PROFILE: ZidZid Kids

Photography & Styling: Marc Holden and Claire Bingham

EX-TEACHERS  Julie Klear (American) and husband Moulay Essakalli (Moroccan) are ZidZid, a charming design company based in the heart of Marrakech.

Merging European and American sensibilities with Moroccan handicraft techniques, they make tiny poufs, soft toys, babouches, storage, and bags (see the aeroplane bag, pictured left) - all hand-stitched in the house next door to the duo’s home, which they share with their children, Noor and Zak. The range is both growing fast (more shoes and books are next), and is guaranteed to charm your little one with its “Moroccan flair.” Read the rest of this article

Posted 1 September 2008 in Designer Profiles, Toys

SPORTING CHANCE: Sports-themed Bedrooms

WHAT TO DO if your son (or daughter) insists on a Chelsea FC-inspired bedroom? Tara Bernerd, CEO of Target Living found herself in the exact same quandry recently - creating a bedroom for a client’s football crazy almost-teenage son.

So, she took the Chelsea colours (a strong blue) as her guide, plumping for a B&B Italia FatFat bed by Patricia Urquiola, upholstered in denim fabric, a navy corduroy carpet, a Mini Buddabag seat in denim cord (289.99 euros), and a blue Miss K lamp by Philippe Starck from Panik Design, £139.99. She then added a good deal of bright orange in the form of an Eileen desk in grey oak with an orange base (also B&B Italia) and bespoke orange lacquer cabinets. She found a classic (rather than current) Chelsea footballing image and had it blown up into bespoke wallpaper by www.55max.com. 

Kate Hume, a British interior and glass designer based in Amsterdam, decided on a similar solution to a Moscow-based boys’ room (pictured above right - click to enlarge). She found a vintage Ajax football image, had it blown up as a feature wall, and then accessorised with Jielde lamps (find them at www.espacio.co.uk), plywood animal trophy heads from Vlaemsch, from 60 Euros, Eames chairs at the desk she designed herself (along with the beds) and custom made bedlinen from Gwendolino. There. As easy as kicking a bit of leather around a field. 

Posted 29 August 2008 in Real Life Interiors

TOP SHOP: Museum of Childhood online store

NOT ONLY IS THE V&A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green one of London’s best-kept secret kid-friendly venues - it’s also free! - but its online shop (launched last year in addition to the museum’s ‘real-life’ shop) is full of inspirational goodies for children aged 10 and under. Oh, and nostalgic adults too.

There are exclusive designs by the likes of design hero Clifford Richards (see our profile of Clifford here) including his lion and robot print drinking cups with in-built curly-wurly straws, and his cardboard fairy wings (the museum has taken his illustrations on as their own graphic identity, and frequent commissions will follow); and all-time-classic toys including tiddly-wink sets and modelling balloons; plus techno-freak kits such as rubber band powered planes for older kids. All of it is affordable and stuff you would actually want to buy. 80% of the shop’s sales come from purchases under £10 - intended as pocket money purchases.

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Posted 20 July 2008 in Shop Watch

TEN QUESTIONS, TEN ANSWERS: bookhou

BOOKHOU’S natural, graphic style of children’s products is as big on ethical thinking as it is on restrained Scandi-Nippon Modern looks. With a constantly changing online store featuring hand-made chairs, a rather lovely maple ply mobile in the shape of abstract birds, modern patchwork bed throws and graphic animal-print cushions (as well as adult prints and furniture), Bookhou’s Arounna Khounnoraj and John Booth - graduates in art and architecture and parents to Lliam, 2 - offer a charming and less commercialized take on stylish goods for children.

Plus their work is affordable - their wooden ply and recycled furniture chair - a kind of 21st-century eco-chic take on the Eames - is just 95 Canadian dollars, approximately £47, the animal cushion toys just C$45 (approx £22) and even better, they’re happy to ship their furniture to Europe and beyond… We spoke to Arounna for more on Bookhou’s work and home style. Read the rest of this article

Posted 6 July 2008 in Designer Profiles, Furniture