Carl Hansen Wishbone chair

I have a new chair love! Carl Hansen, Wishbone chair. This Danish classic design piece is very easy to spot in many Danish houses, but I have actually never had chance to touch it and see it in real. Last week we visited the Scandinavian design heaven in Rotterdam:  Northseadesign, and there it was! The quality, each little detail that you see and touch,  just so perfect….We had opportunity to borrow the chair for a photo session in our Rafa-kids studio! That’s why you can see our NEW white K desk together with the dark wood Carl Hansen, Wishbone chair….Can you imagine, this beautiful chair was designed in 1950! Some furniture pieces never get old and I am now pretty sure I will welcome some in my home one day. 

I wish you a wonderful weekend! 

Pictures: K desk  from Rafa-kids (1 & 2 ) /3 & 4 /5 /6  

Olive Loves Alfie - London

We are very exited to receive a fresh press material from children’s store Olive Loves Alfie in London.  

9 years ago they opened their first store dedicated to kid’s world and last year they have launched a new store Olive Loves Alfie East in London's newest postcode E20. Perching on the edge of the Olympic park they have found an urban idyll. The store is run by interior design lover Ashlyn Gibson , creative director of two interior books. I presented you one of them here:  Creative childrens spaces. 

Don’t you think our Rafa-kids R toddler bed look so representative and beautiful ?   If you are in London, now is the chance to see and touch our furniture in this inspiring space. We could not be more proud. Please have a look for more details:  Olivelovesalfie. 

Monday inspiration - Dutch children’s rooms

It seems hardly probable that children’s rooms in a certain country would look very similar to each other. But it surly happens in Holland.There aren’t the same, but there are patterns which keep reappearing and  I like to spot them for you today. 

What’s so specific about the original Dutch children’s rooms ? 

First of all , if you would see a bed made out of raw wood, recycled material or ‘bedstee’ ( bed in a cupboard-old fashioned Dutch way of sleeping) you might be on the right way!  Many parents build beds for children  themselves. DIY ideas are a second nature in this country. If someone is not that handy - why do not  look for an old furniture with character? Searching for not expensive, second hand furniture is definitely a sport in itself for many Dutch. You will also notice that they appreciate earth colours, natural looking materials and accessories with a history.  Vintage finds, personal and relaxed atmosphere will emanate from their children’s rooms. Mix and match, that’s their another great strength. And well - colours - it looks like nobody is afraid of them , but maybe that’s a theme for a next post….

Thank you VTwonen magazine for all the pictures and inspiration! 

toys with a soul - Fanny&Alexander

I tell my boys that I remember the time when there was no mobile phones or iPads, that their grandparents didn’t even have a tv. They really have problem to believe me…and always ask me, what did you play with ? World without all the electronics for the little people, do you still remember it ?  Would you be happy to get back to it ? 

I’m glad to see such brands like Fanny&Alexander from Argentine, encouraging fantasy and imagination of children. Founder Delfina Aguilar dream was to create old fashioned, handcrafted toys and then create a world around them.

“ It’s about capturing that unique feeling of childhood from another time, today.” 

Laia Aguilar - The Animals Observatory SS16

THE MANIFESTO TAO

1.

We will celebrate the beauty of

the passage of time through things.

2.

We will be honest like animals and clever like children.

3.

Every morning, as we open the wardrobe, we will sing old songs for a new world.

4.

We will follow our instinct to the Northern Lights.

5.

Love above all. Equality above all. Kindness above all.

6.

We will play hide and seek with the stupid and the selfish. And they’ll never find us.

7.

We will light candles with kisses and look each other in the eyes.

8.

We will not respect museums that don’t tell the truth.

9.

We will reject any wool that’s scratchy.

10.

We will do things with passion, complete passion and nothing but passion.

You probably notice that I hardly ever talk about fashion for children on my blog, but there is a new born kids’ fashion label, which can’t just past away not noticed out here. It’s like a fresh breeze from Spain I’m glad to enjoy. Laia Aguilar is a former founder and creative director of Bobo Choses , where she was working from 2008 to 2014. Few days ago she officially launched her first SS16 clothing collection for children from 0 to 12 called The Animals Observatory. If I can be honest with you, when I saw today the family house of Laila on Thesocialitefamily blog I started to put the puzzles in places and like the whole story even more. 

As Laia said about her collection : “ The Animals Observatory " aims to be the clothing brand of our children’s children. Timeless in trends that really have nothing to do with fashion, it’s about being close to little family stories. The central influence on my designs for The Animals Observatory is perhaps the animal world seen through the eyes of a child, with curiosity, empathy and excitement.” 

Do I need to explain more? I absolutely love her style and that she can stay close to her instincts and feelings and create such a fresh and original collection. I wish the new born TAO a great success! 

Monday inspiration - green wall in children’s rooms

I think the green trend is here to stay and I absolutely love it. Adding natural greenery, plants and flowers to the interior gives it texture and fresh atmosphere….but what do you think about a green coloured wall ? My absolutely favourite walls are grey but maybe it is time to try something new? Personally I found green one of the most difficult colours to adapt in an interior, but this dark tones, are looking very interesting and deep. 

I found for you few great example of green walls in a children’s space. Two of them are with  wallpapers, which are very playful and catch the eye.  I’m sure my 5 years old would love this  “ jungle” vibe in his space with a plenty of dinosaurs to play. Green goes so well with white and wood furniture , which might be my favourite combination for children’s space at the moment. 

If you need some inspiration how to add natural plants into your home, 

please check Rafa-kids Pinterest:  Greenery at Home. 

Thank you for the inspiration : 

picture 1 / 2-3 - Maaike Koster / 4-5 Tellkiddo / 

6-7  Insideout magazine- styling Phoebe McEvoy photo Sam Mcadam-Cooper

favorite stylist part 5 - Kim van Rossenberg

It is finally Friday and I can relax and do something I really like….look for inspirations for my blog. 

You asked me where I take my inspiration from. There are many different ways I get inspired, so let’s start with the first one. Favourite stylists, yes, I follow them on INSTAGRAM, Pinterest and I look for their latest work in magazines and books. Today I would like to show you work of Kim van Rossenberg, who I came across in the Dutch VTwonen magazine. She really likes to work with natural materials and colours, and is a big fun of DIY. What always catches my eye and what I like the most about her style, is that she tries to bring some new ideas and show products in a fresh way. Look at the ladder , which she used in a children room. What a great way to divide a room in a transparent way, child can climb on it, but also hang favourite toys and garment. And do you like the big wardrobe painted half dark and half white, exactly the same as the wall? Such a brilliant idea, to soft the look of such a dominant furniture in a room.  It doesn’t take so much attention anymore and look just so nicely as a part of the child’s room. 

Looking at other stylist’s work, doesn’t mean I wan’t to do exactly the same thing of course, but it gives me sort of fresh wind and inspires me to also try my own ideas and to experiment. 

Thank you Kim for your great inspiration! Kim van Rossenberg on Instagram. 

Pictures via: vtwonen 

Hereby my older posts with other stylist work which I admire and follow: 

part 4  - Jessica Hanson / part 3 - Hans Blomquist  / 

part 2 - Jenni Juurinen /  part 1- Susana Vento 

new WHITE at Rafa-kids

Let’s start a new year in white, clean and stylish way. 

Do you feel a new energy to organise your space, to clean it and make things work better? 

I definitely do. 

Please welcome our Rafa-kids furniture in pure white finish. Last year we introduced R toddler bed - limited edition in this colour and it was a big success. Many of our customers asked for it and that’s why we decided to gave it a try! They were so right.  The new white collection is absolutely stunning. 

F bunk bed with the A teen bed in pure white finish, is a perfect furniture set for a modern space. We designed it for children which share a single room. The younger child ( from 6 years)  can enjoy his bunk bed and the older one ( from 8 years) can have the slick A teen bed . These two beds are in adult size and can be used for many years in different configurations.  

Let’s welcome this stunning WHITE pieces into our children’s rooms.

2016

Welcome in New Year.

A new start…light and blank space in front of us, which feels like beautiful welcome for new ideas and challenges. I really like this time of the year, 

because it’s so easy to believe that all the new and good things are so close to my reach 

and that’s all I want is possible. Do you feel that too ?  

Making plans for 2016 makes me so exited. If you wrote my blog post: living-in-old-school 

you probably know, I’m looking for a new home for our family. In January 2016, we will know for sure if the place we found can be ours, and we believe this will be a start of a new journey for us. 

This year will bring us into our 40ties and we wish to celebrate it with an exotic trip…

but for now, I can’t tell you any more. 

There are many new ideas and plans for Rafa-kids brand in 2016. 
New furniture which we already working on and some exited collaborations.  Oh yes! We also hope to welcome a new people into our creative team.  Yes - look for a sign - we are hiring very soon.  

Rafa-kids stock will grow substantially and we’ve already made some logistics improvements, which will hopefully give us more space for creative work and to be with you! 

I can’t wait to start the journey! 

pictures 1/2