Unexpected Kid's Bed Linen

The sheets, blankets, pillows and cushions you choose for your child's bedroom doesn't have to be garish, branded and predictable! We love the idea of using pattern and unexpected design elements on kids' beds to help give their room sophistication, a sense of design and a sense of fun!

There are so many great options out there! Why not consider looking away from the children's section in your local department store. Many "adult" designs are available in single and king single sizes, or take a look online for amazing Australian designers who have a unique aesthetic. Here is a handful of great kid's linen that is anything but expected.

1a. Castle // Blue Velvet Quilt Cover

1b. Castle // Watermelon Penny Round Cushion

2. Incy Interiors // Croc Pastel Quilt and Pillowcase set

3. The Print Society // Sunny Days Pom Pom Cushion

4. Kate Lauren // Zachary Hunter Sheet Set

5. Ikea // Odestrad Quilt Cover and Pillowcase set

6. West Elm // Shibori Cushion Cover

Aussie Made Geometric Cushions

[The Print Society]

Cushions are perhaps, one of the most versatile elements in the home when it comes to decorating. They are small, but powerful tools that help you bring colour and pattern into a space while reinforcing the overall look and feel you have planned for that room. They are relatively inexpensive too, which means they can easily be changed up for each season, or when the mood strikes.

At My Sweet Prints we love geometric patterns as they are gender neutral and can be used in any room in the house, be it the playroom, the family room, your study or even the kid's bedroom. Their bold, repetitious forms lend themselves to both fun casual decor or a more formal space.

To help inspire you, we have collected some fabulous geometric cushion designs handmade by some pretty creative Australian designers. 

[Bubble and Bean Design]

[Indigo Designs]

[Homely Creatures]

[Belljar Interiors]

[Tango and James]

[Pom by Pomegranate]

Classic Kids' Bedrooms

There has been a trend to create super modern, eclectic bedrooms for our kids over the last few years, which we love, but there is something so endearing about a room that is designed with a classic look that is timeless. It will also grow with your child. We have found some gorgeous example of classic bedrooms for the little people, that you might just want to steal some ideas from!

Aren't they adorable? 

You can add that classic look to your child's bedroom with one of our fabulous prints.

S is for Sophie Print | Reading Corner Print | Vintage Initial Print | Canvas World Map

[image sources from top: Classic Navy Boy's Room | Pink and Purple Princess Room | Twin Teddies Bedroom | Monochrome Classic Bedroom | Rustically Classic Bedroom | Red, White and Blue Classic Bedroom]

Mirror mirror on the wall...

Here is a before and after of the makeover I did on my Grandma's old mirror.

I've always loved this mirror, ever since I was a girl and it hung in my Grandparents entry way above their Louis style phone table (which I also inherited but haven't found a place for yet).

Glen's never been a big fan of this mirror as he says it's 'too Gothic' hence it's been hiding away in the cupboard since we moved into this house.

But as a part of my never ending bedroom makeover project I decided to paint the mirror white and it will go above our bed against the dark feature wall. What do you think?
Glen's given it the thumbs up. It's still not quite his taste but I think the white has softened the 'gothicness' for him.

It's a very heavy mirror, I think it's made of plaster or something. And it felt a bit wrong to paint it white (like I was covering over history or something) but I figured it's better for it to be white and be used and appreciated than to be gold/bronze and be hiding away in a cupboard. I felt a bit like Sir Arthur Evans who discovered and tried to recreate and mess with the Minoan ruins. Hehehee, have you noticed I always get a bit too philosophical about things :)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together.

Have a great day,

Lovin the added bling

Ok, you're probably sick of my bedroom light by now but I just had to post an update!

Thanks to you lovely ladies encoragement, I went and got more crystals and added them to the lamp.


I'm really liking the additional bling.

Thank you for all your generous comments today. It means a lot to me.

I hope you've all had a great start to the week.

My DIY light...

Drum shade please.... whoops I mean drum roll...

I gave it a go ladies, I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So while Glen was at Bunnings on Saturday my little niece Meg, Will and I scoured Spotlight, Lincraft and lighting shops together at the homemaker centre for our big project.

We also went to check out the Beacon Lighting version (remember from post here, priced at $369) so we could analyse it's composition.

On close inspection, the Beacon Lighting shade is basically just organza ribbon wound round and round the lamp shade. So I bought 18mts of black organza ribbon at Spotlight and I also bought the crystals for the chandelier looking part of the light.

I couldn't find an uncovered drum shaped lamp shade frame and the cheapest shade at the Homemaker centre was $49 - hmmm... not happy to pay that much.

So later on that day I went to trusty old Target and 'Voila' there was the right size drum shade in black for only $19.95 - what a win!

All my bits and pieces ready as well as a cup of tea :)

My glass beads threaded onto the thread. I put sticky tape above them so they wouldn't come off while working with them. Then I made a wire hoop in the diameter that I wanted them to hang.

The tricky part was getting them all at the right length on the hoop and then attaching the hoop to the lamp shade. But it took about an hour and a half to make.

I was going to rip the lamp shade cover off and do the organza ribbon then but then I didn't have the guts to demolish a perfectly good shade so solid satin black it will be for the time being. It looks very modern with the solid black, which I'm fine with.
Do you think I need to add more crystals?

Here it is at a different angle without the light on.

Materials
Beads $19.45
Lamp shade from Target $19.95
Beading thread $1

Wire & sticky tape we already had...
Black organza ribbon I bought for $5.99 but didn't use.

So total cost was $40.40

So there you go, I hope you have a wonderful Monday,

More bedroom

Thank you lovely ladies for all your help with my bedroom lighting post yesterday! I knew you would all be a fountain of knowledge - don't you just love blogging!
I'm going to go check out the Bunnings one and I've had a look at the Buysterlighting one too and then I'll see which option I go with... I'll keep you posted :)

Image via decorpad

Here are so more details on my bedroom makeover plans. The above pic is some inspiration which has had the OK from hubby.

I don't like our wooden bed so I'm going to make a white slip cover to go over the bedhead... hmmm we'll see how that one works out.

Now I'm trying to decide if we'll do this light grey/lavender colour on the wall behind the bed OR if I go for something darker like a charcoal grey with a hint of purple. Glen isn't keen on the dark but I want to give it a go.

I have a beautiful baroque mirror which was my Grandma's which is gold and I want to paint it either white or black, again Glen's not keen on black.

Can you picture it already? We have a white bed spread, white bedside lamps and a lavender coloured throw already so I'm wanting to just add to what we have.

Anyway, have a lovely Tuesday everyone.
Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement!

Should I attempt this?

Do you think I should try and make my own more basic version of this pendant light???

I would really like one for our bedroom but at $369 I'm thinking I might get crafty and try and make it myself.

The light fitting in our bedroom, and most of the house for that matter, are just light globes hanging down from their cord about two foot. And when we bought the house they had small drum shape lime green shades on them. We replaced the lounge, dining and entry lime green shades soon after we moved in but the bedroom one I decided to just recover over with some white fabric I had... and it's done the trick for the last two years.

But now that I'm planning our bedroom mini makeover I would like something a bit nicer.

So I'm thinking this is what I'll need...

A drum shape lampshade frame
Black sheer fabric to cover it
Either buy chandelier crystals (I'm currently watching some on eBay)
or get a broken chandelier from Vinnies and restring them onto the arms of the frame.

What do you think??? Should I give it a go?

I hope you're having a great Monday.

Slumber, sleep, snooze...

Just saying these words makes my eye lids heavy today... *yawn*

I have a question for you? Why is it that even when you have a full, uninterrupted night's sleep that you wake up feeling more tired that you did when you went to bed?

Hmmm.... well I'll just wait for this cup of coffee I'm sipping to kick in, and in the meantime dream about this bedroom.

via decorpad

I love this bedroom, it's so perfect to me. The white ruffled bedding, the blue Ikat pillow, the white tray with... is that a bowl of figs? The Ghost chair, the gorgeous bedside table, the cow hide rug which 'looks' great but they freak me out in real life (not a fan of dead animals in the house). The colour of the door is great, oh and can you throw in those sandals too please?

Me thinks this is an over styled studio photo. But who cares, I could jump into that bed right now and sleep for hours! Now, photographer, stylist, lighting guys, please ignore me while I curl up under this beautiful ruffled bedding, carry on with your photo shoot, I'm just going to sleeeeee....p.....

Vertical Stripes

What do you think about vertical stripes?

Here is an idea I've been toying with for our bedroom makeover - vertical stripes.

I would love to wallpaper part of the bedroom but I'm really trying to keep the costs to a minimum so I was thinking that this could be a fun alternative. What do you think?

Spoke to Hubby last night about the bedroom plans and he seemed to be on board with it all. Didn't even shudder when I suggested painting our timber bed white. (This is sort of an ongoing joke between the two of us because when there is ever discussions about colour I always say 'I think it should be white'. Hubby says I'd even paint the cat white if he wasn't white already).

Has anyone out there painted vertical stripes before? Was it easy?

Have a wonderful day,

Jackie Kennedy decor

I was searching yesterday for blue bedroom images as inspiration for my bedroom makeover I told you about last week. And I stumbled upon this picture...

A lot of things jumped out at me:
The soft blue/grey, the chandelier, the Louis armchair, the frames above each bedside table, that really tall dresser mirror.

And then I tried to date the image and when I clicked into the website to find out more I discovered that this was the White House Master Suite during the Kennedy era! It was actually Jackie's bedroom, JFK had his own.

Take a look at some more pics (I wish my bedroom was even half this size!).




Don't you think the bedroom could be set in any era really? It's so classic, feminine but not overtly so, also very practical. And the date... 1962.

Take a look at a comparison of the same room decorated differently for four different Presidents.

via here

They are all a vast improvement from this image of the same room in 1893... they sure didn't have a decorator!
images via here

It's quite fascinating and you can read more about the Kennedy's Renovation of the White House at www.whitehousemuseum.org

So... thanks for the inspiration Jackie. Love your style!