Design – Urban Suburban Mommy

Drool-worthy nurseries!

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Domestic Goodness .

When our first was born we lived in a really cool apartment. It was the main floor of a big old Victorian home in a trendy neighbourhood. It had a great layout – there was a gorgeous den with an antique fireplace at the front, a really spacious octagonal bedroom (was probably once a pretty grand dining room) a roomy eat-in kitchen, and at the very back there was a little office with a door that opened out onto the little backyard.

When my husband and I agreed on the place we didn’t say it out loud, but we both knew that little back office would one day be the nursery.

And it was.

I found this gorgeous mid-century teak sideboard that was being put out to the trash one night as I was coming home, and my friend helped me drag it from the curb. Lots of drawers, I added a change pad and it was way cooler than any change table you’ve ever seen. We were given the family crib and a glider. My husband painted a feature wall “Maple Leafs Blue” and proceeded to create a chair-rail effect around the perimeter with hundreds of Hot Wheels cars.

I LOVED that place.

But I didn’t take the decor too seriously – I still don’t. Our place was funky and filled with great art – the nursery was totally our style – but sometimes I look at these nurseries that have been professionally designed and covet all of those pretty pieces. Other times I look at some of these nurseries – they’re so immaculate and sophisticated I wonder if the babies know they’re not allowed to have diaper explosions in there!

Check out these for some nursery inspiration. And if you want to steal my husband’s Hot Wheels effect, he says you should go for it!

I’m a girlie girl at heart and I love pink and purple. This nursery is a great mix of style and playful. The Novella Crib at Ella + Elliot is total eye candy! The feature wall is such a great way to create different areas of the room – if you’ve got a large enough space.

Leave it to RH Baby & Child (Restoration Hardware) to make me covet a nursery when I don’t even have a baby to put into a crib. Who am I kidding, if this crib came in king size, my master bedroom would look a lot like this.

Feeling a little French Provincial? AFK Fine Furniture for Children in LA has created some celeb rooms, and this one is fit for a little princess. Some may say “A little over the top” while others may say you simply don’t hold back on the sugar or the spice when it comes to everything nice for baby.

This nursery had me at the tufted crib and gold polka dots. And I’m a sucker for tassles!. I love that it’s kind of whimsical and juvenile yet full of serious style. This is one trendsetting infant! I have to admit I’m a bit of a Land of Nod junkie. I don’t think there’s anything they carry that I don’t love love love!

Straight outta the UK, Funky Little Darlings seriously lives up to its name! Can you even? I would never have even considered the £3,200price tag on that crib – but there’s something so completely amazing about the colour scheme for a little baby girl’s room. #Want (Actually, that darker shade is pretty close to my husband’s choice of “Maple Leaf Blue”).

Ooh la la! This modern French black-and-white nursery has luxe appeal and serious drama. Pottery Barn always has the best accessories – but those floors, I can’t help myself, I want those floors. And that chair. Who am I kidding, I want the curtains and rug too. This is one sophisticated little bébé, n’est pas?

Fresh. Modern. Playful. No, that’s not a three-sided crib, that would be crazy. Lusso Baby carries the Harlow, with acrylic slats so that the hipster baby you’re raising has an unobstructed view of the hand-woven artisan rug and the original one-of-a-kind flamingo stuffie from organic virgin cotton, which is, of course, the incarnation of the most ethical form of taxidermy.

Super adorbs while gender neutral, this cheerful little nursery has all the makings for a happy baby – and happy parents. Tell me you wouldn’t be happy snuggling in that comfy glider. The new line George Baby at Walmart has lots of new pieces offering that great combination of budget friendly and stylish!!!

Kid vs. Adult Space with Designer Kasia Waloszczyk

Posted on February 18, 2016 by urbansuburbanmommy Posted in DIY .

I thought by finishing our basement that I would have solved the problem of our living room being overrun by toys. It was a brief solution, until kid #2 came along. We spoke to designer, TV personality and fellow mom Kasia Waloszczyk who shared her insight and inspiration to find a happy medium between toys and grown up things.

The Dual Purpose Living Room – Playroom & Adult Space

1.If you don’t have the luxury of a bonus room or basement in your home – how can your living room serve a dual purpose as playroom and adult space.

Buy furniture pieces that not only suit your lifestyle but also serve a dual/triple purpose. There are lots of growing families who are choosing to live in smaller spaces. Luckily, retailers have picked up on this trend and offer tons of multi-purpose furniture piece options.

Dual purpose furniture/products can be easily found and for affordable prices. Ikea has a great sofa that not only serves as a couch + pullout sleeper but also has a built in storage unit that can house ample toys, blankets, pillows etc (FRIHETEN) — Its all about staying organized and having a designated space for everything.

2. How do you avoid your living room from being overrun by toys?

The first thing you have to do is ask yourself if your child needs all the toys that are in your living room, does he or she play with every single one? If at the end of the day you are over flowing with toys, perhaps you have too many? Scale back, pack some away and re-introduce them in a month or so, but only after taking away a toy in its place. Rotating your toys will give your child something new to play with, plus it will leave your space clutter free. This method will help with staying organized.

3. Do you have any storage or organizational solutions for toys or adult things?

When it comes to storage, think outside the box. My “go-to” storage is a budget-friendly garbage can from Ikea (KNODD) – it resembles Oscar the Grouch’s garbage can which makes it fun for kids. Get two or three of the same can, and fill it with toys, best of all it has a lid. So, at the end of the day when it’s time for the adults to unwind, the toys are completely out of site. I also love storage cubes, placing two of them across from your couch offers additional seating, you can optimize the storage inside the cube, plus some of them cube lids even turn into serving trays. Urban Barn has a really nice one that I often use for clients (Fay Ottoman – Charcoal). Lastly, opt for a proper TV/media unit – you can customize one at Ikea for a great price. Looks for something that offers you plenty of drawers as well as shelving units with doors (doors are fantastic as they hide the clutter). Remember to utilize your vertical and horizontal space when creating your storage.

4. How do you make a living room safe for kids?

Mount and secure everything to the wall. TVs should always be out of reach for children. Have a bookcase or TV bench – mount them too! Also, avoid furniture that is delicate or has sharp corners such as glass coffee tables. Although stylish, kids leave lots of fingerprints on glass coffee tables. Instead, choose a coffee table with multiple storage, for toys and blankets. Some coffee tables can even open up to provide a laptop/dinner tray. West Elm has a great one. Their Industrial Storage Coffee Table is on the pricier side but is multi-purpose, so it is money well spent. Make sure your living room incorporates a soft play surface – you don’t have to use the foam kids mats. I suggest going for a nice plush rug instead, which will provide a comfy surface for your child but also work to complete and ground your adult space too.

5. What design features or accessories do you recommend that would work for both an adult and kids space?

I love art! It works beautifully for both. You can create a photo gallery wall that will be appreciated by both kids and adults. Work with different sized frames or buy multiples of the same piece of art. To create a cohesive look, choose a photo filter such as black and white – and apply it to all the pictures that you will be displaying. By doing this, you can create a more formal and harmonized feel.

6. What colours work best for a multifunctional living room?

Colours are very personal and unique to each space. Having worked for Benjamin Moore for over 12 years, I know first hand that a color can look amazing in one space, and completely the opposite in another. I would suggest sticking with more neutral tones; warm greys, soothing blues, different shades of off whites – this will help to create a calming and relaxing atmosphere. If you want to inject pattern to the space, add some wallpaper with a tone-on-tone look for that elevated sophistication. Bring in your bold color through accessories, decorative pillows, vases, throws or decorative objects.

Kasia Waloszczyk

Kasia Waloszczyk, an accredited Interior Stylist/Decorator, also runs her own design company, Kasia Waloszczyk DESIGNS, a savvy and trendy décor service that caters to clients in the Greater Toronto Area. As a colour expert, Waloszczyk has held independent seminars on colour and pattern trends. She has also worked with design firms overseas, developing textile colours, designs, and patterns applicable for the North American market.

Gifted with a keen eye for colours and shades, Kasia Waloszczyk has been applying her colour and design techniques for more than 15 years in the industry. A design expert on CTV’s The Marilyn Denis Show, Waloszczyk’s work has always kept her ahead of design trends and has also given her an in-depth expertise on fabrics for creative custom window treatments and unique upholstery, for both residential and commercial spaces.

KasiaWDesigns.com

@kasiaw_designs

From nursery to big girl room

Posted on January 28, 2016 by urbansuburbanmommy Posted in DIY .

We sat down with designers and lovely gals from 2Birds Design, Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon about some great ways to transform a small nursery into a stylish and functional girl’s bedroom. Andi and Renée offer some easy solutions and DIY projects that you can even try yourself.

2Birds Design: Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon

2Birds Design was hired to design a “big girl’s bedroom” as part of a birthday surprise for Valerie, who would be turning 3 years old. The task: maximize the limited square footage/space of the room, provide storage and offer a built-in bed solution.

Andi and Renée met the challenge with open arms and, as part of their design, they wanted to create a fun and interactive space so that Valerie was excited about transitioning into her new room. Custom platform bed systems are very expensive, so 2Birds decided on a custom designed storage bed (using IKEA cabinets!). This modular cabinet system provides a ton of storage in a consolidated area to allow for more open space and flexibility with furniture placement as storage and function over time.

The platform is built using basic plywood. It is in IKEA material, and added wood stair treads as well as a removable safety guard. 2Birds also decided to use a custom match, textured floor paint and basic foam floor tiles in pink (which you can purchase from department and hardware stores) for an anti-slip surface up to the bed. Navy, grey and yellow work with varying shades of pink and pattern play to create a fun space that will grow with Valerie.

: Before

: Light and bright

: Lots of storage

: Maximized the area

: Room to play

: Monogram V for Valerie

: Loft bed

: Wall to wall storage

: Color blocking

: Lots of color

We chose the colour scheme because we wanted something playful but that would grow with Valerie over the years. I instantly fell in love with the grey, pink, navy and yellow ikat fabric used on our large accent pillow and pulled our colour scheme from there.

Instead of overloading the room with extremely feminine tones, warm grey walls and a striking navy wall create an almost neutral backdrop for our layers of pink tones. A subtle light pink on the ceiling adds further interest, with pops of yellow and navy in the accent pillows adds to the fun but ‘not-too-young’ palette.

We kept the main pieces, like the frame of the platform bed and cabinets, area rug and bookcase white, so that the colour palette can be tweaked down the line by switching out the accessories. Even the pink cabinet doors can be switched out for another fun colour that IKEA offers.

We found the perfect drapery hardware, white sheers and deep fuchsia curtains at Walmart for an amazing price. We had them hemmed at a drycleaners for next to nothing ($10 a curtain panel) but these can also be easily hemmed with scissors, a neat fold and an iron on adhesive tape.

The floral tiebacks were a fun DIY and one of my favorite pieces in the room. I loved the idea of pulling in more of the navy and found the perfect navy and white polka dot floral hair clip at the accessory store Ardene. The overall size wasn’t quite large enough though so I used a glue gun to attach the navy flower to a slightly larger white flower. A white button finished off the centre, and I then glued the blossoms to a 2 inch wide piece of white fabric I had already hemmed using the above mentioned iron on adhesive tape. A small piece of velcro tape was all it took to hold the tie back together.

Valerie is quite crafty, so the small table and stool set was a great, inexpensive solution from IKEA. Made in a durable and washable material and in our perfect pinks, this purchase was a no brainer.

The bookshelf, pink and white boxes and pink polka dot bedding were all snagged from Target weeks before they were officially closed.

The pink princess canvas is also from Target, and sits beside the butterfly framed artwork from IKEA, and framed pieces of Valerie’s artwork.

Room to play

The rad cover was custom made by the contractor using pine boards we painted white, and geometric screen panels in the same pattern as our yellow accent pillow fabric.

The chandelier is available at West Elm and is made of capiz shells. I love the lightness of it against the pink ceiling and the pearlescent shells cast a beautiful reflection when lit.

2Birds Design: Andi Wheelband and Renée Gammon

Two Birds Design is comprised of principle designers, Renée Gammon and Andi Wheelband. With over 10 years experience working in award-winning design firms across Ontario, a partnership was formed to create a boutique interior design business. 2Birds specializes in creating unique and livable spaces while providing dedicated and personalized service, unrivaled by larger design firms.

With a focus on exceptional quality, creative thinking and attention to detail, 2Birds ensures each project is handled with integrity and precision, from the initial planning stages through to construction and implementation. Rather than working in a “signature style” they develop each design based on the unique personality and lifestyle of our client. The first step to a well-designed space is carefully considered space planning. Without it even the most beautiful rooms can feel cluttered, cramped and uncomfortable.

2BirdsDesign