REAL LIFE SINGAPORE: Vera’s Room

SIXTEEN MONTH OLD Vera is the second daughter of Singapore-based art director Roy Poh, whose graphic design studio is called A Beautiful Design. Roy works from home - a three-storey house in the eastern part of Singapore near the beach: “surrounded by quaint two-storey shophouses occupied by mostly cafes and restaurants” and far away from the city’s high rises - so he can look after eight-year-old Kyra and year old Vera, whose room is a treasure trove of finds that betrays Roy’s “passion for art, toys, collectibles, books, typography and all things quirky.”

“My girls shares my collections since I use these items to decorate their rooms,” explains Roy, a founding member of Singapore’s Design Society. “For most of the collectibles I bought I like to spray paint them either white, black or sometimes luminous colors. Once I bought the kids a pair of brown rabbits (made of clay) and the next day Kyra was puzzled as to why they’d turned white. I told her they’d had a scare and all the brown fur dropped off… Of course she knew I was kidding….”

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Posted 4 February 2011 in Real Life Interiors

INTERIOR DESIGNERS: Wary Meyers

ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE blogs is the beautiful, retro-themed Wary Meyers, penned by artist and interior designer John Meyers. Based in Maine, John and his wife Linda create beautiful, original interiors and soft furnishings under the name Wary Meyers Decorative Arts. Previously Linda was a graphic designer in New York, and John was Corporate Display Director for Anthropologie. They live with Fletcher, pictured above, their almost toddler.

John took the time to answer a few questions for us and show us his son Fletcher’s room and his best buys for the same.

LittleBig: You’ve designed for children in the past - what’s been your favourite child’s project to date?

John Meyers: The first thing we really designed for a kid - or actually two kids - was the bunk bed for a friend of ours [see gallery, bottom]. It was influenced by architecture’s International Style, having basically two plain white slabs and a minimalist guardrail, with a nod to Walter Gropius’s Bauhaus building in the ladder’s design, which spells out “BUNKBED” in big wooden type. Shifted 90 degrees the letters can be easily climbed as their stems are then all parallel. The whole room was pretty fun- we painted very faint clouds on the walls and ceiling (an idea from Sir Terence Conran’s 1975 House Book); the curtains were made from a really nice blue and red Finnish fabric, from the 60’s or 70’s, there were two big old Brian Wildsmith posters on the walls, and a giant blue and green Danish Rya rug. Read the rest of this article

Posted 28 January 2011 in Lifestyle + Interiors, Real Life Interiors

VIRTUAL ROOM: Kate Monckton Interior Designs

IN BETWEEN commissions to re-decorate a Queen Anne drawing room and sourcing key decorative elements for Queen of Shops’ Mary Portas new Living & Giving store in London’s Primrose Hill, interior designer Kate Monckton found time to create an inspirational concept for a young boy, aged “5-7ish”.

“I have selected items that are very much in keeping with the upcycled/reclaimed design ethos which is always something close to my heart,” says Kate. “Annoyingly I have rather expensive taste, so some of the things are not cheap, but I hope however that the ideas can give someone inspiration for a hardwearing, cool, unique room that celebrates the growing interest for recycled materials in an exciting and credible way.” Click on the image for a larger view. See stockist details below…. Kate charges from £350 plus VAT for a bespoke moodboard concept.

*Kate Monckton Interior Design: www.katemonckton.com

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Posted 3 December 2010 in Virtual Rooms

REAL LIFE LONDON: Edie’s Room

EDIE HALL’S MUM Bianca admits she’s something of a control freak. “Looks-wise we don’t always see eye to eye,” says the printmaker - who runs the sweet graphics brand Kiss Her [see Toot Sweet left on Edie's wall] - of her six-year-old daughter. “It’s tricky because obviously it’s her room and I want her to have creative input too, but hey, she’s six and prone to strange style ideas!”

Bianca admits her take on Edie’s room at their home in Stoke Newington, North London, is “warm and inviting for her rather than too styled” - something that has been achieved “over the years with collecting bits and bobs from here, there and everywhere. Read the rest of this article

Posted 5 November 2010 in Real Life Interiors

Real Life Interior: Copenhagen

Photographer: Tia Borg Smidt

COPENHAGEN-BASED DESIGNERS Tobias and Hanne Scheel Mikkelsen are parents to a graphics and interior design business, What We Do, their daughter, Silke, and a whole lot of talent.

This is put to good use in projects such as corporate identity, a brand new range of wallstickers for kids with Illux, (click on the ‘kids’ section) and their own home, featured below.

Tobias and Hanne’s home is a departure from typical ideas of Danish design. “We’re big fans of the functionality and coolness of Scandinavian design,” says Tobias, “but we also like to play with colours and patterns to avoid a too ‘cold and designed’ look. Too many Scandinavian design-classics and subtle colors are (though they look great on photos) just not our personal style. We like a tight style with colourful and eye-opening surprises! - that pretty much sums up why our apartment looks like this.” Read the rest of this article

Posted 26 July 2010 in Real Life Interiors