minor details

clean fun

I wish that I would have thought of this....

Baby Mop from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

simple art

There is something very simple and clean about this 2-sided art easel for kids that i like.

construct

Mudpuppy has come out with a line of Constructibles Building Sets consisting of 25 interlocking pieces. Two standouts are the Painter's Palette and Bold Patterns sets.

 

lmnop 6

The latest issue of LMNOP has come out and again, I continue to be impressed with Jenny Lacey's curation and eye for design. In this issue, there is section of well-considered toys, coloring books, meal time goods, reading books, chalky tees, Hanne Larsen's amazing NYC loft with her four children, homegrown threads and a show and tell section by Janet and Stu from Three Potato Four. 

If you find your way over to page 20, you'll find my contribution. I wanted to challenge myself and take a highly designed and playfully sophisticated child's room and cheat my way to achieving this designer look for a lot less. I hope you enjoy it.

Also check out LMNOP blog.... for when you just can't wait for the next issue to come out! They dish a hearty dose of great design for children and babies.

You can download the current issue here. 

   

 

kids.modern 2009 second time around

This year's show was certainly different from last year. I was sad to see some vendors and artist not present but was very pleased with the new round of vendors and artists coming to play. Thankfully, there were some familiar faces that I was certainly happy to catch up with this year.

The lovely husband and wife designers behind Famille Summerbelle, Julie and Simon, are such a wonderful duo. I could go on and on about how much I love their energy but I'll let the work speak for itself. They had some new pieces to share. It just gets better and better with these two! Here was last year's post from the show.

 

Nine to Nine had new chairs for the mouse table and this three linked log seat. Check out their debut from last year here and here

 

PUNCH N CUDDLE have got a new website and should be available for purchase soon! I'm including the video again from last year because it's fantastic. 

Mini Moderns have got some great new colors for their already great wallpaper! (sorry to have missed you Keith!)

      

Okido is such a fun magazine for kids. Check out my past post on Okido here

Arash and Kelly were there in the flesh as last year they were represented by Thorsten van Elten. It was nice to finally meet both of them. They had their original Genius Box and debuted the latest in a chalkboard finish with face decals. They also had some fun arrow hooks as well. 

fold it hang it

The lovely Patricia López of DecoPeques did a roundup from the Playtime Show in Paris. One of the highlights was The Boutique Tatayette. They have a nice D.I.Y. 3-D mobile of birds and dragonflies.

wood for wee ones

Amy Turn Sharp makes some pretty sweet wooden toys and teethers for the mini. Mosey on over to her shop on Etsy called Little Alouette.

 

 

kids.modern 2009 textiles and prints

At the show this year, there seemed to be less clothing, print and textile presence than last year. However, there were some new stand-outs....

Bold & Noble is a design collective that creates and silk screens prints. They have a very good eye and execution of design. I could see these prints playing very well in a kid's room or nursery.

 

 

Anorak wants you know that "wildlife just got a whole lot easier to spot." With a stellar line of sleeping bags, bedding, blankets, oil cloth, pillows and bags, Anorak certainly caught me eye this year. The bold prints and colors are spot on.

   

Twisted Tee had a fun booth to look at. It was full of cloth nappies adoring bold faces on their bums. Some political, some portrait, some retro, some plastic. Also showing was the fantastic Sleepy Head Pillow.

   

   

 

Roddy & Ginger have a sweet line of prints, bags, pillows and clothing. Here are some prints that made their way into another vendors booth:

   

Check out tomorrow's post on some familiar faces from last years show and what they've been up to.

kids.modern 2009 goes vintage

One of my favorite things to do is to go thrift-ing for vintage children's furniture. There were three collectors at the show this year that were very well curated and made me smile. 

First up is Molly-Meg. She has taken her child chair collection and put them all up for purchase.

 

Next is Winter's Moon. I scored this sweet child's desk/stool combo and ironing board from the 50's. Not an easy feet for British Airways to handle! 

 

Lastly is Treace. Mostly know for their cupcakes, they also had a mighty collection of vintage children's chairs and rockers.

 

whats new kid o

I continued to be impressed by the freshness and well-considered design behind Kid O's line of toys. Here is a peak at what's new for 2009. It's nice to see the full balance of offerings within a range of toys. Lisa Mahar is really onto something. Below is the new bath line, wooden books and games....enjoy!

   

 

its wilder

Aimee Wilder's new line of children's wallpaper is dope. I am a huge fan of the Robots, Clouds and Squirrels. Check them out here.

   

 

kids.modern 2009 recap part one

After making my trek out to West Dulwich on Sunday, I was very happy to see some familiar faces and make some new connections with a few designers and collectors. I plan on doing a few posts over the week to spread out all the love. So in this first recap, I'll introduce some new players to the show :

1. The forward thinking designer Eiry Rock and her amazing furniture. The Pivoting Chair and the Box Storage Chair are as amazing as they look. Though these chairs are not new to the design scene, it's her first time at Kids.Modern and it was a pleasure checking out the new storage feature to the Box Chair.

 

 

2. The Slam Threestyle Door by James Lucas. 

 

3. Bloq has a sturdy and playful range of wooden furniture and accessories for children.

 

4. The duo designers behind the ShapeMaker are just lovely and they have managed to create a new modern classic. (click here for my recent post on Miller Goodman)

5. Fiona Scully makes a mobile Boxatrix.

6. Faye Dearly Designs some delicate and sweet play furniture and textiles for kids.

 

7. Moozle makes a pretty playful tent.

 

I'll be posting all week on the show. Some highlights will be on the vintage presence, prints and textiles and some familiar faces from last year. Stay tuned...... 

 

 

play = art for your walls

I am heading back from the UK tonight so I will start my Kids.Modern recaps on Tuesday. In the mean time, check out this fantastic source of inspiration for a kids wall from Eltono. This public space artist did a show in Torino titled Coriandoli where in he created a Confetti Graffiti wall. How amazing would this be to do in a kids room? You would probably need to remove everything from the room first but this would be such a memorable moment for you and your child to create such a personal piece of art for their walls. If removing everything and doing an entire wall is not an option, then go for the individual print idea as well. (via the amazing pan-dan)

 

a table for all generations

Alex Hellum has some pretty interesting and beautiful designs. One of intrigue is this Generation Table. (via storkbitesman)

london calling

As I walked the streets of London today, I happened upon some of my favorite stores and their new offerings for children. First up is Zara Home for Kids. The new Animalitos bib, crockery set and apron are sweet. Second up is from Habitat. Some highlights were the Mini Nico desk paired with the Nerdi acrylic chair, this dope little LED rug and little safari camp. (the last two are not on the site). Third was a visit to Mamas and Papas. Man, how I wish this store was in New York. Check out this great unisex crib bumper and new Loop highchair . And last but not least, Muji had a small version of their coat rack on the floor. Oh, and I can't forget my trip to Benjamin Pollock's Toy shop, it's a must while in town. I also managed to pick up a copy of Around the world with MOUK at the Tate Modern. It's an amazing children's book about different cultures and languages of the world. 

   

  

   

 

 

cooper-hewitt national design museum

I hope to see you tonight! Posting has been slow this week and I'm headed to London tomorrow for the Kids.Modern Show. I'll be back next week with a ton to share. Cheers -Jenn.

I will be speaking along with Cookie Magazine's home editor Kiera Coffee, Jan Elani and KoKo Architecture on designing modern spaces for children at the Copper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The lecture will take place Thursday, Feb 12th at 6:30pm. You must register for the event and can do so here. I am thrilled and honored to share space with such great movers of well-considered design for children. I do hope you can make it. There is also an amazing exhibit running through April that is worth checking out as well. It's called Wall Stories : Children's wallpaper and books.

Designing the Modern Kids' Room with Cookie Magazine

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

2 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128

Thurs, Feb 12th at 6:30pm

$10 for members

$15 for non-members

whoa nelly

There are so many things that I like about this image. But I would be afraid that my daughter would have nightmares of various sized Matryoshka Dolls attacking her in her sleep. Great room and concept but I think the digital mural is off-scale. Thoughts?

hold on sister sledge

Damien Bihr just created the Child Furniture for Winter line for Helium Concept. The line is a playful nod to the old school sleigh, or sledge if you're Dutch. Below is the Snow Bench, Snow Seat and Snow Table.

   

yes please

After being routed via here, I found this little vintage beauty. A wooden child's chair designed by Marque Deposée for SIMBAG.

kids.modern 2009

Yes, it's that time again for the Kids.Modern show in London. If you are in the London area on Feb 15th, you should check it out. I will be there alongside side my very dear friend Tina. If you can't make the show, be sure to check out my recaps!

Sunday 15th February 2009
Dulwich College, SE21 7LD 
10am–4pm 
Entrance £6 
Children £2

school house rock

Sundance has salvaged turn-of-the-20th century chalkboards from Iowa and reclaimed them into Schoolhouse Slateboards for purchase.

r.i.p. modern tots

My studio is in a lovely industrial/artist community of Brooklyn called Dumbo. One of my favorite children's boutique, Pomme,  is right down the street and I stop in whenever possible. However, between Pomme and my studio sits the online maverick Modern Tots. In a huge retail space that is very well suited for their needs. However, with final confirmation today .... without warning .... not even a moving sale .... it's gone. Upon further exploration, their website is down as well. I guess the economy's dire straits have no intention of slowing down.

hang it store it

Ampersand has a lovely new hanging storage system they call Wallpockets. Imagine all the things a little kid could hide in those?

 

for the budding astronaut

I love Underten. I especially love these Cosmo PJ's. (I secretly want them in my size.)

 

foiled again

Foil is an Industrial Design House in Sofia, Bulgaria. They just released a children's line of furniture designed by Anton Ivanov.

 

c u l8tr grandma

Teach Your Granny to Text is the children’s sequel to Change the World for a Fiver, the bestseller produced by the global social change movement, We Are What We Do.It’s a movement whose aim is to inspire people - in this case children - to use their everyday actions to change the world. Their maxim is: small actions x lots of people = big change. It’s not rocket science but it does work! The thirty actions in this book will be fun and easy for children to do but will add up to making a big difference and giving them the responsibility for changing the world, one bit at a time. Available here.

a sweet seat

The Cross-Stitch Stool from Zaishu could add some sweetness to any kid's space.

color while you wait

Modern-Twist has just come out with two hand silk-screen, silicone placemats that encourage coloring. Apparently any washable marker will do!

 

flat pack bed

I really love the lines of the Spross Children's bed by Christoffer Martens.

flip it high flip it low

This vintage Round Red Child's Chair is beautiful. Depending on your child's height, you can flip it over to a higher or lower seat. Do any of my readers know the maker?