a small break

It's silence out here and it's not because of Summer season. 

I'm just so busy. You can see all news about Rafa-kids on our Facebook page. We just got a new stock of beds and we need to send all the pre-orders asp. I feel so lucky...some of the models are already sold out and we have ordered new ones , with delivery in September….but the Summer is here and we have kids at home, which is not that easy, when you run your own business. We will escape for few days to visit our friends in France. 

See you soon. 

On the pictures : Het Nieuwe pavilion in Rotterdam by SeARCH. 

how I've planned…..fishing

Did you like the previous Let's go fishing with Rafa-kids and Windstilte photos? 

This is behind the scene post, to show you how Rafa-kids is planning and collecting inspiration for a photo session. We would like to work more with other designers and small brands, to create something fresh and new….and that is why we invited Femke Veltkamp from Windstilte, to take a part in our first session. There will be more in the future! 

picture 1 : Kim Welling

Kids fishing : happy-children-playing

Fish pillow : Windstilte

Rafa-kids and Windstilte

It's a Summer time! 

We are so lucky with some hot weather in the Netherlands last days and we don't feel like going for any holidays abroad. Do you want to stay with us and go fishing? Well,  we've created a little Summer vibe in our studio last weekend. Rafa-kids was complete with two of our boys. One of them became a fisher men, the other was busy with paper, and created some paper boats . It was fun! Fish pillows appeared and our son was trying to catch some. The graphic is so beautiful on them and they are beautifly hand made. Blue walls and a touch of mint felt just right. There is no Summer without stripes! We used Rafa-kids' A teen beds with pillows from Femke Veltkamp from Windstilte to create this room for two kids. Tomorrow I will show you how I have planned it all…

Thank you so much Femke Veltkamp from Windstilte , that you took part in Rafa-kids Summer play time. 

storage units from abstracta

It was a silent week out here, with a very shocking news last Thursday, 

about the  MH17 airplane from The Netherlands to Malaysia, and crush in Ukraine. I still don't feel posting and would prefer to stay silent for a while…but this calm and beautiful picture of furniture is accully so nice to show you. No-216-sideboard, is named after the traditional A4 paper proportional scheme called ISO 216, and the storage units is configured using the poetry of the A-series. Designer Jesper Ståhl says , it is : 

" functional storage items with playful and warm characteristics”. I couldn't agree more. 

muji furniture

I still remember my first visit to the muij store few years ago. I was spending weekend in London with my Danish friend, and she told me, it's a place I have to see. Well, I wasn't much impressed. Everything looked kind of recycle and made out of gray paper. It took me a while to understand and appreciate the concept of this Japanese store which was born in 1980 ! Muji’s products are all beautifully designed. Their furniture collection has a strong Scandinavian minimalist's look and their clothing selections consists of basics that could sit next to any high end designer pieces. Their goal is " offering products that excel in quality at lower prices has been achieved by avoiding the waste typical of much product-manufacturing and distribution – in the form of unnecessary functionality, an excess of decoration, and needless packaging " .

 " … MUJI is simplicity – but a simplicity achieved through a complexity of thought and design." 

children's rooms with moroccan rugs

" … The Beni Ourain are a confederation of seventeen Berber tribes that live in the Atlas region of Morocco. The women of the tribe weave these carpets a.k.a. “White Giants” that are known for their distinct brown or black geometric patterns on a primarily cream or white background." 

I spotted many Maroccan rugs at the M&O a year ago in Paris. I realized then, how popular they are becoming in the Western culture. They give this bohemian vibe to any type of interior so quickly. I like Scandinavian minimalism, monohrom colors in interior deco, so it might be not an easy choice for me to make…but… I really like their soft and nice look in children's rooms! Since the moroccan rugs are of a very good quality, long lasting product, its an investment you could make for many years. I'he never really like rugs which are dedicated only to kids, with childish motifs, so this is very good alternative in my opinion. The black and white ones are absolutely beautiful! 

photo's via : 1 /2 /3 / 4 / 5

rubber bands bracelets

Is "Rainbow Loom " one of the most popular toys in the world at the moment ? 

 Rainbow Loom is a plastic toy loom used to weave colorful rubber bands into bracelets and charms. It's totally addictive! The plague was brought to my home from school by my older son. Now we make together the loom bracelets and experiment with different patterns. It's fun! Kid's make bracelets for each other and it's absolutely cool for girls and for boys! Youtube if FULL of films with tutorials made by kids with millions of views! Are you get caught too ? 

" Three years ago, Cheong Choon Ng two daughters—Teresa, then 12, and Michelle, then 9—were sitting in the family den making bracelets from rubber bands. The process reminded Ng, who grew up in Malaysia, of making jump ropes from rubber bands as a child. Hoping to impress his kids with his bracelet-weaving skills, he grabbed a few tiny elastic bands and tried to mesh them into a pattern. They were too small for his fingers, however so the engineer went to his garage and cobbled together a primitive loom, an old wooden board lined with rows of pushpins. With that, he began looping rubber bands into bracelets. At first his daughters weren’t impressed. But once they saw him weaving intricate patterns in breakneck speed, they changed their mind. It was Teresa who saw the potential for transforming this into a business when other kids in their Novi, Michigan neighborhood began obsessively playing with the looms Dad was assembling. That was when Ng decided to take a leap of faith—staking the $10,000 he managed to save for his daughters’ college fund on building a marketable product…"  read all history here : the-rubber-band-millionaire

photo's with kids via: rainbowloom

flexa 'play'

In August we can welcome on the market new children’s furniture range from Danish company Flexa  developed in collaboration with industrial designer Charlotte Høncke. 

The collection Flexa " Play" consists of furniture for children's rooms : a baby bed, single bed, bookshelf, play table, stools and a storage bench. Each piece is going to be available in four modern retro pastel colors: mint green, pink, yellow and white. 

I have to tell you honesty, I'm a bit disappointed, by the look of this collection, which unfortunately reminds me of the Swedish giant , especially the simple storage boxes. I don't see any innovative design happening there.  "Play" new Flexa collection looks friendly, happy and colorful though. 

You can see all collection here : charlottehoncke - flexa

studiosnowpuppe & tas-ka

When small independent design brands decide to do something together, I'm getting exited. 

Dutch brand studiosnowpuppe, which you probably already know from their beautiful paper lamps and tas-ka , graphic and textile designer are both based in The Hague. This creative studios collaborated , and the story is very simple. Tas-ka designed a new wallpaper, posters and stationery, and studiosnowpuppe, used it , to make new lamps. Something fresh for studiosnowpuppe design, since their lamps had only solid colors. I personally really like the dark one, with the strong graphic touch. Tas-ka offers the paper poster separately too , so you can just frame it! They also just launched their new , refreshed website.