“Simplicity is the glory of expression” [Walt Whitman]… that is the philosophy behind Pancake & Franks and a philosophy I subscribe to whole-heartedly. That’s probably why I’m loving this nursery art so much. Colourful graphics against a white background make for children’s art so modern, fresh and of course simple. This cool art that I discovered while browsing Bloesem Kids (a blog so beautiful) can be personalised with a name, date of birth and any other details you fancy. The graphic images are childish enough without being cutesy and could easily adorn the walls of a nursery, a play space or even the room of much older kids. It’s hard to choose a favourite but I am drawn to the elephant and camel one… I just love the camel silhouette brought to life with the camel jewellery (I don’t think it’s really camel jewellery but you know what I mean!). The prints are all available at Pancake & Franks who you’ll need to email for any orders outside the USA.
Japanese paper balloons seem to be quite the rage. I’ve never written about them before because I’d only come across the animal ones and to be honest they really weren’t for me (except the fish one which is cute). But today I found simple round patterned ones and I loved them. No animal faces, just brightly coloured paper balls, some with prints on them, others just in a single bold colour. These ones would be a wonderful way to add a splash of colour to a toddler room, a play space or a birthday party celebration especially if you hang many together. Being made of paper you can inflate, deflate, re-inflate, deflate again… you get the idea. I found these Japanese paper balloons over at Mimi’s Circus, a lovely store started by 2 mama’s who are also sisters. Today I’ve picked these balloons to bring you from their store but there are lots of other goodies there too.
Recently, I discovered BM2000 and I was smitten. Read on to find out more about them and about the cool GIVEAWAY.
BM2000 are Spanish and make bold, bright and playful nursery and kids room furniture as well as some very cool animal wall stickers. It’s their use of colour that really brings their creations to life. I was lucky enough to have a chat with their chief designer Carlos Tiscar. Read on the find out more about the talent behind these creations.
But first, the giveaway: BM2000 have kindly offered to giveaway one of their cool wall stickers to one lucky reader. To be in with a chance of winning the red rooster wall sticker all you have to do is leave a comment below. Just say ‘hi’ or anything you like but keep it nice! That’s all you have to do… easy, peasy! (See the end of this post for full details).
Back to this joyful nursery furniture which includes coloured cots, bright wardrobes and toddler beds, colourful storage boxes and more. The furniture designed by Carlos is fun and playful as well as being practical. Carlos told me he was one of 5 kids and so there was lots of play in his home. He and his 4 sisters would create games out of any objects they could get their hands on… ” My father was a topographer and with his telescopic tripod and a blanket we made a wonderful tepee”. It’s from such memories and happy times that Carlos gets his inspiration. His amazing sense of colour comes from a desire to be contemporary and current as Carlos explains “I pay attention to colour schemes in the fashion industry too”. Carlos’ formula of mixing vibrant colours with lots of fun makes for nursery furniture so contemporary, cool and happy. And that’s what BM2000 offer… happy, fun and stylish furniture and wall stickers for kids and babies. To check out their goodies head to their site: BM2000 where you can see a list of stockists too.
Giveaway details: If you’d like to win the gorgeous bright red rooster wall sticker to brighten up your kiddy room, then just leave a comment below. One comment per person and entries are open to residents of UK, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Portugal, Germany and Switzerland. The competition closes at midnight (UK time) on 23rd October 2011. Any entries after this time will not be counted. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 25th October on our facebook page. Good luck!
UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. The winner picked at random is Susan. Congrats Susan!
I love a yellow nursery or toddler room. It’s happy, it’s sunny and it works for boy or girl. So I’ve put together some yellow nursery ideas with a few of my favourite things:
1. Pip Early bird wallpaper – Bright and bold with an oriental-esque vibe. The Pip early bird wallpaper costs £56.39 for a roll from Tangled Tree Interiors.
2. Ouef NYC Sparrow crib – A beautiful crib with simple lines and an elegant shape. I love the crisp white against the bright yellow wallpaper. You can get this crib at Huggle who don’t yet sell online but you can call them.
3. La Voliere Pendant Lamp – a stunning light with little birds made with real feathers sat in a cage. This bird cage light comes from the Conran Shop and costs £369.
4. Linero Sol Abc poster – I’m a big fan of mixing styles so I picked this alphabet poster for it’s good looks and it’s retro/ vintage feel. The lovely poster is from L’affiche Moderne for €39.
5. Pom Pom garland – A little splash of colour in the form of delicate pom pom bunting. This pom pom garland is from a store called Happy Circus on Etsy and it costs £15.50.
6. Acapulco Mini chair – Love this chair. Hand made in Mexico, this chair is so elegant and beautiful. There is an adult version too in case you’re tempted! Nest have it for sale for £147.
7. Lucky boy sunday soft toys – I love Lucky boy sunday. So quirky, so cool. And what’s a nursery without soft toys? Perched on the chair is Kiki doll and the one lying under the cot is Bow Jovi. You’ll find these two and more at Little Fashion Gallery where they cost from around €40.
8. Lale quilt – last but not least is the quilt by one of my favourite French brands Lale. This quilt has little roses printed on it and on the reverse there’s an orange scallop print. Just beautiful. This Lale quilt costs £80.20 from smallable.com
Yesterday I discovered Coordonne Kids and my heart skipped a beat. It’s a Spanish store that makes and sells children’s wallpapers and wall murals. I do have a thing for wallpapers I know, but this store is seriously special. While their current collection is very lovely, it was their new collection that had my heart fluttering. The wall coverings on offer range from dancing flamenco ladies wearing the brightest dresses to comical looking cute birdies in a variety of colours . These wallpapers for kids are just so cool especially the flamenco one. Actually I love the comical birds one too. They’re lots of fun and would make fabby feature walls.
To check out the collection head to Coordonne Kids. If you’re tempted by their wares you’ll have to contact them as there aren’t any prices on their site. While you’re there check out the adult collection too. Although I’m keener on the kids lot and I could just see the flamenco ladies adorning the walls of a very quirky but cool dining room. Spanish design just gets hotter by the day!
I recently came across the wonderful world of Jane Reiseger. An Aussie artist who creates nursery murals so sweet, so stunning. Large scale childlike drawings of birds, trees and animals that add bags of unique style to any wall. I think what grabs me the most about her creations is their simplicity. All the drawings are in outline so they don’t take over but yet create quite an impact. And of course the drawings completely appeal to my love for all things minimal, especially this kind of minimalism with heart.
Jane Reiseger does private commissions too but as she’s based in Melbourne, you’ll need to fly her over (unless of course you happen to be a Melbournian). For the rest of us, you can get her work over at The Wall Sticker Company who sell stickers of her drawings. Jane’s own shop is closed while she’s busy making new goodies to tempt us with… I can’t wait. The Wall Sticker Company has some lovely animal stickers including my favourite the hippo carrying the little birdie. And you even get to customise by choosing your own colour combos. The stickers cost from AUD 110 and shipping is offered worldwide from around AUD 22.
Yesterday I had a massive dig around the world wide web. The mission was of course to find more gorgeous goodies to share with you. I’m happy to say: mission accomplished. One of my most favourite finds was Emilie Vast. A french artist/designer who mainly creates children’s books as well as jewellery and also transforms her illustrations in to beautiful stationery and wall art. Her work immediately grabbed my imagination and I don’t think it’s difficult to see why. It is truly beautiful and has a delicacy and sophistication which makes it childish but with bags of appeal for adults too.
Emile Vast’s books and illustrations use a lot of black, white and grey with splashes of bold colour. It all comes together to create visuals so eye-catching. Even though all her children’s books are in French I’m still seriously tempted. You don’t need words to appreciate art this stunning. At the moment I’ve found a small selection of her work for sale over at the very lovely Poisson Bulle (you’ll be hearing more about them another day). They’ve got specially commissioned wall declas and books by Emilie on offer. Prices range from €10 for a book and between €15 – €69 for the decals and shipping is €18 to the UK. Worldwide shipping is also on offer. If I find more stuff, I promise you’ll be the first to know.
Last week I popped in to Ham and was greeted by scooting pigs, jumping rabbits and prancing horses, I kid you not! Before you think I’ve lost it, just hold your horses. Ham is a new British store creating quirky black and white wares for the home. Bold silhouettes of happy go lucky pigs, horses and rabbits adorn tea towels, mugs, greeting cards and more. And all 100% British made.
Of all the goodies on offer it was the photogram wall prints that caught my eye. A teeny-tiny animal sits proudly against a black as night background. Cool, quirky style perfect for a nursery or play space. Pop it in a black frame to keep the look pure or jazz it up with a bright coloured frame and feast your eyes on this striking wall display. Stunning, especially the purple.
Ham offers cool, minimal style with lots of heart. Created by Jo Robinson, the offerings are fit for any age; just the kind of thing we love around here. To check out their wares head to hammade, their online store or drop by their pop-up store in Carnaby Street which is around till 14th August 2011. The photogram prints cost £26 each and delivery is £4.75 for the UK or £9.75 to Europe.
When I spotted these nursery wall prints from Down Under I felt crazy giddy with desire. What a feast for my little eyes that very nearly popped out of my little head. The bold colour combo’s, the animals, the shapes all together create art that is so, so pleasing to look at. And these delights aren’t just for nursery walls, they’re spot on for kids of all ages and big kids like us too. I love a find that has no age boundries. The creators of these pieces are a boy-girl duo called Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd. And what a talented duo they are. To get this gorgeousness for your walls head to their shop called Inaluxe. Most of the prints cost AUD 33 and shipping to the UK is at a very fair and flat rate of AUD 9.50. If not for yourself, gift it to an expectant mama and watch your gift stand way-out from the crowd.
Oooh, I do love my ABC’s. What’s not to love, they look cool, they offer endless design possibilities and the kiddies can learn too. That’s why they adorn all manner of kiddy paraphernalia from baby bedding to building blocks. But the one thing they adorn the most is posters. Alphabet posters are everywhere. Every print designer seems to have at least one ABC poster design in their repertoire. With so many to chose from it can become a tad confusing. So I’ve picked out 7 of the absolute best… no samey boring ones here, just super-duper style for different tastes.
1. Chic: This wooden cut out alphabet wall art is perfect for all you chic mama’s out there. You can hang it or even lean it against a wall – away from little hands of course. This chic number is by Bookhou and costs $50 plus $30 shipping outside the USA.
2. Modern: Fancy a bit of modern alphabet art for your nursery? This colourful print is the one for you then. From LA based Modern Pop on Etsy, it costs $35 with shipping at $12.
3. Vintage: If the vintage-retro vibe is your thing, then this vintage alphabet poster is the coolest I’ve come across. Designed by Agrentinian Sol Linero, the print costs €29 plus €12.80 delivery from L’Affiche Moderne. Tempting!
4. Quirky: Quirky, whacky, call it what you will but this one has bags of fun. Called Burlesque, this ABC poster is a limited edition one and true to American style, it’s a biggie. Designed by Mike Davis it’s available at Richard Goodall Gallery for £50. There’s even a black & white colour your own version for £30.
5. Minimal: Minimalist mama’s rejoice! You can’t get more minimal than this stunning alphabet poster. If you fancy a hint of colour, go for a brightly coloured frame…. your wall may end up looking like it belongs in an art gallery. Wow! This one’s from a shop called Circle Press and costs £54.
6. Scandi style: Leave it to the Scandi’s come up with something so stylish and perfect for kids but without a hint of cutesy. This one’s not a poster though, it’s alphabet wallpaper that’s made to measure. You can go for a feature wall or you can immerse an entire play space in this stylish number. Head to Isak where this costs £38 per square metre. Delivery depends on how much you order.
7. Colourtastic: Neutral tones too dull for you? Is ‘the brighter the better’ your mantra? Then don’t miss this super vibrant ABC poster by Graziela. So bright, you may need to don a pair of sunnies. Drop by Bodie and Fou where this one’s on sale for £22.50 plus £4.95 shipping.
Now I know my A-B-C’s, next time won’t you sing with me… as goes the nursery rhyme. Sorry, can’t get these ABC’s out of my head now.
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
