Creative Children's Spaces. Fresh and imaginative ideas for modern family homes

Oprawa: Hardcover,  Format: 25,7x21,6 cm, Stron: 160, 2015 r.

Packed with fresh and imaginative ideas, Creative Children's Spaces by Ashlyn Gibson is the perfect companion for a journey into parenthood.

Putting together a creative and inspiring environment for children is perhaps one of the most exciting interior projects, yet it is also one of the hardest to get right. ‘Creative Children's Spaces’ is here to change that.

Firstly, stylist and author Ashlyn Gibson sets out to make sense of the basics, providing a valuable guide to creating a childhood haven that can evolve with your children and all their changing needs, from newborn to pre-teen. Next, Ashlyn discusses the key elements of successful and inspiring children’s spaces – color, wall décor, storage, display, dens and hideways, creative spaces plus homework zones, and cozy bedrooms.

She visits homes that feature imaginative and stylish design ideas and explores children’s spaces that provide an inspirational backdrop for busy family life. An award-winning retailer herself, Ashlyn also opens her own address book and reveals favourite online suppliers, design stores, and flea markets as well as suggesting blogs, instagram accounts, and pinterest boards that readers might like to follow.

About the Author
Ashlyn Gibson was creative director for Red or Dead footwear before founding award-winning London boutique Olive Loves Alfie. She is now a pro shop owner as well as a sought-after stylist. This is her first book. Ashlyn lives in Stoke Newington, London.

Contents

Introduction: Rooms to Grow 6

Color their World 16

Feature Home: Art House 28

Wonder Walls 34

Feature Home: Gorgeously Graphic 48

Clever Storage 54

Feature Home: House of Cards 68

Displaying Art 74

Feature Home: Carefully Curated 86

Dens and Hideaways 92

Feature Home: Up in the Clos 104

Creative Spaces and Homework Zones 110

Feature Home: Out of the Ordinary 124

Cozy Bedrooms 130

Feature Home: House of Fun 148

Sources 154

Picture credits 156

Business credits 158

Index 158

Acknowledgments 160

Taken from Ashlyn’s previous book, Creative Family Home

Homework and Creative Zones 

I can remember the desk I had as a child – a dark wooden cube with thick doors lined with shelves. There was a place for everything, and I loved it. I spent hours sitting at my desk, writing in my secret diary, making plans and playing games. Learning should be fun, and children’s work is to play and to imagine. My desk was the perfect place for that! 

There is something special about a child-sized desk teamed with the right-sized chair. With feet firmly on the ground, the child feels comfortable and in charge. Sitting and playing at their own desks encourages children to develop their powers of concentration, enabling them to zone out of the world around them and into their own activity. Becoming familiar with and enjoying their own organized space is also a good grounding for focusing on sty when children are older.

There are many different types of desk available, for all kinds of spaces and bgets, ranging from the very simple tabletop on trestles to the more elaborate and mass-produced, as well as the custom-made or the vintage. Kids love nooks, crannies and cubbyholes, so choose a desk with drawers or use storage units (such as the little chests of drawers available at IKEA) to provide a handy space for everything. Create a brightly lit workspace by positioning the desk close to a window, or by adding a desk lamp or a strategically placed pendant light. Make the space inviting, with your child’s name on the wall or the back of their chair. If possible, allow your children to use the walls around their desks like a noticeboard, where they can tape or pin up lists, pictures, postcards and other souvenirs. 

A cupboard or a few drawers containing things you need for a creative session can be an integral part of any space, and once opened to reveal their contents, they will transform it into a little artist’s stio. Putting out a small selection of materials will give an art activity focus and needn’t take up lots of room. Allowing your children to be creative means accepting that there will be a certain amount of mess and that they will need to be encouraged to help tidy up. If you have access to an outside space, let your children use it freely for creative play. A simple box of chalks used on the pavement or an outside wall is a fun activity, and the artwork will wash away with the next rain shower. 

It is easy to take a small-sized sketchbook and a mini set of pencils on any day out away from home. Don’t buy a new sketchbook until the first one is full – this will encourage children to see a project through to the end and also to respect the value of their materials. When a sketchbook is finished, date it and put it on the bookshelf. Looking back at it when they are older will be enormous fun for you as well as for them, and will illustrate how bold and brilliant their art was before any inhibitions kicked in. If you don’t have enough space to store or hang all of your children’s paintings, take photographs of their favourites and submit them to a children’s online art gallery, or save them in a dedicated file on your computer.

When my daughter Olive isn’t playing at her own desk, she enjoys taking over mine. I love finding little notes that she has written in my notebooks when she has been playing, and it gives her a connection to my world, too. However, if you are going to desk-share with your kids, you need to be disciplined about putting your own important work away first. Being charged with respecting other people’s possessions when in their space is a good lesson for children to learn. 

If you let your children share your workspace, you will enhance the communal spirit of a happy family home. And if you give them a dedicated personal space of their own as well, it will help to develop their independence.