Home sweet home.....

Design has always played a big part in my life, be it fashion, surface pattern, interior... in fact it is a bit of an obsession. Here is a peek inside my home and a peek at the things I love and that inspire me.

I wanted my sons nursery to be bright, cheerful and full of fun.

I was inspired by a combination of Japanese and Scandinavian design... we changed it when he turned two years old to make that transition from a nursery to a room for a playful little boy.

My friend Emma is a textile designer and she painted this gorgeous picture for my son when he was born, I love Japanese tin Robots and Emma kindly managed to fit in my sons name and date of birth, it's a treasured keepsake.

This print is by Job Burgerman, my son was mesmerised by all of the little creatures in this picture and would stare at it for ages!

Tado are Mike & Katy from Sheffield, they are a very talented couple who design toys and lifestyle products influenced by Japanese pop culture, I love their work and had to have some of it in my sons room. They painted a mural in Christina Aguilera's sons room and it was fabulous... as I didn't have Christina's budget I opted for on of Tado's fabulous wall  decals.

Had to have the bloom Coco rocker in dark wood,  my son loved it and I was heartbroken when he grew to big for it.

SO IN WITH THE NEW!

This gorgeous self assembly bird mobile was very cheap and is by one of my favourite  designers Junzo Terada, the framed prints are from a Junzo Terada postcard book, they were also an absolute bargain.

On my many trips to Japan before my son was born I bought a lot of Japanese toys and cute household things, most of them have now been passed on to my son..... a smiley face on anything makes life so much better.

This is the psychedelic Snugglephant by Elodie Details and is available at www.nordickids.com   it is a fabulous website full of Scandinavian design clothing and accessories for little ones, this Elephant was one of those things I had my eye on before he was born. I had to have it.

I fell in love with this wallpaper the moment I saw it, it is 'Penguin' by  Isak and is available in other colours. Sandra Isakkson is a genius and I love her work.... I have a feeling ISAK  designs will feature more in my family life in the future. If you love Scandi design as much as I do you must check out the website.

The mini Panton chair was a must have, it is so adorable and to have a design classic in miniature is just  even more awesome

I was amazed when I found this early 1970s Oxfam stuffed owl toy that was still uncut and unmade, I thought I would have a bidding war on my hands and was amazed when I was the only bid and got it for £3.00. I cut him out and put him together and now my son has a lovely squidgy owl pillow that he likes to snuggle at bedtime. As you will see in future blogs, Owls play a big part in our home, Twit Twoo was one of the first things my son said and the obsession grew from there.

Where it all began

Please allow me to introduce... Riley Gene.
The little person who came into our lives and made us see things through fresh eyes, he is the child who inspired this blog. He had a difficult entrance but he has certainly made up for it in his two and a half years of being on earth. Here is his story so far:

We had been trying for a baby for some time and it had become stressful, so we took a holiday in our favourite place in the world to have a break from trying to conceive. Tokyo is one of the great loves of my life and we visited a Japanese temple where we hung this Ema on the wishing tree.

The Japanese Gods granted our wish because three weeks after we returned from Japan I discovered I was pregnant.... and my son was conceived in Tokyo.

This scan was so precious, I had all the signs of a miscarriage and we went for a scan to check...and there he was all happy and complete with a tiny heartbeat. It was a wonderful day.

You know right from the start I had a feeling I was having a boy so this scan was no surprise

I had a wonderful pregnancy up until week 38 when I developed severe pre eclampsia and my son had to be delivered by emergency c section, he had breathing difficulties and spent his first two weeks in intensive care

He was perfect, his lungs grew stronger and even though that first two weeks felt like forever he was soon home and then the fun began...