Monday, February 3, 2014

Designing for the wee ones

Topping my list of favorite areas to design are rooms and spaces for kids. I absolutely love designing homes for young families. It's such an exciting time when families are starting out whether building their dream home or changing existing spaces to incorporate a growing family. Being a Mom I thoroughly understand the stuff! The toys and books and tiny treasures that must be fit into a home and how all these "things" kids need and love are constantly changing and evolving. You can design a room around an interest but no sooner have you completed the finishing touches and your kid has a new love! 

Designing for the wee ones is exciting and fun and typically incorporates lots of color and whimsy. No matter the size of your home smart storage is key to keeping kids happy while keeping the parents sane.  

Utilizing sophisticated colors and fabrics while adding personality through accents allows a room to grow and evolve with the child.

Here are a few pictures of my son's room...

His Lucite bedside table displays his favorite treasures while making the space feel more open with a fluid view to the bedding and drapery.  

Photo by Christina Wedge

When we first moved to the big boy bed we knew we had to push the bed against the wall for safety reasons and also to keep the floor as open as possible for playtime. I designed a custom headboard for two sides of the bed to provide extra padding and to create a daybed look as well. Orange and blue accents provide the pop against a soothing gray background that allows for limitless changes.

Photo by Christina Wedge

Kids love to create and display their masterpieces! These magnetic strips from IKEA are an economical way to add color and a fun element to kid space.

Photo by Christina Wedge

I don't have girls but I love designing for the girly girl too! This room below is one of my favorites. The soft pallet is very sophisticated and perfectly fits the personality of a little girl becoming a young lady. The Oly tiny pink chair, tufted monogrammed headboard, and feminine bedside tables from Bungalow 5 are a few of the pieces that help pull off this sweet space. Butterflies in shadow boxes from Natural Curiosities showcase a favorite of the client's daughter.

K Kong Designs Photo by Barney Taxel
I love this happy example of another little girl's room using pale green with turquoise panels and painted furnishings. The dresser with all of the little mirrored drawers was in instant favorite of this five year old and has become the treasure chest for all her jewels. The black and white floor lamp with the bird cage and little bird from Stray Dog is another best-loved addition. The painting from Sugarboo Designs balances out the eclectic mix and brings some additional colors into the space.  

K Kong Designs Photo by Barney Taxel

I just completed a space with two little boys rooms and a playroom designed to look like a tree house in between! Photo shoot was just completed and can't wait to share those spaces as well.

In the meantime, here are a few more of my favorites in the Pinterest world for the wee ones ...

Gorgeous use of color and pattern for an adorable girls room.

House Beautiful

One of my all time favorite playrooms from Lonny.

www.lonnymag.com
Incorporating whimsy with wall coverings is a fun way to add character to kids rooms. Being from a commercial background I'm known to use vinyl commercial grade wall coverings for children... virtually indestructible! This is a sweet pattern from Lulu DK for Schumacher and is precious for a nursery ....

www.luludk.com
Or this super fun "Buggie" pattern by Abnormals Anonymous at Paul+ for a little boys room.

Paul+

Decidedly masculine fresh and youthful. Amazing design from Jimmy Stanton.

Jimmy Stanton
Since the more the merrier with kids, bunks are a wonderful use of space especially in vacation homes. This one is fantastic!

Pinterest

Kelly Wearstler playroom - always cool.

Kelly Wearstler

I can always find accents at Jonathan Adler. He has an incredible line of children's pieces like this Rhino. Modern, sleek, and crisp to fit any color palette. I started collecting them for my sons room when he was born.

Jonathan Adler


Here's a link to more kids spaces on my Pinterest page...


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