Chairish Color Challenge

As you might imagine, we've been in the throes of designing and decorating our new home for a few months now. And while we're still in the process of getting all of the furniture in (why, WHY does it take so long to make furniture?!), it's so fun seeing it all come together. Our new house finally has a real family room, but thus far we haven't really designated a kid-space in it. And there's the perfect nook for one. So I was super excited when Chairish asked if I'd be interested in participating in their Color Challenge and design a room full of color based on one of their rugs. It was the perfect opportunity to give some thought to what would be fun for the kids while fitting into the rest of our family room.

In case you aren't familiar with Chairish, it's a great online curated shop that features vintage furniture, decor, jewelry and accessories. We are big fans of mid-century modern design in our home, but it can be hard to swallow those prices when it comes to purchasing new furniture for our young kids who I know will thrash them. So vintage can be a good choice, including options that are inspired by classic designers (Chairish offers plenty of designer furniture as well!). Plus, no 16-week lead times! 

In any event, Chairish challenged me to create a styleboard around a vintage rug while making the room pop with color. Our family room already has several bright pieces of furniture, so I want to be careful about how I add more. Here's what I'm thinking for a kids nook that will tie in to the rest of our family room! 

1 / I actually picked a mid-century neutral colored rug to start. The shape fits our nook really well and since the rug in our family room is already really bright, I wanted to use other accessories to pop up the color in the kids section.  

2 / At the top of my list for the kids is a good arts/crafts table. I love Saarinen, but wouldn't throw that cash around for a table that's going to see the kind of use I'm anticipating. This Saarinen-inspired set fits the bill. 

3 / Our family room actually gets great natural light, but a floor lamp is a must during these long winter months when the kids are up early while it's still dark and the sun goes down before dinner. 

4 / I love this bright orange-striped, oversized box for holding art supplies. 

5 / In addition to hanging their own artwork, I'd love to add this vintage school map of Rome. My history-loving kids would go gaga for it.

6 / You can't get enough storage for kids and a lucite cube is the perfect way to keep even your storage neat and tidy. 

7 / Pillows are a great way to add color without a huge commitment. I love this combo of Turkish and Moroccan pillows. 

Kids Desk Chairs

When I blogged over at A Feteful Life, we occasionally had people send in questions for us -- generally about seasonal handbags for some reason -- and we'd do some faux shopping and provide our favorite picks. A friend recently told me that they'd purchased a desk for their Kindergarten-aged daughter, C, but were having a hard time finding a desk chair that wasn't outrageously priced. And she asked whether I had any ideas of where to look. As we haven't purchased desks for our kids yet, I hadn't given it much thought. But she's right -- so, so many desk chairs "for kids" are obnoxiously expensive, especially given that they are sized smaller and certainly won't last until the kids go off to college.

Annoyed and determined, I did some faux shopping for a chair that would go with C's new desk -- the  Pottery Barn Kids Catalina. I'd generally describe Pottery Barn's style as slightly modern classic/country, but I like to balance those pieces out with something more streamlined. I'm not really into matchy matchy. I decided to look for chairs under $125 (for the most part) and while a lot of my picks are not necessarily "kid sized," they would still work well for kids, in my opinion. Your best bet is to stick to accent or dining chairs, which seem to be more reasonably priced than desk chairs and would work just as well, especially with a little pillow for a cushion. So, K, here you go -- hope one works out and that desk gets used for a little school work instead of just a fort!

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