BOLD BLUE, WHITE AND WOOD SHARED BOYS BEDROOM

A new shared boys bedroom reveal is finally here! Welcome to our newest project: a bold blue and white shared kids room with just a touch of natural wood. I love how this fun pattern-filled kid space turned out. This family home is a modern dream, full of amazingly unique features and enough room in here to have two twin beds along a beautiful wall of giant windows peering out into a lush backyard. You will also see that an air conditioning unit is on the main wall and although many online photos don’t show this, I wanted you to see the real look at how to design around this common household item.

The bold patterned blue and white wallpaper covers three of the four walls, adding so much impact to these high ceilings and large windows.

SHOP THE LOOK…

One of the most interesting parts of designing this room was the slanted wall and has to be seen in person to really understand the effect. I’m not sure why this wall was designed this way but we decided to paint it to match the wallpaper on the other walls as wallpapering it would have caused the design to be slanted too! I actually love how well we could match the paint to the paper and I feel like the bold blue wall tones the amount of light in the space a little and brings in a sense of cozy to this large room.

wood dresser with laundry basket and blue wall

The boys are big Star Wars fans and we decided to bring this into the space in subtle ways. We included a nod to Star Wars with this R2-D2 lamp and custom Etsy art above the wood dresser, as well as the adorable pillows too. Having a small bookshelf next to each bed allows ready to grab books for bedtime and an easy spot to put them back too! We loved working with this client and hope the boys enjoy their bedroom for many years to come.

IF YOU LIKED THIS ROOM, YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE ONES TOO…

ENERGY BITES

These are our favourite energy bites for an easy grab and go snack for the whole family. My kids love them for a quick pick-me-up after school, before activities or anytime they are just looking for something yummy.

Using either a nut butter or tahini for a nut free alternative works and that means these can easily be popped into a lunch box for a nut-free school snack too. This easy to make in one bowl recipe keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Simply add all ingredients together, mix with a sturdy spoon or your clean hands and roll to make bite size energy balls for toddlers to teens. We love them too!

OUR NEXT CHAPTER...A FAMILY TRAVEL ADVENTURE!

“What if we just took a little break from our everyday?”, I said. “Pack our bags and take the kids around the world?”. In fairness, this conversation with my husband, Damien, started years ago. Let’s go on a big trip! When the kids are older, when we’re not working so hard, when we have the financial means, when, when, when…

travel family of five with backpacks in air

A little mid-life refresh I’m calling it. Surely, we can rephrase the ol’ mid life crisis by now? With both of us firmly in our 40s and the kids teetering out of young childhood and very much transitioning into tweens, we thought there was no better time. We are going ON A TRIP OF A LIFETIME (!!!) with our kids alongside. Are we CRAZY?! Probably, yes! Excited? Absolutely. Ready for it all? Most definitely not; but really, are we ever ready for change? I have always believed that setting about trying new things brings growth in the best possible way.

I’ve been dreaming about this adventure since I was a child. I vividly remember thinking that, when I grow up, I want to take my family to see the world. It just seemed like a super fun thing to do. Travel is, and has always been, so inspiring to me. After finishing high school, I spent a summer backpacking Europe. After university, I moved to London with one of my best friends and traveled every weekend I could, then after leaving jobs in London (where Damien and I met), we traveled through the parts of the Middle East and a few countries in Africa before settling into new jobs.

While it’s always been in the back of our minds as something we’d one day do, the opportunity and decision to go for it came quickly. We decided in June 2023 that we would take the kids out of school for the year and backpack around the world!

The summer raced by in what can only be described as a whirlwind of logistics. From how to homeschool to what to pack, where to book flights and what to take (I’ll share my list soon!), what vaccines we needed and where we’d go. We felt like nothing was ready but the leaving date was coming too soon. Isn’t that always the way? When are we ever really ready for the next thing anyway.

Why now? Well, the timing was right. The kids are growing up way too fast for my liking. I know motherhood lasts for our entire lives, but I’m always very aware that the most time we ever spend with our kids happens by the time they’re 18. I love my kids more than anything and truly think they are amazing people to hang out with. All 3 are still in elementary school and I know we want to be back and settled once they reach high school.

Covid truly brought about so many changes in our young kids’ lives. There were nearly two years where they barely went into shops or interacted with a wide variety of people. I want our kids to discover that there’s a much bigger world out there to explore; one where people live in different ways than we do, eat different foods, speak different languages.

We are incredibly aware of our privilege to take this opportunity, not only to travel but also to be such an integral part of the kids’ development. We will be doing math along the way and journaling too, with most other learning being taught in terms of classes we can enrol in along the way and experiences that naturally occur.

So, if you’re up for following along with our travel adventures, I will share along the way. And now, global adventures await!

ISABELLA'S PINK, GREEN AND GOLD NURSERY REVEAL!

We finally have a new room reveal! The first space of 2023 and it was made for the sweetest baby. Without a doubt, nurseries are the most special places to decorate. The excitement of a newborn, the beautiful choices available for babies, and the love that you feel when you walk in the room. Isabella’s nursery was a dream to design and I feel so honoured to be a tiny part of this beautiful family’s beginnings.

Isabella’s Mom has a great design eye and already knew that she wanted to include this forest wallpaper as a feature in the baby nursery so this was the piece that we worked with to create the rest of the dreamy space.

This room had been used as a guest room previously and the smaller space made it a perfectly cozy place to create a baby nursery. The gorgeous windows allow plenty of sunlight and we positioned the nursing chair in this corner for two reasons. The first was to be close to the crib, so feeding to sleeping transitions were made easier, especially at night. The second was the view from the window. When laying out a nursery, it’s essential to think about who will be spending time where and having the chair in this position allows both parents to hold baby while enjoying the forest view.

The crib is a forever piece of beautifully made furniture from Kalon Studios that can be converted to a toddler bed when the time comes. In the photos it’s tricky to see the mobile, but in the room it’s a pretty piece for baby to look at when falling to sleep.

SHOP THE LOOK…

wooden baby crib with bold wallpaper and bookshelves on wall

The sunlight that pours in these windows makes the entire room glow and we layered soft linen curtains on top of the blackout shades that can be pulled down to create darkness for sleep time. We chose this solid wood dresser as an interim piece until the real dresser arrives, but with time delays on some furniture being the reality of life in the design world, we decided to go ahead and photograph the nursery as is. I think it’s beautiful enough to share now and this dresser provides the function of holder baby goods, such as diapers, tiny clothing and blankets perfectly well.

pink and white baby girl nursery

On the small wall next to the walk-in closet, you can see that we added bookshelves that act as both functional storage and an art display. Here’s a look at that spot, before and after.

BEFORE

AFTER

baby nursery with book wall

Here’s a close up shot of the dresser with change top basket and mirror. I absolutely love how the wallpaper can be seen through the mirror.

wall hooks and art prints
baby girl hair accessories in small tub
chandelier from below

THE JANUARY EDIT: FAVOURITE PICKS OF THE MONTH

After the cozy holiday season, a good refresh in January gives room for the newness and positive outlook that the new year brings. Whether you are living in a small apartment or a spacious house, organization is on all of our minds. Cue the theme for this months picks: items to help organize (plus this first photo is a sneak peek at a new nursery project coming next week)!

white dresser with rattan mirror and basket change table

SHOP THE PICKS!