
♥ What is your favourite animal? Fish.
♥ Your favourite book? Barbapapa.
♥ What do you want to be when you grow up? A fisherman.
♥ What do you like most about the playhouse? The small furniture. I like to play with lego there.
Thank you Alexander, it was super to meet you!
(images: ralfefarfars paradis)
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)
