Category Archives: Kiddo Rooms

Ship Ahoy! This Pirate Room is Bootyful.

Kiddo Rooms

Get ready to batten down the hatches, mateys, because this little boy’s room is OUT. OF. CONTROL.

The main feature is an incredible floating pirate ship—you climb across a hanging rope bridge to get inside. BRILLIANT.

Designer Steve Kuhl created this room for a sweet little 6 year old boy in Minnesota. The boy’s father wanted to make sure his son had a much more whimsical, playful childhood than he himself did, and commissioned this fabulous space! Apparently the designer sketched up a space ship, a race car, a castle, and pirate ship—and of course the pirate ship won out. Honestly I don’t know which I’d choose. Seeing how cool this looks, I just might want the space ship!!

Hmmm, those are some awfully thick books on that shelf up there. Methinks Cap’n Papa is using junior’s book case for his overflow, the scurvy knave! Oh wait….he tricked out this whole room. He can stash as many books as he wants…

Alice, over at MyModernMet, spoke with Steve Kuhl and got even more info on this rad room.

“The room is also decked out with a rope bridge that connects the pirate ship to the top of a jail cell, and a rope suspended from the ship’s hull provides drop-in access to the closet. There’s even a completely hidden slide, that lets you travel downstairs in a more adventurous way.”

“The rope bridge is connected to the top of the jail cell, built to accommodate evil doers, thieves…and little sisters.” Or should I say, “Sistarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghs!”

“The response from the six year old was predictably awesome and sincere. Really there aren’t many moments in my career where I have seen such glee from a client.”

How terrific is this space?? Be sure to go on over to MyModernMet to see more photos. There is a hidden spiral staircase/slide entrance to the room that lies off the upstairs “mud room” that is crrrrrazy cool!

PS Special thanks to my friend Toria of TinyReads for tipping me to this cute space!

A Gingiber Nusery for Violet.

Kiddo Rooms,

Do you guys remember our friend Stacie of Gingiber? She did a fabulous giveaway in December for a wonderful stripey reindeer pom pom stocking.  We were all wowed by her charming illustrations and wonderful design flair, so it really shouldn’t be much of a surprise that her great style would extend to her little girl Violet’s room. Sweet simple touches that create an overall winning look. That’s our girl Gingiber!

I asked Stacie what was her inspiration for this very special room and here is her very sweet response:

When I found out I was having a little girl, I was terrified of picking a name, let alone designing a nursery for this little person that I did not even know yet! So, I waited until she was about a year old to fully commit to a color scheme and design plan. My daughter is such a lively, smart, and bright little girl I wanted to decorate a room for Violet that was truly a reflection of her sweet little self! Also, I wanted a room that she could grow into. I think it will suit her for several more years.

My decorating style is definitely bright and saturated. I love color and was giddy to use Martha Stewart’s Vintage Map paint color for the walls. Also, I am also a bit of a cheapskate. I made the curtains and crib-skirt, refinished the dresser. Next came the furniture. The crib was a family hand-me-down, and all of the white ornate furniture was mine from when I was a little girl! I wanted to play down the utter girlishness of the white furniture, so I filled the rest of the room with some handmade stuffed animals and art from mine and also artist’s Etsy shops.

Would you like to see?

Well done on that perfect Vintage Map wall color, lady and the punches of red are so delightful.

I think my favorite piece is this friendly brass octopus lamp. I mean really, it is just too wonderful for words. Stacie got it at a BARN SALE. I’m in love!

Oh and Stacie also redid this dandy dresser in candy apple red. Ingenius!

Oh and a basket full of soft toys sounds sooo lovely too! And this wonderful mirrored set of drawers is something that will grow with Miss Violet into her teen years quite beautifully!

I love this easy going way of hanging art on a clipboard, it’s so accessible and friendly. Oh, and let’s talk about that great mirror. How wonderful of your parents to hold on to it for you!

The sweet Jenny Lind crib was nicely updated with an adorable birdie crib skirt that welcomed Violet home from the hospital where she was born.

The same fabric it was used again for Violet’s birthday party chair too! LOVE that touch!

You should absolutely check out Violet’s full birthday party too. It’s so darn CUTE, you’ll be grinning ear to ear!

Thanks so much for sharing Violet’s wonderful room with us, Stacie. Don’t forget to stop by the adorable  Gingiber shop.

Wallpaper in Two Really Cool Rooms.

Kiddo Rooms, , , , , ,

Welllll helllllo there! I’m back from sunny LA and our shoot went really well. If you follow me on twitter (@galexina) then you are probably sick of me yackin’ about how I met Al Pacino…..but um, I MET AL PACINO! We were shooting a print ad at the Saban Theater and he and his director came by to check the space out. I thought everyone was joking that he was coming by and then all of  sudden WHOOO AHHHH! There he was! He was rather short and disheveled, but totally cool. And he has THAT VOICE. I kept thinking “OMG it’s Michael Corleone!!” Alas, no photos could be taken….we were all instructed to be casual and not disturb ze Pacino. Like, “What? Oh Mr. Pacino it’s you….how are you? Fine fine, can you move over a tad? You are in my light.”

*ahem*

I will say I  did share a brief conversation with him and our producer bought him a cappuccino and he was very gracious. He left twice and then reappeared—startling me because I was trying to gossip about how he looked kind of like Richard Lewis now. I can’t lie. It was cool.

But enough of that. For now. Because I’m trying to name drop Pacino as much as possible. So I have two things that caught my eye recently that I wanted to share with you. And they both involve WALLPAPER.

1. First up. Wow. This is fantastic. I’m ready to move in people. What a clever use of photographic wallpaper. It’s warm and whimsical and SO GREAT for a kid’s room! I love the big orange plastic chair too—I believe it’s an IKEA garden chair (we have several in our backyard) but it’s a great idea for a child’s room. Enough space for  mama and kiddo to hunker down with a good storybook, but not too precious that you have to worry about any mishaps.

image: esther mokka

The little impish gnome that appears to be hovering on the wall on the right? It’s actually a wee hat rack! (I know this because I had virtually the same one when I was a little girl…well, and of course I know this because there’s a hat hanging off it.) OK, moving on….

2. How cozy cool is this sweet space? I love the bunk bed loft and once again, clever use of wallpaper. Underneath the bed is rad little playspace—and what do I see? That cute little cosco chair I showed off in my vinage kiddo chair post. Fab!


found via simple lovely + mademoiselle astuce

How cozy do they look up in there? OK. I’ll be back in a little bit with two more posts today. PLUS we have a special guest feature we did recently that debuts this afternoon and we can’t WAIT to share it with you! Alas, it doesn’t involve Al Pacino.

Take a Load Off :: Vintage Kid Chairs

Kiddo Rooms, Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff

There is nothing better than a comfy chair. I love curling up with a great book and just relaxing. But as great as a big ol’ chair is, there is something to be said for sitting in a chair that was made to fit YOU. I love seeing vintage children’s chairs. They tend to have the same design sensibility as their larger counterparts, but just shrunk down as if by a mini ray gun. As a short girlie I know how disconcerting it can be to sit in a chair with your lil legs dangling in the air. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some mini chairs that are perfect for the kiddos! As Goldilocks once said, these wee chairs are JUST RIGHT.


image: Etsy seller multer

The classic school chair. I love them! Simple and plastic, but the curved seating was always comfy.


image: Etsy seller lisabretrostyle2

We scored two of these for $1 at the thrift store and have 3 more olive green ones that were left outside a preschool that went out of business. WHY we need 5 little chairs is beyond me. It’s not like Wolfie’s planning on holding a poetry reading any time soon.

These two are awesome. Nothin’ fancy, but you can totally imagine kickin’ back with some icy cold lemonade on your deck or houseboat  in one of these.


image: three potato four

Slightly leggier model for a slightly older kiddo, it looks like a little Pixar character….I sort of want it to start walking around on those spindly legs!

These two are so colorful and fun! The one on the right is the Cosco booster seat and sits a mere 6 inches off the ground. I think it was the 70s precursor to the Bumbo! Although I have heard that they were used as car seats—can you imagine?? We have a little white version that Wolfie used. Super sweet. (Erm, not in the car mind you….)


image: edmond

This orangey red bad boy is schweeeeeet! I love it.

image: unknown. i believe etsy.

These wooden ones are especially fetching. That one on the left??? Ahhhhhh. Amaze-balls. In fact, that’s what I think is on the tray. Three colorful amaze-balls.


image: edmond

These are also great looking, but I have to admit they don’t reeeally look all that comfy. You know that guy on the right would leave marks on the back of your legs.


image: edmond

This little chair is great. And guess what? There are TWO of ’em on Etsy. Snap ’em up and make me jealous!


image: Etsy CathodeBlue

Pretty bent plywood is so groovy. The one on the right looks a tad stern. Like some hipster naughty chair.

And finally….the Eames horse! I love this little guy. Some enterprising papa back in the 50s turned his Eames chair into a horsey for his kiddo. One-of-a-kind awesomeness! I got this for Greg for Christmas when I was pregnant with Wolfie and it is a family favorite!

So there you have it! Some cool little seats for cool little kids. Do you have any special chairs your kid’s love or do they all just hunker down on the couch with you guys?

Five Awesome Nightlights for Kiddos!

Kiddo Rooms, Things We Like, , ,

My friend Davina asked me if I had any recommendations for cute night lights for her little girl.  So, of course I had to do a search and share my findings not only her but with you!  Here are my top five!

Whales are gaining some major street cred–could the be the next owl?  This whale night light could take on any owl for cuteness and would be darling for a boys room.  From Etsy seller, LilBurrito.

But don’t worry about owls–they are awesome and button cute, so you can imagine the obscene adorableness of one as a nightlight.  Like this adorable one from Kinderglow which has a line of safe re-chargable nightlights that kiddos can take with them to bed. So adorable, I almost can’t stand it.

Our gal, Mari from Small For Big hipped me to this enchanting these wonderous JIP J.I.P. Mushroom Nightlight Set. Which I must admit is the one I ended up getting the Peach.

I love this homemade mason jar night light–so cute and sweet and rather unexpected for a child’s room. From Etsy seller, KyleeDude.

Now, I know OXO Candela series is super popular and with good reason because they are so charming.  But have you seen this rocket version called the Zoom night light? How cute is that? I have a very good feeling that this might need to be purchased for a certain little Rocket Baby…

Those are my top five! Did I miss any?  Please share! Inquiring minds want to know!