family + history

Bold and Bright Baby + The Nursery

It’s so hard to believe little P (aka Hazelnut, aka The Nut, aka our good friends’ Jon + Audrey Camp‘s lovely daughter) is nearly one year old (this shot is from back when she was a little squish of just two months old). If you’re curious about how her life is unfolding, Audrey has written some beautiful essays on motherhood and life with P here, here and here and you know what, here, too. Actually better just take a look at all these posts on parenthood. They are all amazing.

As for P’s first room, I think it turned out quite well! Audrey sent over these shots from back when we had just finished and she was still pregnant all those days ago. Since then, well, P’s shown up, but the Camps have also bought an apartment in the super cool Grünerløkka borough of Oslo. So now we have first hand proof that Ferm Living’s wall stickers really do re-stick!

Check out the Mood Board and Product Board for this room. And don’t miss the post on P’s Camp Baby Shower also in the same theme of Bold, Bright and Adventurous!

Have an adventure loving week, everyone!

Pick of the Week + BEdesign

We’re California sunshine bound! My sis and her beau are getting married at the end of this month and I could not be happier to share the day with them. We’ll be spending nearly a month catching up with family and friends and just hanging out. I feel so lucky to have the best friends house and kitty sitting for us back here at home, and that means at least one case of Cali wine is coming home with us as presents! I’m so excited to visit our favorite vineyards, like Big White House and Concannon, and taste all the new releases. It’s gunna be an awesome trip. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on Fridays’ posts and over on Instagram + Twitter.

This week’s pick is a design company founded by a pair of inspiring sisters from Finland, BEdesign. Bette and Cilla Eklund, designer and marketing manager respectively, have stuck to the ideals of Finish design, staying true to raw materials and creating clean geometric forms that are intuitively functional. Above is one of my favorite piece from the collection, the Wave Table (which is in prototype). I love the effortless magazine rack wave that works set as a high or low table.

I also really like the Lume Coatrack, which comes in two sizes. The design is minimalistic but with a playful catch. The expected third and fourth leg to the rack are missing giving the whole piece a twisting feel and that extra bit of intrigue that makes this design irresistible for an entryway or ganged together in the bedroom.

This design team has such a great focus on creating the next generation of great Finish design. I got a change to meet with the sisters at the Stockholm Furniture Fair and their creative energy is infectious. BEdesign is definitely one one to watch.

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Valentine’s Day DIY + Felt Heart Pin

We have a pretty silly Valentines Day tradition. B and I wear big puffy felt hearts all day! They reminds us of our love while we’re off at work or out in the world.

I made this set maybe four years back so I’ve drawn out the tutorial for you guys. It’s super easy to craft together for a last minute Valentine’s Day surprise.

SUPPLIES

2 sheets of craft felt

this heart template (or just free hand it)

embroidery floss + needle

a small bit of pillow stuffing

safety pin

pen

TO MAKE

Cut out two hearts from the felt using the template and pen. Stitch the hearts together with embroidery floss about 1cm (about 1/2”) from the edge. Leave a small 5 cm (2”) opening with the needle and thread still attached. Stuff the heart with the stuffing and close up and tie off your heart. Stitch the non-opening side of the safety pin to the back of the heart at the fullest part (or just above).

I jazzed up my heart a bit by cutting away the top felt at the humps just a little to reveal the back felt. I encourage jazziness whenever possible.

Now, pin the heart to your chest and wear it proudly.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Bold And Bright Baby + Product Board

You guys remember the Bold and Bright Baby + Mood Board, right? I’m helping Audrey Camp outfit her nursery in preparation for her daughter, whom we are calling The Hazelnut. Today I’m sharing the product board for this design with you guys. This is a selection of all the things (or pretty close alternates) we’re really getting for the littlest Camp.

things // camping mobile + striped rug + white crib + patterned sheets (similar style) + solid sheets + crochet blanket made by Audrey’s mother (find similar yarn here) + mini triangle wallstickers + pendent light + orange drawer pull + mountain pillow + fox pillow + blue cart + vintage Wagner rocker + camping prints in custom colors + bookshelf + dresser

I love this part of the design process. Everything gets really real. Remember we had already decided on these lovely prints, so the next big thing was rug selection. The Camps live in the top floor space of their apartment building so they have lots of interestingly angled walls and skylight-esque windows, think nearly triangular prism-shaped rooms. All this interest makes for limited space to hang artwork and no way to hang traditional curtains. We also knew we would’t be painting any walls because of strict rental rules. Which means that the rug is the major focal point in the room and makes or breaks the whole concept.

We spent weeks searching for the perfect rug and scoured web sites and shops, both here in Scandinavia and in the US. We had to account for design, quality of materials, softness for baby faces and price + import fees. Finally, Audrey found this great resource for rugs in Scandinavia. She pinned everything with a bold pattern and we narrowed down the results together. I love the final selection of the Gabbeh Indian Blanket in hand loomed 20mm wool. I think it’s got the right amount of boldness and camping feel that’s slightly reminiscent of a Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket. It was worth the long search. It’s perfect.

Vinyl wall stickers are a great way to add pattern to a room without committing to something more permanent like wallpaper. I love Ferm Living’s Mini Triangles, I think they look like tiny tents! We’re going to apply them randomly and all over of one of the two flat walls in The Nut’s new room. The other flat wall will hold a wardrobe and IKEA KALLAX storage shelves along with this super cute (and cheap) IKEA RÅSKOG cart, which will be a mobile diaper changing station.

Probably one of my most favorite things that will be going into the new baby room is something I didn’t even help pick out! This beautiful vintage Hans Wegner rocking chair was a Christmas present from Jon to Audrey. So sweet! It fits just perfectly into the room, lending a bit of gravity and history.

So, there you have it. We still have a couple months to go before everything (including The Nut) has arrived but I’ll be sure to share some snap shots when it’s all ready!

Bold and Bright Baby + Mood Board

thread on paper by Emily Barletta / yellow pine / feather headpeice / yarn wall hanging / who runs the world / geode tea towel / cooking over the fire / stars / tree tops / triangle rug / orange knob / mother and daughter / orange tent / arrows print / vintage tea pot / triangle wall decals

I am so excited to be sharing this mood board with you guys! I mentioned a while ago that my dear friend, Audrey Camp of The Girl Behind The Red Door, asked me to help design a baby room for her daughter, whom we’re calling The Hazelnut.

Our concept started pretty broad. Audrey and her husband, Jon, are the outdoor adventurous type. They like hiking, climbing and (as the last name would imply) camping and you can bet their new little one will be along for the ride. Audrey spotted these prints by Niko and Lily on Etsy, so we got down to color selection right away. We wanted something bold and bright, nothing like the ubiquitous washed out calming colors of typical babies rooms. Audrey’s color has always been a bold bright red, so it seems right to center her daughter’s room around a bold red-orange (like Pantone’s Tangerine Tango). Hazelnut is going to be an adventurer.

I enjoy making mood boards for larger projects because it helps me visually focus on the final goal while working out the details. I kept this board open on my desktop while looking at products like rugs, lighting and bedding. I also like creating a shared secret Pinterest board where everyone can pin their ideas. It can be really hard to put words to color or the mood of a room. By pinning a multitude of images you can see a pattern start to emerge, and that can set you down the right path to a theme that makes everyone feel happy.

Next week, the bold and bright baby’s room product board.

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