I recently stumbled across news of an exhibition called ‘Doudou Forever’ at children’s shop Un Zèbre au Grenier in Paris. It featured a series of portraits by French photographer Bénédicte Lassalle called ‘Mine Forever‘, capturing people’s soft toys – or as the French say ‘doudous’.
Bénédicte set up a mini-studio in-store to photograph doudous for those wanting a lasting memory of their little friend. Intrigued, I decided to contact Bénédicte and asked her what gave her the idea to start this project. Here is what she told me:
“I started this project soon after my daughter was born in 2009 for 2 main reasons: I am a freelance photographer and I wanted to create a special gift for my godson Lubin. Something that he would keep for a long time. And also at the time I wanted to create a piece of art to decorate my daugter’s bedroom. So I started to take pictures of some of her (many) stuffed animals and dolls. And then my sister-in-law told me that she still had her loveys (Catiche Rousse & Nounoute Orange), then my mother-in-law told me that she still had my husband’s lovey (Toutou) and then my mum told me that she still had hers (M’doudou)! My best friend too… Etc… This is how it all started! I choose the background according to the person’s age when he or she was a little kid. And now I organise mini photo studios in shops in Boston where I live and recently in Paris, to take the portrait of the children’s loveys so that they can decorate their bedroom.”
Don’t you just love this idea? For those living in Paris, the exhibition Doudou Forever will continue to run until 30 June at Un Zèbre au Grenier. For those who don’t, let’s hope that some enterprising store owners will invite Bénédicte to exhibit or organise a mini-studio at their store!
(images: bénédicte lassalle)
Yesterday was a good news day: Room to Bloom won a #WOW award!
The #WOW award was created by Jacqueline Gold, the hugely successful Chief Executive, entrepreneur and businesswoman behind the Ann Summers and Knickerbox brands, so that she could use her reach and influence to promote and champion other women in business. I was jumping up and down when I heard the news, it’s so nice to receive a bit of recognition and what she said just put the widest smile on my face: “I love your portfolio – the effort and attention to detail you put in is exquisite”. There is that smile again!
Three winners are announced on Twitter every Wednesday (WOW = Women On Wednesday). Congratulations to fellow winners My Travel Surprise (things to do for kids on the road!) and Fashion Bloodhound (hunting down pre-loved designer wear). If you’d like to enter the #WOW awards, there’s a great post by former winners Philosophy Flowers with lots of information about the award and an interview with Jacqueline over here. Fingers crossed!
x Ursula
Today I’m really happy to be a guest again over at kids design & lifestyle blog Zoe & Drew. I’ve put together ten tips to decorate a tween bedroom and gathered plenty of images to inspire you. If you’re not sure where to start when it’s time to swap the stuffed animals and toy boxes for something a bit more grown up, read my tips here.
(images: mokkasin, bolig liv, the style files, nya hem )
These are childhood photos of Jennifer Robertson in her bedroom. She is a co-founder, designer and maker of the products on Scamp Baby Gifts. Jennifer runs the shop together with her sister Stacey, whilst trying to manage 5 children between them.
I asked Jennifer to share some memories of her childhood bedroom…
♥ Can you tell us something about these photos? The picture of the baby on the change mat is me in my very first bedroom in Vancouver (where I was born). My mum loved the change mat pattern and the fact that it was terry towelling – she’s a big fan of that fabric. The picture of the two girls in the cot is me (in the black & white dress) age about 3, and my sister Stacey who was probably around 18 months. It was taken in Dumfries, Scotland. The picture in the background is a Mabel Lucie Attwell one – my mum was a big fan and I remember a few of them around the house.
♥ What did you love most about your bedroom? I loved it being my own space – with two younger sisters it was nice to have somewhere to retreat to.
♥ What do you remember most vividly about the décor? We moved about quite a lot when I was younger, so I don’t really have huge memories until I was maybe 7 or 8. I remember a very orange bedroom made up of hand me down fitted furniture (quite unusual in the 70s) that came from family in Germany and had lots of pull-out drawers and a fold-out desk. The bed also had a drawer underneath for the duvet, making it like a sofa bed in the daytime, with lots of orange cushions!
♥ What were you into? I absolutely loved reading and spent a lot of time doing that or playing with my two sisters. I remember putting on performances with them involving elaborate fancy dress, dancing and singing for an audience of normally about 4 people.
♥ What did you want to be when you grew up? This is awful but I can’t remember! I don’t think I had a strong urge to be one specific thing when I was younger.
Thank you Jennifer!
I’m looking for more childhood bedrooms! If you have photos of your old room and would like to share your memories here, please get in touch!
x Ursula
(images: jennifer robertson)
On Monday I visited Bubble London, the bi-annual kids trade show here in London. Bubble concentrates on kids fashion, but fashion and interiors do influence each other so it was a good opportunity to sample the mood for spring/summer 2013. (If any of the Bubble London organisers are reading this: can we please have more interiors in future shows so we don’t have to travel to Paris and Amsterdam if we want to see both? Thank you!)
Here is an impression of my visit. My eye was drawn to candy and neon colours, combined with grey and white and raw materials such as scrap wood and cardboard.
1. New kids on the block Corby Tindersticks offer some awesome quirky toys and posters. And had a dino with an orange afro on their stand.
2. Little Creative Factory, founded by two architects from Barcelona, showed the most beautiful swimsuits and INCREDIBLE totes at what was easily my favourite stand.
3. Some nice geometric patterns in fresh colours from Kidscase.
4. Beautiful simple dresses from Little Troll.
5. Neon sandals from MAA.
6. Piet Hein Eek scrap wood wallpaper at the stand of Little Creative Factory.
7. Rockin’ wellies and jewel colours at I Love Gorgeous.
8. Love this print T-shirt from Red Urchin.
9. A cute cap from Little Creative Factory again – these girlfriends rock : )
For those wishing to read more about the trends for spring summer 2013, I recommend having a look at the trend reports over at Zoe & Drew, Little Scandinavian, and Smudgetikka. Enjoy!
(images: room to bloom)
I spotted this amazing retro nursery yesterday on the cover of US magazine Anthology (available in the UK here). The nursery was decorated with flea market finds and hand-me-downs by Linda and John Meyers, designers, artists and parents of Fletcher. Together they run the Wary Meyers Shop which stocks new and vintage items. You can find out more about the finds that furnish Fletcher’s room here.
(image: anthology)
When I first laid eyes on this whimsical bedding from new kids on the block No. 74, in was love at first sight. Friends Nancy and Poupy from Italy and France combine their handmade creations with vintage children’s furniture and toys to create gorgeous style for contemporary kids rooms.
(images: no. 74)
I’m excited to share that one of my nursery designs is featured in June’s Mother & Baby magazine. You can read the feature in my Press section here.
(image: mother & baby magazine, room to bloom)
We’ve drawn a winner from the giveaway that we ran with Petit Home! And the winner is…
Number 32 is Chrissie Allen. I’ll contact her now to let her know she has won and the bunny will be on its way.
Thanks everyone for entering – sorry there could only be one winner. If you don’t want to miss out on any future giveaways, make sure to sign up for the Room to Bloom newsletter at the bottom of this page and we’ll keep you posted!
x Ursula
(image: room to bloom)
I recently found out that pram legends Silvercross do dolls versions of their great British classic pram. I’m completely smitten with this gorgeously nostalgic, red poppy Chatsworth dolls pram. It features an adorable ceramic poppy plaque and I think it’s just perfect for little ladies and their babies…
(image: room to bloom 1. chatsworth poppy dolls pram 2. bailey bear)
