Happy Birthday Max

It's hard to believe that our little Max turns 1 tomorrow.  To celebrate his first year, Harry and I recently created this little chair for him for his bedroom.  Being quite small, it is actually the perfect size for him to climb up onto. I bought the vintage chair for a very small sum and then had it recovered in a plain white canvas.  Harry then drew all over it with fabric felt pens.  On the back I have written a special little note to him.  We also wrote his date of birth and a few of his favourite sounds on the chair too.  I hope it is something he cherishes and keeps forever.



PS.  If anyone is going to try this I would advise ironing the chair after you have drawn on it so as to seal the ink onto the fabric.

A Child's Favourite Thing

I was recently reminded how important it is, not only for an adult, but for a child to have one or numerous special favourite things. Over Easter I read a lovely paragraph in the book Home by Anita Kaushal;


You’ll never know which thing will become the best-loved, can’t-do-without, the night-time necessity. It might be a hand-stitched hand-me-down, a bright new soft toy, or a well-used blanket. Whatever they choose, it will mean security to your children and bring a sense of personal belonging and wellbeing. And you’ll end up treasuring it almost as much as they do.

Our Harry has a special ‘can’t-do-without’ friend he affectionately refers to as Duckie. Duckie was found on Harry’s first Easter Egg Hunt when he was 1 and has remained his most-loved and most treasured cuddly friend who {not so much these days now that he is a big brave 7 year old} would accompany us absolutely everywhere. There has been many a tear-filled night when we have driven onto the barge to go to our house at Stradbroke for the weekend and it was discovered that Duckie was not on board!

Due to major concerns from all that Duckie might one-day disintegrate, he has only had 3 baths in his lifetime - a drop into the washing machine and then a dash in the clothes dryer – always fearful that the opening up of the dryer door might just reveal the absolute end of Duckie. The slightest sign of wear and tear anywhere on Duckie signals Brad’s mother to quickly whip out the sewing basket. Complete relief is thankfully restored once she has worked her magic on our special duck.

We have all {my parents and my brothers and brad’s parents and of course Brad & I} loved Duckie just as much as Harry…well almost as much as Harry!

I think it is wonderful to encourage our children to embrace the love of a special thing. Just like we have special things which we keep and hold onto {something I have talked a great deal about here on ABT}, a child should feel the comfort and re-assurance of having their very own special things around them. With this in mind, I think we should decorate a child's room filled with the special things they love and encourage them to collect, collect, collect!!

It makes me wonder what it will be that our next child treasures. What special thing can’t your little one live without?

Here are some little cuddly creatures I placed into a nursery I decorated for some clients a while ago. I wonder whether their little boy now treasures any of these little friends we placed into his cot before he was born?!

An old photo of Harry with his treasured Duckie...

image 1,2,3 - via children's spaces from zero to ten and babies rooms zero to three by judith wilson, image 4 - via interior divine blog

Dorm Room

As much as I do love the look of a gorgeous bunk room, I have found that bunk beds really are such a pain to make. Lately I have been preferring the look of a large dorm room with rows of single beds like the picture above. I love the lidded basket placed at the end of each bed - perfect for storing each person's clothes in. I personally would be much happier making these beds instead of numerous bunk beds.

image - cote maison via aged & gilded

Children's Bedroom Series

I have been thoroughly enjoying the posts Amanda has been running on children's rooms. She has been interviewing a few blogger's children and posting some photos of their rooms which has been so much fun! My Harry was one of the children to be interviewed about his room HERE. Thanks for asking us to be involved Amanda and I can't wait to see who's room is next!!

image - house beautiful via swish & swanky

Harry's {New} Room

Skona Hem

SR Gambrel

James Michael Howard

When it comes to boy's bedrooms I personally prefer a classic navy and white scheme with some red thrown in and even some pale blue thrown in - see inspiration images above. I have always decorated Harry's room in this manner. When we moved into the cottage we put Harry into the only other bedroom we had which is the size of a shoe box!! At first I thought it was very cute and charming but then as time went on I found it to be completely impractical for him will all of his toys and books and things overtaking the space...don't forget he's a collector/hoarder just like his mother!!

So, Harry is now moving into a new room which was actually the original lounge room. I think he's very lucky as it has the most beautiful old ceiling in the entire house.

With his move comes new curtains and a few new pieces of furniture will also be required. I will be incorporating his old red and blue striped armchair and of course I will be using his beautiful old Antique bed {images above}.

Now that Harry is a little older it isn't as easy as it once was decorating his room. He is now old enough to have an opinion. I have been bringing home lots of fabric samples over the last couple of weeks to look at against his armchair and I have been quite surprised by his response. After much thought and consideration we have FINALLY made our decision. Of course I am the one who makes the final decision {definitely no Spider Man bed linen or racing car beds in my house!!} but I have enjoyed the challenge of him putting forward his opinion. This has actually made me consider other options and I think it has resulted in a perfect solution for the room.

I just purchased an old chest of drawers on Ebay which we will use as a bedside table for him. I will be painting these drawers a pale blue and I will replace the handles also. This will be a great storage piece for him to keep some of his toys in and it will be a fun weekend project for he and I to embark upon. Once we have finished painting it he can actually say that he painted it himself{with my help of course}!!

I rather liked the navy blue lamp bases which Tory Burch used in her boy's room {pictured below}. I have found a very similar lamp base which I will paint navy with shades made in the blue and white fish patterned Lulu DK fabric in the below image. I was a little concerned at first that this patterned fabric was a little too 'girly' but I decided it looked a bit like a pair of vintage board shorts...well that's what I told Harry!!

We decided on the navy and white geometric print {above - bottom right} for his curtains which we will install on an existing white painted timber pole.

I thought I might frame some old flags I have and also some old vintage sailing boat prints which I will hang around his room. His new {vintage} sailing boat will fit in perfectly!

I haven't made a decision on the bed linen yet however, I may use his existing patchwork quilt which I bought from Douglas & Hope a couple of years ago or if I decide to do something new {budget permitting} my choice would be to go for something very plain....maybe even a denim doona cover. I have lots of cushions I can re-use from his old room which I will place on his bed along with a couple of his most favourite teddies.

I'll be sure post some after pics once we are finished!!

What colours/theme do you like in a boy's room?

Today I Love...

Hello again. How was your weekend?? Mine was lovely thank you...very quite and restful...just what I needed after a hectic week last week. This week we have Felicity back on Wednesday with a lovely post so stay tuned for that. Thank you so much for welcoming her at ABT with all of your lovely comments last week!!

Today I love these three images which I recently added to my I Love Files. What do I love about these images you may ask? In the top image I love all the colourful pretty plates and of course I love the flowers. In the middle image I love the round buttoned ottoman with the box pleated skirt and I love the concept of that bed for a child's room. In the last image I love the natural linen tablecloth and the piles of books and the blue and white jar with the fresh flowers. Actually just looking back at these images now - do you notice something else?? Yes, they all have a little bit of blue and white...mmm I am turning into my mother!!

I hope your week has started with lots of happy thoughts!! See you tomorrow.

Image 1 - Jane Roarty Stylist

Image 2 - Architectural Digest via Decorology

Image 3 - House Beautiful

Harry's Room

Over the weekend I spent some time sorting through a few things in Harry's bedroom. Wow, don't they collect a lot of things! I thought I was the hoarder in our family but it seems I may have bred another little one!! Harry seems to love collecting things...just like his mother!! He has snow domes which Brad & I always buy him when we go away to a new place, he has rocket ships, he has cars but I think one of his prized possessions is the photo of he and his father on a dirt bike which was taken down at our friends farm last year. After the clean through the room looked lovely again and I thought I'd take some photos to show you his little abode. I had the wardrobe custom built for him by my very talented cabinet maker when we moved into the house last year and his Antique bed and painting above the armchair were special things I purchased for him when he was a baby. I will pass on these two very special pieces to him when he has his own home one day...hopefully he will cherish them forever.

A Sweet Little Girl's Bedroom

Here is a bedroom which I have just completed for a little 2 year old girl. We used a mixture of pink, turquoise and white to create a fresh, pretty yet simple room.

Charlotte's House

I have a lovely reader friend in Sweden who I actually posted about last year. Her name is Charlotte and she recently emailed me some pictures of her house which she has just finished decorating. I absolutely LOVE her children's rooms - so fresh, simple, stylish and homey! Charlotte loves vintage furniture and especially loves fossicking in flea markets for anything which catches her eye. She purchased the bed above on Ebay and painted it a crisp white - what a difference a bit of white paint can make! Swedish magazine "Villaagaren" recently featured a story on Charlotte and her tips on flea market fossicking. These images above were featured in the story and were taken by Photographer Martin Olson. I hope you enjoy Charlotte's menagerie of beautiful things!

Oh and I must thank her for including 'Absolutely Beautiful Things' in her list of inspiring websites which is published at the bottom of the article - very sweet!!

A Nursery For Baby Ben

I recently finished this little nursery for baby Ben. The brief from my client (Ben's mum) was "create something really simple and natural". This is what I created.

Pretty Children's Rooms

Cath Kidston Boat Wallpaper

Two pretty children's rooms via Living Etc. Love the wallpaper in the top room! It actually looks very Cath Kidston to me.

Displaying A Child's Collection

I love this little wall shelf from Cox & Cox - what a gorgeous piece to display bits and pieces in for a child's room and what a great concept - encouraging children to collect their own special things!