Project: Interior Design (color, lighting, layout and textile), bespoke furniture and wallpaper design for a children’s bedroom in Oegstgeest
A bedroom make-over. That’s what Claramay, the eldest of two daughters in this South African family, got for her birthday. The brief was to turn this little girls’ room to a more grown up child’s room… Her biggest wish was for many plants and ideally: a tree! Obviously there were some practical wishes also: like better storage for her toys and many cuddlies.
Floor Plan
We started off looking at various options for the floor plan. The room is pretty big for Dutch standards, but it has an unusual shape with a slanting wall at the far end and a sort of nook by the head of the bed (above).
In the chosen layout, the bed is now positioned along the wall in the ‘nook’- which gives a feeling of extra privacy. That pointy bit of room left at the head of her bed invited me to come up with a bespoke solution: in the form of a piece of furniture while keeping her unusual request in mind.
Changes
We reused all of the furniture that was already in the room. The teak furniture pieces and hope chest worked beautifully in the new look and the white bookcase and wardrobe, well they were painted with a subtle shade of beige. We removed the mirror from one of the cabinets though, because it was moved towards the windows.
The guest-bed-chair, the IKEA Lycksele, was given a new cover with a softer fabric and shade – purchased at Soferia. Finally, I added a lot of home textiles: new soft curtains – found at Decorette, a gorgeous soft round viscose rug, new bedding and beautiful pillows all working towards a soft, comfy, lovely nature loving girl’s room.
The Cuddly Tree Cabinet
So, back to that awkward corner in the back of the room, by the head of the bed. It asked for a creative solution. I remembered how Claramay wanted many, many plants, and preferably even a tree in her room, and this, together with the wish for more storage, lead me to the idea of designing a cabinet for her cuddlies in the shape of a tree.
The cabinet was actually made by Claramay’s own father and grandfather! I am amazed at how they managed to make it exactly as per my drawing. Very nice work.
I also ended up designing a wallpaper to go with the tree, which – together with a number of hanging plants – strengthen the feeling of sleeping underneath a tree’s canopy.
PS: I did not place that harp there for styling purposes, she actually plays it! 😉
The perfect lamp for a nature room! It’s the green hanglamp with birds by Dutch Delight, which you can buy at Loods 5 (and other stores).