I’m thinking about re-decorating my daughters room.  When she was born I knew she would be in my room for ages so doing up her room wasn’t a priority.  When she eventually moved out we did up her room bit by bit rather than plan it fully from the start.  While it’s sweet, I think we’re ready for a change.  So I’ve been hunting around for some inspiration especially for the colour scheme but I keep coming back to the idea of pops of bold and bright colour with lots of white which I think can be fun for a kids room.  That was until I saw these pastel rooms.  I hadn’t really considered a pastel room but now I’m totally smitten with the idea.  The soft, pale colours, especially the minty green with an abundance of white does look stunning and very elegant I think.  I love all 4 of these rooms but my favourite has to be the first one.  Pastel may just be the way to go!

Image credits: 1 & 4. Mokkasin  2. Nordic Bliss  3. Jordgubbar med mjolk

Whenever I used to hear someone mention Sweden or when I saw something Swedish I’d always think of one of my closest and oldest friends who is half Swedish.  Sadly we now live continents apart but luckily it’s one of those friendships where this doesn’t matter at all.  Now when I hear the word Sweden, I fleetingly think of my friend and then my mind just gets flooded with thoughts of wonderful Swedish design!  The Swedes, and the other Scandinavians too have a design sense that is second to none and I’m very drawn to their aesthetic.  So when I discover a new Swedish shop I get very excited as I know it’s going to be good even before I check out what they sell.  And that’s exactly what happened with Le Kiosk.

Le Kiosk is a new Swedish store which sells goodies that are sourced from all over the world but each piece has the Scandinavian touch of being simple, light and bright in style.  In their kids section you’ll find fun crafty things like the {make your own} house box and the pretty washi tape covered pencils… {forget the kids, I’d love some of these for myself!}  There are also the cutest kimono baby slippers on offer and some cool mini woollen blankets plus loads of unusual posters and prints.  What I love most about Le Kiosk is that a lot of their carefully selected offerings are handmade and as a result very unusual. 

P.S. Have you seen our Christmas gift guides for kids and mama’s?

Once in a while a drop of sunshine falls in to my inbox and brightens my day.  This is definitely one of those times.  When I visited Sunday in Colour I felt like someone had just given me the warmest hug ever.  This is a new US store that has the most colourful European brands on offer and sells quilts, soft toys, nursery decorations and more  Started by a French mama now settled in San Francisco, Sonia is addicted to bold prints and patterns for both boys and girls.  You won’t find separate boys and girls sections in this store but instead it’s lashings of colour and vibrant, eye-catching prints for all.  Apart from the wonderful offerings, I also love the way that Sonia has photographed and presented everything.  This is such a charming little store and one that really makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when you visit.  Sunday in Colour only ships to the US at the moment but they plan to start international shipping in the new year.

UPDATE Jan 2013: Sunday in Colour now ships internationally.

When it comes to kids decor, all manner of animals have adorned so many different objects.  The fox, owl and elephant have been some of the most popular but I have even come across some unexpected animals like anteaters and bulls.  But now, these {lovely} beasts have got competition in the form of the humble cloud.  I mean how many wonderful versions of cloud pillows have there been?  While I love the whole animal thing, I think I may just love the cloud a teeny bit more.  There’s something quite cuddly and comforting about the shape with it’s soft curves and ageless appeal.  So when I saw this cloud shelf and felt cloud mobile, I had to find out more.

I discovered Coccoli home, a new Spanish shop that makes not only these cloudy creations but also those fun house shelves that double up as dolls houses.  There are also some adorable raindrop wall hooks and lots of colourful wall stickers on offer.  I love the idea of lining up some of these dolls houses with the cloud mobiles hanging above them.  It would {almost} be like having a house in the clouds!  And when your childs grown out of playing with dolls houses, the shelves can be moved to any room in the house as cute storage shelves.  The Coccoli home collection is sold through their own site and also exclusively through the lovely My Little Square.

I have always wanted to visit the London Design Festival but each year passes and I miss it for one reason or another.  I’ve now added it to my huge ‘to-do’ list.  Unfortunately nothing ever seems to get crossed off this list and instead it just grows bigger and bigger.  But while I’m waiting for the 2013 festival I went and had a browse of their site and found Supafrank.  Nothing excites me more than discovering a new design studio that creates unusual things and that’s exactly what Supafrank is all about.

Supafrank work with various brands to create packaging, stationery and more.  But they’ve also created their own line called Creature Collective which I’m loving.  The furniture is still in prototype phase but the cute artworks are available now.  I love the bright colours and the element of fun they’ve injected in to all their designs.  There’s a bit of quirk mixed with lots of playful style to create products that would be fun for any age.  The artworks are more for kids and would add some humour and brightness to any room.  In addition to this project, Supafrank have also worked on some really fabulous collaboration projects like the Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh ones which you can also see on their site.

Recently I’ve been really keen to take my daughter to the circus.  Last week I discovered the Insect Circus and it sounded like the perfect opportunity.  I was all set to book tickets when illness struck and we ended up going nowhere.  The Insect Circus has since left town so we’ll have to wait till it’s back.  But while I was thinking about going I remembered a lovely collection of circus themed cushions, mugs, posters and trays for kids that I had seen over at Mimi’s Circus shop.  It’s created by Famille Summerbelle, {who’s city cutout maps you may know}, who are an Anglo-French husband and wife team that design a small collection of things for the home.  This ‘Performers’ collection immediately caught my attention because of the bold and bright colours as well as the cool illustrations.  And after all which kid doesn’t like a bit of circus action in their life?  Apart from the kids stuff there are also some colourful and fun tea towels that would brighten any kitchen.  Head over to Famille Summerbelle to see the whole collection and when you’re there, do check out the cutout city maps if you haven’t seen them before.

I love discovering little shops full of pretty things that maybe you don’t necessarily need in your life but if you surround yourself with, you know they will brighten your day each time you see them.  Paper Plane Home is one of those stores where I want nearly everything they sell because I know when I see those goodies dotted around my home, it will always bring a smile to my face.  The store has lots of cute objects to decorate your home with and there’s plenty for kids as well as mama’s.  I’m especially loving the apple shaped cushions, the pretty gift tags and also the rainy day tray.  Visit Paper Plane Home to see more.

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I felt so strongly about moving away from the whole blue for boy/pink for girl ethos.  I have nothing against pink and blue and I actually like both colours in moderation, but that is the key for me.  Pink is just one colour in a world where there are so many wonderful shades so why restrict your child to one colour?  To me it’s like eating the same thing everyday for months… how spectacularly boring would that be?  I’m really not keen on the whole pink worn from head to toe look, or a room painted pink filled with pink toys, pink furniture, pink clothes… you know what I mean.  But when used sparingly with other colours both pale pink and fuchsia can add a wonderfully girly and sweet touch to any room.  I went in search for some kids rooms that have used a bit of pink and I found these 5 which I loved.  My favourite is probably the third one where they’ve painted the floor pink (what a great idea) and it looks so stunning against the bright yellow crib.  I also really like the first room which uses just one bold, bright pop of pink against a white background and then compliments it with other bold colours.  Don’t you think a hint of pink works much better than a pink overload?

Image credits: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Last Friday I wrote about Fanny & Alexander, a wonderful store from Buenos Aires.  In that post I mentioned that I am visiting Argentina in January (so excited!).  I then got a lovely comment from one of my Argentinian readers and we began exchanging emails.  Sadly I won’t be able to meet her as I am not visiting the city she lives in but it’s been fun chatting to her.  That is one of my absolute favourite parts of writing this blog – hearing from you, my readers.  I have had contact with many people from across the globe because of this blog and I hope to meet some of them one day.  It was this Argentinian reader who told me about Krethaus and I was besotted.  Thank you Soledad for sharing this lovely store.

Krethaus are also from Buenos Aires and make furniture, cushions, bedding and rugs for kids and babies.  Their designs are simple with clean lines and muted colours.  I’m totally loving all those cushions… how cute is the red mustache one?  And that kids bed?  I love the simple yet dramatic headboard and the natural wood.  Using lots of natural materials throughout their creations all of Krethaus’ furniture is handmade making it even more special.  They describe their designs as having a ‘quiet elegance’ and I have to agree.  I am really loving discovering all these gorgeous stores from Buenos Aires and I shall be adding Krethaus to my list of places to visit when I am there.  I don’t think Krethaus ship internationally yet but you could always drop them a line and I’m sure they’ll help. 

P.S. Have you entered out Halloween giveaway?

I love wallpaper.  Nearly every room in my home has some wallpaper either on the walls or I even use it to cover tables, chairs  and various other bits and pieces.  I often have this recurring dream where I move to a massive house and I have all these new blank walls to play with… such a sweet dream!  When it comes to kids wallpaper, I’m not always as keen because a lot of it can be too cutesy and colours can be bit too blah (think teddy bears prancing around in washed out shades).  But when I discovered Loboloup, ‘cutesy’ was a word that couldn’t have been further from my mind.  This circus themed wallpaper was the first one I saw and I loved the simple line style illustrations as well as the subtle colours brought to life with pops of bright orange.

Loboloup is a New York based boutique started by an aunt and niece team earlier this year.  So far, they only make a handful of modern kids wallpapers and a few matching cushions but what they do create is pretty cool like this ‘what’s your type’ wallpaper.  I love the deep blue colour and even though the design is busy it works because they’ve used different shades of just one colour.  And while modern in style, it still looks great with that vintage horse.  I found these papers at Wall-Library who have the entire range and also have some other fabulous designs (check out the Aimee Wilder collection).