Decor News
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Setting the mood WITHOUT candles
Nothing sets the mood like a candle, right?! I won’t lie and say this was an easy swop, I LOVED candles and especially when we had a dinner party, friends over for a visit or even to burn next to my bath after a long day. There is just that vibe a burning candle provides. These days, I can’t light a candle without wondering what I am breathing in, because the candle company might not be telling you. So how can you recreate that cozy vibe and amazing smell without possibly* breathing in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde, toluene and benzene, released from candles made from paraffin wax and synthetic…
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Llama Llove nursery
Llama nursery design by The Collaborative SA! This Llama themed nursery is the perfect inspiration if you want to create a peaceful, neutral nursery and of course Llamas are sooo adorable! We used soft neutrals, layered with texture and natural elements and certainly the gorgeous Llama’s steals the show. Get The Llama Nursery Look: La Fede Designs: Llama soft toys, soft toys, Llama Rattle, Llama blanket, Door stop. LittleME by Little Interiors: High Contrast Dangles, Play Gym Ami & Me: Muslin Blankets The Curious Kitten: Llama Mobile Oumaz handmade: Crochet Blankets, Rug Stonecamp Leather: Laura Shoes Ko-coon: Baby Changing basket Tiger Lily: Tiger Lily Gift Set, Nesting dolls We would love…
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Decorex 2018 #rhythmoflife
Decorex 2018 Decorex JHB, the leading décor, design and lifestyle exhibition, will be celebrating 25 years of connecting people with the latest trends, styles, textiles and furniture at this year’s #rhythmoflife show. “It has been an incredible year for décor and design and we are so excited to be celebrating these beautiful trends – while looking forward to 2018’s inspiration – with the 25th Decorex Joburg,” Sian Cullingworth, Portfolio Director: Design, Lifestyle and Retail Exhibitions at Reed Exhibitions. “This show is a culmination of both regionally and globally-inspired designs that draw on more than two decades of industry knowledge fused into the best that current décor trends have to offer.…
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Monochrome Nursery
A monochrome nursery is always a winner and currently one of the most popular schemes for nurseries and even toddler rooms. It has become the go to scheme for gender neutral nursery themes for parents, and it is a great way of incorporating high contrast stimulation for promoting that teeny baby’s visual development. LittleME dangles are perfect for this. How do you create a monochrome nursery or monochromatic room scheme? Firstly you need to understand what monochrome schemes are all about. Monochromatic colours are all the colours (tones, tints and shades ) of a single hue. Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a single base hue and extended using its…
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Furniture sizes for kids
I’m currently busy doing a playroom that will need to accomodate a 4 year old, a 7 year old and occasionally older as well as younger kids. This huge age group has definite changes in furniture needs so I opted to look at bigger furniture than the average toddler furniture available as this sized furniture is not suitable for older kids. Here are some guidelines for choosing chair and table sizes for your kids: The easiest way to check if a chair is the correct hight for your child is for them to sit on it. Their feet should touch the floor with their knees bent at 90 degrees. A…
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Pregnancy keepsakes
Setting the mood WITHOUT candles
We heart South Africa nursery
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, Mood Board, On a Budget, Things I love, Trends
Cutest flamingo room inspiration
Let’s Flamingle! I’m a little flamingo obsessed this week. It is my daughter’s 7th birthday next week and I’m all flamingo and glittered up and in full party prep mode. While looking for some party decor I kept on being distracted by the gorgeous room decor that jumped up onto my screen. So I thought I will share some inspiration with you. The beauty of this theme is that you can use flamingos in a very fun, tropical room setting as well as in a very subtle and elegant setting. I love it either way. Fun tropical room with some flamingo accents The soft pinks paired with greys This…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, LittleME, Mood Board, Nursery, sourcing service, Trends
Llama drama nursery
Do you love llama’s? No prob-llama!! So do I! {can you tell?} This llama mama have picked some of the most llama-licious inspired interiors and products to share with you… There might be an Alpaca seen here or there but hey, let’s go on an adventure… alpaca my bag! One of the main reasons that love the Llama themed look is that you can go either for a very bright and cheery look, opt for the more neutral and natural look and it even works very well with a monochrome black and white look. So save you drama for ya…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, Gifting Ideas, LittleME, New Product Alert, sourcing service, Things I love, Trends
Pregnancy keepsakes
I love gorgeous keepsakes and special ways of keeping a memory alive especially when it comes to my kids. I love making and keeping imprints and prints of my kids hands and feet, just because they will never be that little again and the kids also love seeing how small they were. Although there are many ways of keeping these memories alive, there are a few that stand out quite a bit. I just had to share my current two keepsake crushes with you. Ultra Sound Embroidery You do get lovely frames, books and boxes to put your precious ultrasound or 3d Sonar pictures in but to have this embroidered…
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Sweet baby girl nursery
On the theme of neutral nurseries we created a spinoff from our neutral nursery; a sweet girly nursery fit for a princess but that does not scream pink from every corner of the room. A gorgeous room elegantly styled in soft pinks, natural wood and hints of metallics. A cozy retreat for mom and baby! Suppliers used in this style session: La Fede Designs: Heirloom soft toys LittleME by Little Interiors: Print clip frames Lotters Pine Harties: Cot, Compactum, Rocking chair Pure Sweet Joy : Bear shelf decor Onyx & Fair: Diamond garland Ami & Me: Muslin blanket Cherry dot Studio: Knot Pillows Amavi: Moses Basket, Linen Cot Bedding That Kid…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, LittleME, Nursery, The Collaborative, Toddler Room, Trends
Neutral Nursery Love
A neutral nursery will always be in style due to its adaptability and this design fits right into our tribute to our beautiful South Africa for our latest style session. People have different reasons for creating gender neutral nurseries, some do not know the gender of the baby, some would like the nursery to last for more than one gender baby and some just prefer the sophisticated look of a neutral palette. What we do love about a gender neutral nursery is that you can easily add bold patterns or textures to your design. We loved the natural wood finish of the furniture supplied by Lotters Pine, Harties Store. (you…
- Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, Mood Board, On a Budget, Play Rooms, The Collaborative, Trends
South African Chic Girls Room
A minimalist contemporary girls room with a South African flair – because local is chic! In this room reveal we wanted to again incorporate what we love about our beautiful South Africa, into a very chic girls room. Modern simplistic designs inspired by Scandinavian styles merged with touches of simplistic South African inspired design. This room is the perfect fit for any tween to teen girl. South African Chic We decided to use a blush pink in this room as it is more of a mature pink compared to other pinks and it is an amazing colour to combine with metallics. Using blush pink in an all white interior like…
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We heart South Africa nursery
We heart South Africa In the next nursery reveal we want to share how we love and experience South Africa. This country, located on the most southern tip of Africa has the ability to offer the best of everything this continent has to offer. South Africa offers an amazing canvas rich with colour and texture. With the use of natural raw materials like wood and concrete and colours mimicking the African landscape against this very white background we were able to create a modern minimaslist look into the beauty of this land. We ❤ South Africa…..This is our local! Suppliers used in this style session: La Fede Designs: Heirloom…
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How can you use your high contrast dangles?
Our LittleME high contrast dangles are amazing when using them with our frames, but they bring out very creatives sides of moms when they are one the move or just do not have the tools necessary!! As a standard we recommend using the high contrast dangles on the steel frame that fits over the changing table as well as the wooden baby gyms. They also work great on the move when attached to the car seat handle or the headrest of the car. Chenel from Life with James & Jaxson shared how Jaxson rolls when they are out and about. We often receive images from happy mommies showing us how…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, Kids Interiors, New Product Alert, Nursery, The Collaborative, Toddler Room, Trends
Contemporary nook
We’ve created a little nook as a wee bit of a teaser for the next few The Collaborative reveals. We are leading up to the Kamers|Makers Autumn show at St David’s Marist Inanda and we have an amazing product range lined up and have included some of the brands in the next few reveals. “The definition of a nook is a part of a room which is separate from the rest of the room, or a secluded spot.” We all have a spot in the house or even a room that is dedicated to a single activity or person. We have created a reading nook and a baby nook. This…
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The Collaborative – Autumn inspiration
The sun is rising a little bit later each morning and the leaves are turning into all shades of brown and burnt orange. Autumn is creeping up and slowly letting us get use to the cooler months approaching. I’m not a winter person at all but these in between seasons are really the prettiest months of the year. This inspired us to create a style session inspired by the colours of autumn. A feast for the eyes and such a warm and inviting colour scheme. We played around with the amazing products that the collaborators sent and came up with different visions of autumn! A few of our favourite products…
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The Collaborative – Love is in the air
It is only fitting that we start our first The Collabortive room reveal for 2018 embracing the month of love with pinks and reds taking the lead role for the month and this reveal. Many of us grew up hearing that pink and red do not go well together, a big fashion no-no, although pink is a hue of red. But come modern times this clashing combo is not frowned upon at all and using it in the correct amounts and adding some dazzling metallic and you create a spectacular, sophisticated space. We created a gorgeous neutral setting adding pinks and reds as accents to embrace our ‘Love is in the…
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Decorex 2017
This year Decorex SA has introduced the Milk Jug cafe to the Decorex shows, an area specifically dedicated to kids, surrounded by kids decor and interior inspiration. Little Interiors was honoured to have teamed up with an amazing group of kids decor brands to design a drool-worthy nursery space. My aim was to create a nursery design that will catch the eye of not just the expecting parent, and for the design to be a talking point by stepping out of the normal box of what a nursery should look like. I wanted to create an industrial Scandinavian look with pops of steampunk and an adventure theme combined. Concrete, steel…
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The Collaborative – The Flamingo Room
The flirtatious and flamboyant flamingo is the centre point of this new room reveal. The currently trendy bird is popping up everywhere. It is believed that “To see a Flamingo in your dream symbolises your sense of community and cooperation. If you focus on working together toward a common goal you will be successful.” (Click here for source) It is so fitting to have a flamingo part of The Collaborative as this is exactly what we stand and aim for. The mint and pink colour combination is fresh and enticing, both colours tend to be calming and relaxing so a perfect colour scheme for a bedroom. This room is a…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, Nursery, On a Budget, Play Rooms, sourcing service, The Collaborative, Trends
The Collaborative – Boho Chic Room
Boho chic is top of the current trend lists, the style is influenced by both bohemian and hippy styles. We used florals, pastels and macrame as key elements in making this boho theme work well. We used more pastel colours which makes an amazing nursery theme but can also be ideal for an older child by adding more jewel tones. We love using natural wood with this room. Macrame has made such a huge comeback and this art of knotting cords and ropes has been stepped up a notch since it was popular in the 70’s and the more modern updated look even pops out in jewellery. See some Macrame projects here. Supplier list for…
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The Collaborative – The Unicorn Room
Unicorns, bunnies, rainbows and sleepy clouds…. that’s what girls are really made of. The unicorn room is a busy, fun and eclectic room to inspire and bring creative play to every little girl! This room was purely designed with fun in mind, and boy did we play. We are loving the bunny sleeping bags from Krokenoster, and we’re completely in love with the new brand Mooma, all their original designs are gorgeous. We love the combination of pink and mint with the addition of some muted colours throughout. Pink can be an overwhelming colour, especially if mom is not a big fan of it. By using pink with subtle and complementary…
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What brand reps mean for South African small businesses
“Brand repping” is a reinvented way of advertising. It has been around forever and has recently been a growing marketing tool in South Africa for small businesses using people with a good eye, trendy style and growing online following. You can get high quality photo’s of your products in real life settings and you get to reach a far bigger audience. For any small business with a low marketing budget this is ideal. You do however get different types of brand representatives and it is important to know what will be a better fit for your business. Bloggers have been around for ages and would generally do paid posts or reviews on…
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Become a #LittleBubBrandrep
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Holiday 2016 lust-haves {Win}
Whether we like it or not, Christmas holidays are around the corner and that means Jingle Bells, beach days, cocktails, and loads of fun in the sun. Here are my holiday season lust-haves for summer 2016. 1. Benbat OLY mirror: The drive to the beach is far for some of us, especially when you have a baby. I got this for my baby as his first Christmas gift. He was only 2 months old as I would have like him to remain rear facing in his car seat for as long as possible this was perfect. My little boy is now 2 and still asks me to switch on his “friend” as the mirror has…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, Nursery, On a Budget, The Collaborative, Trends
The Collaborative – African inspired nursery
African inspired nursery This theme has always been my favourite nursery theme. Both my kids had a version of an African inspired nurseries. All our fellow South African suppliers had some awesome contributions for this room. The colour scheme was a wash of white and natural colours with pops of green coming from the Lielies kids nest, the Madiba doll from Fox and Moon and the pillows in the crib. Animals have been a very big feature in the nursery trends and nothing beats some of South Africa’s most loved animals. The Drakensberg shelf made an appearance again, and was a perfect fit for this room. By utilising items like the…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, Kids Interiors, New Product Alert, Nursery, Shop @ Little Interiors, sourcing service, Storage, Things I love, Toddler Room, Trends
Introducing LittleME!
I’m so exited to be launching the LittleME range of hangers and organizers. Our LittleME hand painted wooden hangers are the perfect addition to a children’s/baby room. The hangers are designed to display a special piece of clothing, accessories or just used as a decor item in a room. They are made from quality European birch plywood and hand painted to create a special feature in your child’s room. Due to the fact each hanger is individually hand painted, there might be slight imperfections in the hangers that makes your hanger one of a kind. Use the LittleME hanging organisers to keep your baby’s clothing organised by size from newborn (0) until 18 months. Flip…
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How to space decals
For a while now decals has been a trendy wall decor option, not only because it can be removed easily but also because it is so easy to install. It can however be a little daunting when you have to space the smaller decals an equal distance from each other. I have a fairly accurate eye and can pick up a slight difference easily and it would bug me until I fix it so I looked for an option that is easy and accurate. You will need to do the following: 1. Determine the width (and height) you want them to be apart. 2. Cut a piece of cardboard…
- Baby Interiors, Choosing colour, Decor News, Events, Grownup Interiors, Kids Interiors, Nursery, Paint, sourcing service, Things I love, Toddler Room, Trends
Decorex 2015 – my favourites
To me, this year’s Decorex was all about lights, textiles and wood and all I can say is WOW!! The show really had a lot to offer and the 100% Design South African section did not seize to amaze. Colours that are trending right now is oceanic blues, dusty yellows, rosy pinks and a gorgeous blue grey. Plascon has an amazing new palette for every trendy colour, see more trends here. The Plascon colour of the year 2016 is Atlantic Beach B5-B1-1. Visit the Plascon Space Showroom for expert advise on colour and products. Read my review of my experience at the Plascon Spaces Showroom here. View the Colour Forecast 2016 here. Here’s…
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Design your nursery with Mamas & Papas
I told you a few weeks back about the wonderful products that Mamas & Papas has on offer here, and the one thing that was the most striking to me about the store was the beautiful colours of the fabrics and accessories. This inspired me to do a full design board using their beautiful colours and awesome products to create a beautiful Mamas & Papas nursery. I used the Harbour collection in the ivory colour and some accents from the Timbuktales nursery range. This delightful nursery collection is fresh and modern. Charming curves and soft lines create this idyllic look and feel. The 3 piece Harbour collection boasts a full sized wardrobe, changer that converts…
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, Kids Educational Toys, Kids Interiors, Nursery, sourcing service, Things I love, Trends, Uncategorized
Simply Gorgeous
Following international trends can sometimes be frustrating when you can’t find the items locally. Simply Child combines local craftsmanship with fresh and trendy designs. Here are some of the gorgeous products they stock. My favourite is the felt rug. All the items can be found here. Mariette SakelliouI am extremely passionate about creating stylish spaces that not only promote growing and learning but spaces that grow with your child. Apart from creating gorgeous, functional spaces I love doing DIY projects and I am devoted to share tips and tricks to create a happy and healthy home for the whole family.
- Baby Interiors, Decor News, Gifting Ideas, Kids Educational Toys, Kids Interiors, New Product Alert, sourcing service, Things I love, Trends
MamaMagic New Product Awards
The Product Innovation Awards have become one of the most exciting and sought-after titles at the MamaMagic expo, as they are an opportunity to shine the spotlight on any new and innovative products that MamaMagic exhibitors have launched to the local South African parenting market. This year they launched the new, improved New Product Awards in its place. This MamaMagic product award finalists were top notch. I was very excited to be part of the judging panel again for the Joburg Winter 2015 show. (See my post on the Product Innovation Awards 2013) It has been an exiting year regarding new and innovative products in South Africa and even the world. I was asked to…
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Mamas & Papas
I was invited to the Mamas & Papas Melrose Arch store for some Mother’s Day treats and some product demo’s. I’ve been familiar with the brand since my little girl was a baby, and the quality is just amazing, but I had to get it from abroad back then. Mamas & Papas entered the South African market about 3 years ago, and they have really set the mark high for brands to compete. Here are some snaps from the day and the store. I was in love with the beautiful colours. We received a demo of the new Armadillo flip XT as well as some feeding chair demos. I was very impressed with…
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Mamas & Papas wants to spoil you for Mother’s Day
Mamas & Papas will be hosting an exclusive afternoon tea at their store in Melrose Arch and I am looking for 5 moms that can join me for an afternoon filled with tea, cupcakes and more. All you need to do is comment bellow that you will be attending and send me a confirmation email HERE with all your details and I’ll add you to the exclusive guest list. (You need to do both) T & C’s *You must be able to attend event on Thursday 7 May at 14h00 in Melrose Arch *You must arrange your own transport *You must comment and send your details in order to be picked *First 5 successful entries will…
- Baby Interiors, Craft, Decor News, DIY Ideas, Gifting Ideas, Nursery, On a Budget, Play Rooms, Storage, Things I love
DIY: Fabric toy bags
Want to make your own fabric toy bags? I made these fabric bags for the African Themed Nursery I shared recently. The smaller one is being used to store baby toys and teddies and the taller one as a laundry basket. I reinforced both the barrels with iron on batting but I had to use cardboard for the laundry basket between the layers, just to keep it from falling over. It still has the effect I wanted but it’s just a little bit more stable. I cut my own pattern for these two sizes and tweaked a little as I was sewing. Here is a very nice tutorial I found…
- Decor News, Kids Educational Toys, Kids Interiors, New Product Alert, sourcing service, Storage, Things I love, Trends
The Lego Activity Table
There is a new lego table on the market and it is SIMPLY the best. We’ve had some lego storage options come and go and I was excited to see that we have a reliable and good quality option back on the market. Head over to Simply Child to get hold your very own lego table and so much more gorgeous goodies. How do you keep the lego’s tidy? Mariette SakelliouI am extremely passionate about creating stylish spaces that not only promote growing and learning but spaces that grow with your child. Apart from creating gorgeous, functional spaces I love doing DIY projects and I am devoted to share tips…
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Roses are RED and nurseries TOO!!
Red nursery designs are not comon but as everything turns red during the month of love, it is just fitting to have some red inspiration. Red really does make your heart beat faster for a second when you walk into a room, that’s why you need to be extra careful when using red, but do not be afraid of it. It is a very passionate and warm colour and can evoke different emotions in different people, and can bring out some volatile behavior. For this reason we would not use red wall to wall in a nursery, but in accent colours around the room. You want your nursery to be a…
- Autism, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Decor News, Kids Educational Toys, Safety, Trends, Uncategorized
Designing for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
I stumbled upon Medina Sam from MK Kids Interiors, a UK based interior designer, via social media a while ago and I have been following her work and blog since then. One of the amazing services she offers is an interior design service specifically for Autistic children. Here are some tips from Medina to design a fitting room for a child with ASD: Click here for the blog post. “In designing a room for your child with ASD: 1. Create a simple layout of the space, one that will give your child easy access to the things he/she will need. If you have limited space, where your child will use one room…
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Down Syndrome: What we are learning from Luke
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Pasella Interview
For those who missed the Pasella interview, here is the clip. The room featured on this episode is my daughters Disney inspired room. You can see the full post here. This was my first tv interview ever and hopefully the first of many. Enjoy watching. {Mariette} Mariette SakelliouI am extremely passionate about creating stylish spaces that not only promote growing and learning but spaces that grow with your child. Apart from creating gorgeous, functional spaces I love doing DIY projects and I am devoted to share tips and tricks to create a happy and healthy home for the whole family.
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Buying a cot or crib? Is it safe?
Are you buying a cot or crib? Did you know that there are certain regulations regarding a cot or crib for your baby? Most people do not know about this here and are actually using cribs/cots deemed unsafe by these regulations, but luckily more South African manufacturers are working towards the UK & Australian regulations, which is great, but it is still not a big advertising point here as consumers are not educated about the regulations as they are not enforced yet. Using a hand-me-down crib or that awesome vintage find that is just gorgeous, may just be detrimental to your child or their health. And yes, our parents did survive those…
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Navy is the new Black
Yes it is true… one of the the hottest nursery trends for 2014 is NAVY! And we love it. The first thing you might think is that it can only work for boys. Navy is as neutral as you can get, so using it for a girls room and for a neutral nursery will be a perfect choice. (See my post about dark colours) Here are some boys, girls and unisex nursery inspiration with navy as the main colour. A trend that I see more and more is to use navy and brights together to create vibrant modern rooms. I am absolutely loving this trend. Some awesome colours that works perfectly…
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A Little Birdie Told Me
I am totally in LOVE with Cotton On Kids and I just found out that the will be bringing their kids bedding to South African stores soon via the I Want That Blog… Go over there and read all about it. {Happy Decorating} Mariette Mariette SakelliouI am extremely passionate about creating stylish spaces that not only promote growing and learning but spaces that grow with your child. Apart from creating gorgeous, functional spaces I love doing DIY projects and I am devoted to share tips and tricks to create a happy and healthy home for the whole family.
