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Australian furniture designer Natasha Dumais gives exclusive tips on how to keep a kid’s room stylish and organised. Only on Best Home Ideas!
When I fell pregnant with my first bub some eight years ago, I scoured baby furniture shops and was incredibly disappointed. Everything looked mass produced; cots were all a variation of the same theme. As a designer my passion is making my world, and my home, look stylish. So after the birth of our first baby, my husband and I set about making our own modern furniture brand – now known as Ubabub.
Over our years of creating furniture and designing our own daughters’ rooms, we have collected some useful tips for preparing your nursery space and kids’ rooms.
Begin by collecting some room inspiration. Luckily with the Internet and the magic of Pinterest there are plenty of resources online for this:
- Find a hero piece – a product or furniture piece you love. Like a cot, a beautiful pendant or bunting, a chair or a piece of art and build your room around this one item. What this will do is define a beginning for your interior colour palette and sometimes it may even set the tone for a theme –‘earthly colours’, for example, with bright pops of colour. In our older girls’ room our colour scheme was inspired by a decorative garland we’d bought from Confetti System. And for our little one’s nursery we took our colour palette from the Sundae Wall Art that is a huge feature in the room.
- Think practical and don’t let aesthetics stand in the way of coming up with a functional room design. For example will the nursing chair be comfortable to sit upright in and feed your baby? A soft rug or carpet under foot could be ideal for baby to lie on the floor and play perhaps?
- Are the material surfaces you’re using able to be wiped clean or washable? In our older girls’ room we use the Booksee book shelves which hold our girls’ favourite books whilst doubling as a beautiful and bright wall feature; and we have a wire and peg system for hanging up the girls’ own artwork.
- Storage is vital when bubs and kids are involved! They trap a lot of parents fall into is not having enough dedicated places to store various kids’ items. If you’ve ever walked into someone’s home and seen Dora the Explorer or Bob the Builder merchandise as far as the eye can see, you know what I am talking about. Define storage areas and let your children know these are the specific homes for their dress ups, teddies, and so on. There are plenty of storage brands out there that specialise in beautiful options that will fit with the look and feel of your modern home. Try Mor-stor, Ikea or perhaps opt to have some custom-built storage boxes made that better fit your home.
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- Try bringing the outdoors in to improve air quality. Consider including a pot plant in baby’s room. Apart from adding something beautiful, living and green in your baby’s room space they’re scientifically proven to help pull toxins out of the air. A hanging pot plant is also a good way to provide a design feature whilst keeping it safely away from inquisitive babies.
Some good baby-friendly indoor plants suggestions:
- Golden Pothos
- Chinese Evergreen
- Peace Lily
Above all, allow yourself the time to plan and create an inspiring and well-considered space that will last for years to come.
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December 26, 2013
I think most “designer” rooms are over done. I like clean and simple. I love sophisticated furniture and decor but I don’t like everything all crowded, no matter how fabulous your pieces.Thank you for your .Best home Ideas sharing.
January 26, 2014
Natasha’s tips are spot on. I’d also add that when choosing furniture, think beyond baby nursery furniture. Items like bookshelves, cupboards and even their bed will be with them into their teen years. A comfortable arm chair for midnight feeds during the first year becomes a story chair in toddler years and a comfortable retreat for teenagers. Similarly choices with kids doona covers, quilt cover sets, bed linen and cushions when carefully chosen will grown with them.