De toutes les pièces de la maison, c’est dans la chambre d’enfant que l’on peut se laisser aller du plus de créativité. Après tout, n’est-ce pas le moment de leur vie de les faire rêver? Et bien cette chambre  à saveur bohémienne est venu chercher en moi toute cette candeur de l’enfance à la fois magique et ludique.

Parsemée d’éléments à faire soi-même, de meubles vintage et d’éléments achetés neufs, cette chambre d’enfant est pourtant crée sur fond blanc. Ici ce n’est pas la peinture des murs qui volent la vedette mais plutôt les appliqués de papier peint et de ruban adhésif qui lui donne toute sa couleur.

Ça me donne (presque) envie d’avoir un autre bébé (rappelons-nous que j’en ai déjà 3!!) pour lui faire une petite chambre aussi mignonne. Mais bon… je vous laisse plutôt ces quelques idées pour vos petits mousses à venir.

xox

v.

source: Micasa

I don’t know if it is because I have 3 little munchkins running around my humble abode, but children room design always get me! (OK, I also get misty watching How to Train Your Dragon… but that’s another story!)

There is something quite whimsical about a child’s room. They do not see their decor as we do. Their comfortable bed with matching bedding is for them either a castle or a drifting raft where hungry sharks swim below. Their little colouring desk becomes, in a flash, an English Tea Room where dolls and stuffed animals attend with great ceremony.

As I look at the glossy pages of magazines and the beautifully curated rooms they present, I marvel at how far chilren room design has come. Long gone are the days or Winnie the Pooh (no offence Winnie, your books and movies rock!) wallpaper and marching bedding.

Colour schemes are vivacious and adult like, the textures are soft and curly but also sophisticated and rich. Themes have been left aside to leave the whole floor for ambiances with streamlined or moody decors. I could not be happier!!

And when all is said and done, and we, as parents, have gotten our design fix, I can only marvel once more at the fact that my children still think their eclectic, bohemian vintage inspired bedroom, still makes for a great space ship or camping tent! Let them keep that child heart as long as possible for spying on their “pretend games” is one of my most profound source of happiness!!

sources: 1. Two Ellie 2. Nuevo Estilo 3. Ikea Family Live 4. Krispix 5. Me Oh My! photograph by Ashlee Raubach 6. The Style Files 7. Scrubs & Pearls

I have two confessions to make. One: I, Gabrielle, don’t have kids (but Vanessa has 3). Two: I really really love kids and I want my own someday, but I feel like sometimes people’s design quotient drops significantly when it comes to decorating kids rooms.

Maybe I’m kidding myself. Maybe when I await my own little bundle of joy I will suddenly feel the urge to paint the nursery in a Pepto Bismol pink, add garlands, owls, hand painted poems, cupcake shaped pillows, tee pees, pom poms, mesh butterflies, ruffles and dusty mosquito nets… And if I do, I’ll be the first to apologize and say: you were right! And you’ll get to say “I told you so”.

But while I still have an ounce of – call it naïveté – in me, I still believe that it is possible to make a kids room look stylish and not like you’ve stepped into a bad headache inducing aisle at Toys-r-Us or fall into the clichés of nursery decorating. Do you allow me to share my thoughts on decorating for the little ones?

In exchange I’ll fully admit that I’m batting way out of my league and you can totally dismiss anything I say if it sounds completely silly to an accomplished mom or dad. With this full-disclosure, here are a few ideas that I think can make a kids’s room elegant but playful.

1. Here’s a thought that has consistently crossed my mind every time I see a nursery: how often is a baby staring at a ceiling? Better make it interesting. I love the idea of stars (especially Ralph Lauren’s Northern Hemisphere Wallpaper) or a circus tent ceiling like the one above (also can be achieved much more easily with this DIY) but frankly, any pattern or wallpaper will do as long as it captivates the imagination.

2. Consider a more grown-up nursery. If there’s one time in a child’s life when parents willl enjoy their kid’s bedroom more than them, it’s when they’re still babies. Who says a nursery can’t be a restful haven for an adult while still being lovely calming and quirky enough for a baby? I think this nursery exemplifies this quite well.

3. Grasscloth wallpaper is truly brilliant, but it’s even better in a kids room. It’s soft, textured and playful and has a vague adventurous feel. Plus, it’s a great backdrop to hang kid’s art!

Oh and while on the topic of walls, stay away from the obvious color schemes. I know how skin crawlingly tempting it must be to want to paint a girl’s room pink or a boy’s room blue but think of how many other colours are in a rainbow! Sometimes the best color picks are the most unexpected so be brave and try something new!

4. I had bunk beds as a kid. There’s nothing that made me feel more safe than being in my bunk. I guess it’s the closed off cocoon space it provides that makes it feel so special. And if there’s only one child in the room, well one of the bed becomes instant friend sleepover space. No need to pull out the fold out mattress!

Of course built-in beds are my favorite (because anything built-in makes my knees weak) but that being said, there’s an easy way to achieve the cocoon look with a standard bunk bed: just hang curtains canopy style around the bed. It really does the trick.

5. Daybeds are fantastic to turn a room form playroom by day to bedroom by night. They’re incredibly versatile and perfect for kids that love to play, and the parents that want to be there to play with them, comfortably. They’re also a great space saver. See how small the bedroom below actually is and you’ll understand.

Now I’m really curious, am I totally out of my league here? What are your best tips for decorating a kids room?

Gabrielle | Savvy Home

Sources: 1. Claude Wasserstein’s daughter’s room 2. Laura Garcia 3. Delphine Krakoff 4. Lee Kleinhelter 5. Alessandra Branca 6. Jamie Meares 7. Lucas Studio Inc. 8. Lulu de Kiatkowski 9. Kristen Panitch Interiors 10. Westbrook Interiors

A graphic chevron rug brings a modern edge to an otherwise very girly nursery

Far from a “themed” children room decor, this nursery has an eclectic and yet very cohesive look. The soft turquoise (Valpar’s Aqua Glow) of the walls and of the ceiling’s lighter shade (Valspar Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue) are the canvas on which the coral accents come to life.

On a narrow shelf, a whimsical time capsule of pictures tell the baby her family's story

A white Jenny Lind crib is outfitted with very graphic bedding in chocolate brown and white completed with a large floor mirror placed behind it. Common wisdom would say that hanging a mirror above a baby’s crib is far from a good idea, as it could come off its hook and fall. But a floor length mirror, secured at the top to the wall and resting steadily on the floor solves that question won’t you say? What a clever way to widen the small room and bring in a jewel effect. Plus, as baby grows, she will be able to make herself funny faces after nap time!

All it took were 3 coats of semi gloss spray paint on the dresser and its hardware to turn this vintage piece into a whimsical showstopper. .

A vintage chair and dresser have found a second home with some careful TLC. The chair, painted in low VOC paint and upholstered in a lovely and bright trellis pattern bring in a pop of colour. The dresser has been repurposed as a change table and is spray painted in a soft tray tone with its original white lacquered hardware.

The nursery’s look is completed and brought together by the B&W chevron rug. In any room, at any time such a rug makes a statement. A tall chest of drawers, with ornate details, has been painted in a glossy black giving the room added storage and another hit of black, atypical for a nursery but Oh So Lovely!!

source: LayBabyLay, House of Turquoise