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So you’ve just stepped on something on your children’s bedroom floor and turned the F word into Fudge for the millionth time because, you know, swearing in front of kids is bad and all that. And while you’re balancing on one foot and rubbing the other one better you start to imagine a room that is tidy, wonderfully decorated and perfect for your children (like the one you saw on Pinterest perhaps?)
Well, Mopsy + Lils is here to help with making that dream a reality. They are an online children’s store which specializes in educational and design driven toys, whimsical gifts for creative play and home accessories. And they’re based here in Ireland – Wahay! They have given GAFF some top tips on creating the perfect bedroom for your child.
Your store concept is all about creating a fun yet educational environment in a children’s bedroom. What is the first step we can take to achieve this in our home?
Our environment influences us all, and we think it’s important to make sure that a child can flourish at home and that all their senses are met without being overpowered. You can help spark a child’s imagination with good visual stimulation. Creating an environment that a child feels happy & secure in is just as important as the material things we can offer them. Knowing that they have an area within the home that’s theirs to play, have fun and express themselves in can only benefit a child, be it in their bedroom, playroom or an area in the living space that’s deemed ‘their area’. Setting up this space with interesting toys & books is a great first step. A little book nook where they can sit down and browse through their books is always a must for us with books within easy reach of their little hands.
Learning can be fun. Educational, design driven toys & products that encourage children to have fun whilst they learn are king – colourful animal toothbrush holders & rocket timers, for instance, encourage children to brush their teeth properly whilst also giving them independence to do things for themselves during their daily bathroom routine.
What colours would you recommend to paint a children’s bedroom?
This is totally a personal choice, some parents decide to find out the gender of their baby ahead of their arrival and this can sway the decision on paint colours. However, going with a warm neutral shade is always a great bet, as you can tire of bright colours quite easily, but a neutral colour gives you a canvas on which to add too. You can add great splashes of colour with wall posters, children’s own artwork, bedding & toys placed around the room. In this way, it’s easier to freshen up a room when it’s time for a change, and the children’s bedroom can grow with them and their interests.
Is there something else we can feature on the walls in a children’s bedroom to make it a fun and colourful room?
Wall posters are a great, easy way to theme a children’s bedroom. We stock adorable wall posters that are both fun and full of colour and can add real personality to a room. Nightlights are a great way to bring the theme of the décor together, too.
Our wooden poster hangers are super popular – you place a poster in between the wooden rods and hang it up as you would a picture frame, avoiding sticky adhesive residue being left on freshly painted walls! They are re-usable as you can swap out the poster when you choose to update it. We love a wire mobile, great for hanging little works of art on or photographs from, so that children have their own personal mobiles in their room, that remind them of fun or precious moments which can spark conversations.
Where do you take inspiration from when you are decorating kids’ bedrooms?
Usually, it’s a good idea to choose one key piece and build a children’s bedroom around that – be it a piece of furniture, a restored chair, or a large cushion or a wall hanging and find things that coordinate well with it.
Our large cloud light is a statement piece of furniture in itself – as well as being a light source it’s great for little ones that are not fond of the dark at bedtime. It’s touch controlled, by simply touching the light it switches on, dims or turns off and it automatically turns off after 30 minutes, when the child has nodded off to sleep, making it better too for the environment.
A lot of products that you sell have simple shapes and colours. How important is it to have these in a child’s room?
Young children respond well to block colours and toys that are interesting to hold & feel. Some toys on the market with flashing lights & loud noises can be sensory overload to a young child. Simple traditional wooden toys which foster imaginative play and can help to develop a child’s language skills. A small wooden car can encourage a child to say beep beep, rather than the toy making the noise for the child. Wooden toys are a great way to add colour to a children’s bedroom and work perfectly placed on shelves around a room.
Our beautiful Nesting Dolls, hand-painted in Russia, which make for the perfect monochrome shelf decoration in any room.
As for newborns, they can only focus eight to twelve inches from their face and can only see black, white and grey. Art Cards for Babies are beautiful monochrome cards that captivate a baby’s imagination. We suggest placing them on the wall of a baby’s room to create a little gallery for them to lock eyes on for visual stimulation. These cards can also be hung from our ceiling mobile to create a stimulating hanging feature in baby’s room.
The shaped lights are your top selling product. What is it about these lights that children like so much?
They’re super cute, fun, eco-friendly lights that would brighten up any child’s room. They are also child safe and are made from BPA and phthalate free PVC. They contain an internal LED light so the material doesn’t get hot meaning they can be safely held by little hands. They give a soft glow when turned on and because they are cable free they are portable, so a child can pick them up and carry them with them should they wake in the night. Our very friendly ghost light has been popular with children at night time, to scare any little fears away!
When it comes to soft furnishings in a children’s bedroom is there anything in particular that you see as a must have?
A blanket, who doesn’t love the touch and feel of a snug blanket, everyone has a favourite?! Children can become very attached to things and blankets tend to be one of those items and for very good reason, they can provide comfort to a child and have so many uses.
It’s coming up to Christmas, how can we decorate a children’s bedroom for this festive season?
We think it’s important for children to feel involved and that they contribute to family life from a young age. Christmas time is such a great time to really build family traditions unique to you within your household, be it making Christmas cards for loved ones, or making a decoration to hang around the home that you collect in a special box and hang up each year. This year we are stocking a unique keepsake Christmas decoration to celebrate the magic of Christmas time, a handmade ‘In the Snow’ Advent Christmas Calendar, the idea being that you fill 24 small pockets with a little gift and every day after finding the gift inside the pocket, the child turns the pocket inside out to reveal an adorable winter wonderland character, sparking fun & imagination into the eyes of a child during the countdown to Christmas. It’s a special Advent Calendar that will be cherished by families for years to come.
A mahoosive thank you to the wonderful Mopsy + Lils for all of their fabulous advice. Products shown are from their online store and you can see more from them here.
Phoebe Webb.