Bedroom ideas for toddlers: 3-year-old girl’s bedding

I’ve been on the look out for yellow (or purple) bedding with a graphic pattern for my daughter’s new bed (see my previous posts). It turns out that if you don’t want everything in a shade of pink, you do not have nearly as many options.

If money were no object I would probably buy this lovely cover from Ferm Living but with little change from £100, that’s never going to happen.

//Photograph by Ferm Living

This bold elephant print from Hunkydory Home would make great bedding but is currently only on a cushion and a lightshade.

//Photograph by Hunkydory Home

So spreading my search a little wider, I started looking for cheerful multi-coloured bedding with enough yellow and purple in it to satisfy my daughter. I was going to buy this block patterned cover from La Redoute but had such difficulty with their online ordering that I gave up.

//Photograph by La Redoute

I finally settled on this multi-coloured stripe bedding from Marks & Spencer which I don’t think this image does justice to!

//Photograph by Marks & Spencer

 
I can’t wait to put it on the bed that I’ve started painting grey, with a lovely butterfly cushion my daughter chose and a purple blanket I have customising plans for!

Bedroom ideas for toddlers: nearly 3-year-old girl

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Why decorating my daughter’s bedroom is more about politics than paint

This is what my little girl’s room looks like at the moment. As you might be able to see, it needs a bit of a rethink (see Giving our toddlers’ bedrooms some personality)

A ‘big girl’ bed

She really wants a ‘big girl’ bed (an adult single bed). She even has it on her ‘list of things to remember’ (along with start ballet classes, go to big toy shop in London and make lemon cakes) and it has now transferred, or perhaps duplicated, on to her birthday list.

My parents have my old wooden bed spare so, to save pennies, I thought we would reuse it by giving it a lick of paint. Even though my daughter’s favourite colours are yellow and purple, I want to keep the basics neutral and add colour with accessories. I don’t want to paint the bed white (too country nursery) so I’m opting for grey.

I have discovered that planning on painting your daughter’s bed grey is the sort of thing that doesn’t go down well in some circles (it turns out conservative Bucks isn’t a hotbed of radical feminism and, for the most part, wholeheartedly embraces pink, princesses and 1950s florals with no hint of irony).

Paint is political

I think the reason I am finding it so hard to work out how to decorate my daughter’s room is that it is not just about paint. It is, at least in part, about who she is and who she will be. It is about treading the line between gender inequality and absolutes and finding an aesthetic for girls that is empowering and fun.

But what does that mean? Is there anything wrong with pink? Or fairies? Or ‘cute’? Or flowers? Or ballet? Or cupcakes? And how much does it really matter? Surely identity and self-worth are shaped much more by less superficial factors?

A few ideas

• I’m on the hunt for some really bright yellow bed linen with a modern, graphic pattern. I’ll let you know when I’ve found it.
• I’ve ordered some yellow, purple and white string lights from Cable & Cotton. They’re not cheap but are hand-made by skilled Thai women in good working conditions. Which works for me.
• I’m looking into ways to display her multitude of artworks, perhaps using a pinboard that I could make myself.

I’ll be posting more ideas for my daughter’s room, including photos, as we go.

Giving our toddlers’ bedrooms some personality

I have a confession to make. When I see my friends’ children’s bedrooms – the hand-painted animals, the cute friezes and the themed bedding – it is embarrassingly obvious that they have poured a lot more love, time and money into decorating their rooms than I have.

Am I a bad interior designer? Maybe. Am I a bad mother? I hope not, though it might be best to ask my children in thirty years.

We moved in to our house nearly a year and a half ago, my husband heroically painting anything that didn’t move white whilst I, heavily pregnant and with an eighteen-month-old already in tow, made spreadsheets and ordered fixtures. Our friends and family turned up in shifts with encouragement and paintbrushes. My parents cooked and looked after us as we stayed in their house for two weeks. We were exhausted but buoyed by the kindness and love we were shown by the people around us.

We managed some colourful blinds and a few animal stickers in my daughter’s room. After a year and a half of sleepless nights and crazy days, my son’s room has furniture cast-offs and old curtains that don’t fit with a few vehicle stickers trying to put a brave face on it.

So now a new normality is establishing itself, what changes in my two toddlers bedrooms would bring a smile to their faces? I’ll be posting my ideas and progress on the bedroom updates for our nearly 3-year-old girl and 18-month-old boy over the next few weeks.

Childhood memories

This week has been crammed full of memories. Sometimes I live life in the here and now and sometimes I can hardly get out of bed without being reminded of the past. People, smells, moments, thoughts and objects long forgotten gatecrashing the present.

These are some of my favourite things when I was a child that I hope walk the path of nostalgia without the rose-tinted associations.

1. Ballet

I loved ballet so much I considered dance school when I was eleven but the desire to be normal won out. I think it was a good decision made for the wrong reasons. Although I still trot along to adult ballet classes every week, this photograph reminds me of days spent putting pins in my hair, forgetting myself in the movements and my body actually doing what I wanted it to.

// Photograph Alfred Eisenstaedt via art.co.uk

2. Collecting

I was a passionate collector when I was a child. I remember selecting and curating rocks, rubbers, teddies and polar bears but I’m sure there were more. I think it was the collection itself, and in particular the way it looked as a whole, that I most enjoyed and not the items themselves.

// Photograph by Nkuku

3. Dens

I remember being obsessed with small houses, dens and camps and I had a wigwam that I absolutely loved.

This lovely bell tent makes me want to pitch it in my garden and play sleeping and eating with my children all over again.

// Photograph by Baker + Bell

Using old suitcases and trunks in your home

Sometimes I don’t realise how much I like something until there’s three of them. Three can not be ignored. Three is almost a collection.

It started with sourcing a big old trunk as a cheap coffee table alternative. Five pounds, you say? Thank you very much Ebay.

At the moment, with my children being so little, it rarely gets used for coffee but is so sturdy we use it as extra seating.

Then I got a taste for it… We currently use this one for storing Postman Pat toys.

And finally, after a recent trip to one of my favourite charity shops (Returned to Glory), I came home with this lovely old suitcase as the first step in giving my bedroom some personality.

But how to best show off vintage suitcases and trunks? Stylists love to stack them for storage and to use as side tables but if DIY is more your thing, be inspired by 40 creative ways of reusing old suitcases. Suitcase shelves anyone?

Dead zoo inspiration

Yesterday we took a trip to the Tring Natural History Museum (affectionately termed ‘the dead zoo’ in our house). The Victorian museum is the cabinet of curiosities on a grand and eccentric scale.

Taxidermy in the home is a very specific taste. I have had to persuade my husband to not buy stuffed animals as wedding presents for nearly all of our friends who have got married over the last ten years. (You’re welcome.)

Here, however, are some items inspired by my trip that are a little easier to accommodate (and clean).

1. Flamingo print

//Photograph by Natural History

2. Wooden shelves with labels

//Photograph by Cox and Cox

3. Living wall

//Photograph by Woolly Pocket

4. Glass storage jar

//Photograph by Rockett St George

5. Glass display cabinet

//Photograph by Ikea

Fair trade homeware you’ll want to buy: Nkuku

I, along with many others, am slowly becoming more aware of how the way I spend my money can have a positive impact for communities around the world.

Whilst I have bought fairly traded food and clothes for a while, I have been very slow out of the blocks when it comes to products for my home. I hope to change this.

Nkuku sells beautiful homewares and is built on the principles of fair trade and equal opportunity. And my birthday is just around the corner…

 

 

 

 

// Photographs by Nkuku

Posting pattern #3 Miss Print Saplings

// Photograph by MissPrint

I’ve gone a bit wallpaper sample happy with our cloakroom and this was one of the first I ordered. Even though it doesn’t look right in there, I love the small leaf pattern repeat.

The saplings print inhabits a glorious somewhere between Orla Kiely and Victoriana and this image does not do it justice as its beauty is partly in the way the light is reflected from the gold. Beautiful.

Posting pattern #2 Paisley phase

//Photograph by Barneby Gates

I’m sat here in my paisley dress (less ‘seventies curtains’ than it sounds) looking at this beautiful wallpaper inspired by antique textiles from India. I’m obviously having pattern cravings.

Made in Bucks: Out of the Dark interview

I am delighted to introduce to you the next interview in my series showcasing local makers and let me tell you folks, this one is a blinder.

Giving young people and furniture a second chance, meet Out of the Dark‘s inspirational founders…

Who are you?

Jay & Jade Blades

What do you do?

We run Out of the Dark - a charitable social enterprise that recycles, restores and revamps salvaged furniture as a way to train, educate and employ young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Where is home?

High Wycombe

What are your favourite colours?

Blue & yellow

How did Out of the Dark start?

We had been running a youth organisation for thirteen years through which we ran a variety of life skills and fun activity projects. Around four years ago, we felt that it was important to do a project that would teach young people work ethics and work skills, that could potentially act as a social enterprise and become financially self sustainable. Even though we were really inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant, we didn’t feel confident setting up a restaurant.

Around three years ago, an idea emerged from looking at what we love and what skills we have. I (Jade) used to work for an interior designer and studied Textile Design at university and Jay used to work in the building industry and his dad is a carpenter. We both love antique and retro stuff, and are really in to design. So we came up with the concept of Out of the Dark. Add to this that we are based in High Wycombe – which has a history steeped in furniture making – and the idea seemed like it was meant to be!

Who or what inspires you?

The urban young people we work with – their style, music and fashion really inspires us.

What are you most proud of?

This is hard because we are proud of almost every piece! Each piece has a story and giving them a new lease of life gets us all very excited. We did a commissioned batch of chairs, tables and lamps for Bloomberg last summer which we are all very proud of: we used their waste wire to do traditional crafts such as chair caning, rush seating, weaving and upholstery. Those pieces came out looking amazing.

What’s your favourite item of furniture?

All of them! We have a love for anything British and if it has a High Wycombe stamp on it, wow, that’s a winner!

What are you most excited about doing this year?

We will be exhibiting at Somerset House as part of Walpole’s Crafted scheme in April, and also in April we will be putting on an exhibition in Bath. There are a few other things but we are not allowed to chat about them yet…