A Styled Home: Sharing Spaces

Published in Dote Magazine’s Issue #7, Fall/Winter 2017.

View article in ISSUU here (page 116). Text version of article below. 📸 by Bookstrucker.

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Think back to your favourite spot or hideaway as a child. What was it about the space that made it so special? What were the familiar cozy sanctuary that left room for your vivid imagination to grow and wander? Or was it a magical room full of all your toys and playtime activities, waiting for you to wake up each day and bring them to life?

Reminiscing on these quintessential memories of our own brings us to a very important and essential realization when it comes to creating a space in our home for our kids. Ultimately, it's these spaces where kids will create their first and fondest memories that will be remembered and impact them throughout their entire lives.

It's important, especially if your family is growing, to dedicate certain spaces in your home that can be easily transitioned to grow with your kids as they get older. These spaces will be where they're encouraged to generate and apply their creativity, develop stories, dive into their imaginations, and most importantly, be a spot to simply have fun.

From a design perspective, the key to creating these spaces, whether it be their bedrooms, a nook in the main living room, or their own separate playroom, is to take a thoughtful approach to a functional, dynamic, fun, and exciting area. This might look very different to each family, but the main idea that stays constant is to create designated spaces in your home that are unique and meet the developmental needs of your children.

Earlier this year, Alykhan (Aly) Velji of Alykhan Velji Designs was commissioned to renovate an urban family home in Elbow Park, which included the redesign of a shared bedroom and playroom of twin girls, whose favourite colours are purple and pink.

"The colour palette was the starting point for the rooms," Aly says. "We wanted to create spaces that were whimsical and spoke to the girls' personalities, while having the ability to grow with them as they get older."

For the statement walls in both rooms, they opted for a beautiful flamingo wallpaper from Cole and Son. This pattern anchors the rooms while giving them a pop of earthy pink hues to make the spaces come alive without being too busy or overwhelming.

"We always recommend using wallpaper for kids' rooms," says Aly. “It's such an easy way to add whimsy and character to a space. Plus, there are so many different designs available to choose from these days."

Sourcing two twin beds from IKEA, Aly's team upgraded the frames by adding custom padded headboards featuring a textured pink fabric. “This not only elevates the bed frames but provides a soft head rest for the girls when they're reading," notes Aly. “The headboards can also be reupholstered at any point when and if they tire of the pink as they grow up."

Something Aly and his team highly recommend when putting together a shared kids space, is to swap bunk beds for two separate beds. "In many instances, such as this one, the girls had a separate play room, so there was space to play with," says Aly. “Two beds, even in a smaller room, makes the space feel larger and eliminates the potential of fighting over the top bunk!"

A large, modern, and simplistic dresser occupies the space between the beds, providing the girls with extra storage while separating their individual areas. "We recommend not cluttering up your space with a ton of furniture," remarks Aly. "The space under the beds provides lots of toy storage, and the closet and dresser are perfect to house clothing, books, and accessories, making it reachable and adjustable for the girls to access."

Two chic, eclectic wall sconces, framing the dresser, fold out and swivel to help the girls get ready at night. These give the room an elegant feel, as if it were located at the top of a magical castle.

To pull the bedroom together and complete the space, they chose to keep things casual with simple linen bedding and grey ikat patterned throws to ground the end of each bed. To provide the girls with privacy, they had custom window shades created in linen that feature fabric detailing, tying in the colour on the headboards.

"We're big fans of using patterns and textures in a space, and these rooms were no different," says Aly. "From the wallpaper to the fabrics on the beds to the area rugs, they all fit and complement each other in a natural, organic way but still leave room for any personal touches the girls may want to add later."

When asked what other tips Aly and his team had to create shared spaces that kids can grow with, they had a few things to note.

First and foremost, they recommended using a consistent colour palette throughout the entire space. "If you can ensure the colours flow, that will help to carry the eye around the room," mentions Aly. "It helps to start with a fabric, wallpaper, bedding, or rug. This way, you can pull colours from it to use throughout the rest of the space. With that being said, we like to always keep spaces neutral with pops of colour shown through fabrics and accents, so it can be easily changed up when the kids get older."

Aly also recommends "keeping the décor in these spaces fun and light-hearted, but not so much so that your little will tire of the space in a year. If you have two rooms, rather than being in separate bedrooms, try for the first few years to make one into a play or study area, so that you're not trying to fit so many things into one space."

With children's short attention spans, it's important to keep things as simplistic as possible, so they are not as easily distracted. Making the space interactive is important, but trends will come and go, so it's best to keep it minimal, classic, and consistent to create order in your home.