Let’s walk into the forest…..

In some parts of Europe there is already a big layer of snow, but in the Netherlands we still enjoy Autumn atmosphere. We feel so lucky to have sunny days and to see the nature changing slowly…. Few weeks ago we brought into our Rafa-kids studio a ‘nature’ vibe and created a children’s room with NEW Rafa-kids B bench. The set was part of a project called Carte Blanche which we were asked to create by our long partner/stockist in France Les Enfants du Design. I was feeling like a little girl in a candy store, since I could select product from their collection to create this room. Yeeey!!! …it is one of our favourite children’s stores carrying plenty of the best modern products for children which are on the market at the moment. 

What is the story behind the room…

 I wanted to bring into child’s room a charm of natural colours and textures. We set two corners - one with our bench next to the bed and the second is a little “ tea corner” where kids can play. Our Rafa-kids bench is such a simple and elegant furniture which can be used in many different ways. We always want to make our furniture - Playful. I hope you like the tones of mint with the contrasting dark brown textures of wood and wool. My favourites are the different kinds of baskets to hide the kids toys. They give a room a bit of a boho vibe contrasting with the modern simple furniture. I also imagine that the room, can be gender neutral and give calm and nice atmosphere to play. I hope you like it. 

To create this room we selected few of our favourite products from the Les Enfants du Design store: 

Nobodinoz - Pouf and jumping rope, Muuto - Dots , Snowpuppe lamp , Ferm Living - House shelf, Dot Mint little basket, pillow , Donna Willson - Wooly Wood plaid, Bloomingville - baskets, Blabla kids - Cloud Pillow and Mint Doudou soft doll , Chair - Oeuf NYC and white table from Flexa Play. 

Out and About

Weekend! Last week we decided that our Friday’s are going to be “ Out and About ” . Each Friday we will go and discover some new places and recharge our  batteries and get inspired. Do you like the idea ?  Today I would like to show you our first outing.  We went to The Hague, since there is a 3 day event called “ Festival Design Kwartier” 27-29 May. Tomorrow you still have chance to see it if you are around. Open doors to designer’s studios, houses , galleries and shops all filled with design. 

On our ‘must see’ list was Tas-ka store. Unique design concept store hosting also products for MINI - people. 

Tas-ka is run by Jantien Baas and Hester Worst.  In the store you will find, their own design prints all over the place. From designed and manufactured in The Netherlands textiles, their bedding, bags, cushions, tea towers. Their print comes on lamps and plenty of beautiful paper goods too. Jantien and Hester also carry a well curated collection of goods from other brands. Exclusively for “ Festival Design Kwartier” we could see this cute mustard yellow exposition wall with accessories for little ones. There is also a bookstore !  As you could see the store has a minimal look with a graphic touch. Atmosphere is built with care for every little element and product. Well done, Tas-ka! 

pictures> Rafa-kids

Smallable store in Paris

How many stores you know, that you would like to come back to from time to time and check what’s new in and get inspired ? Stores that look different from the rest and  offer an unique, in own style selection of products ? Well, not that many right ? 

I think, that next time I will be in Paris, I need to discover the brick and mortal freshly opened Smallable store. Looking at the picture made at the end of the last year, still with a bit festive, Christmas vibe, I think the atmosphere is very welcoming and cosy. A big step for a store which for 10 years was  ‘virtual only’ and now dare to create a new experience for their customers. We wish you a great success Smallable ! oh yes, we need to mention that Rafa-kids collection is also presented in the store! Well done. 

Thank you for inspiration! pictures from Instagram - smallable_store

Les Enfants du Design - special Noël

It’s only one month left for the special Christmas time. 

Are you feeling exited ? I’m totally not in the spirit yet, but I notice the online children’s stores are in the mood already to help us to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones. One of my favourite stores: Les Enfants du Design,  just lunched their Christmas guide with stylish and beautiful products. Well curated and inspiring children toys and accessories for our home deco. The catalogue adds a bit of glitter and some french chic into our world…do you mind? 

Take a cup of tea, hide in a nice corner of your home and have a look: lesenfantsdudesign/docs/magazine-noel-2015

IMPS&ELFS flagship store in Amsterdam

Last Friday I took a little trip to Amsterdam…the weather was absolutely wonderful, so I walked a lot ( 10km! ) but there is no regret. I always avoid the tourist hustle and go into more quiet parts of the city. This amazing first flagship store of IMPS&ELFS is a perfect example of a hidden diamond for me. Old garage, which is adopted to a boutique and a head office of the brand. The interior itself has all the original industrial elements which make the space so unique. 

The store was opened in 2007 by Fons Cohen who is founder of the brand, together with the creative director Jacqueline Streng . The first collection came in 1997, with a lot of dark grey and even black colours for kids! the name was Angels&Demons…which was very soon changed. The brand has had no success right away, but now they sold at about 500 high quality multi brand boutiques and department stores worldwide. They try to look from a perspective of a child….and like you can see on the pictures it doesn’t look like a kids’ fashion store at all, since IMPS&ELFS offer a wide range of kids’ deco products too. I just couldn’t leave the space….

pictures from  IMPS&ELFS store  in Amsterdam  / Sloterkade 41-44

the Good Design kids products - Actus store - Japan

This was probably one of the longest break in blogging for me, 3 weeks. I’m afraid that it will be here a little quiet time in the coming weeks, since all our energy is going into Rafa-kids at Maison&Object preparations….but I miss blogging a lot! and I hope I can bring you  more inspiration and great content very soon.

Today I would like to show you one of the most beautiful kids' furniture catalogs I have seen since ages. I found it in my post box few days ago. It was sent to us by our Rafa-kids' Japanese stockist Actus store. This little book has a lot of content that I price itself  : simplicity, playfulness and high quality producst for children: a good design. On each page, 2 images next to each other complete the story of the furniture.  Our Rafa-kids' F&R set of beds is shown next to cute, sleeping baby…should I say more? We are very proud to be presented in this unique catalogue in the other part of the world. 

We are glad to announce that RaFa kids has a stockist in Japan. 

Our beds are available at prestigious ACTUS stores in Tokyo. Rafa-kids is thrilled to have this representative partner on the other site of the world.