Room Tour @MyMiniAbode

Max’s room – Monochrome Pop!

My name is Maria, I’m a children’s interior stylist from ‘my mini abode’, a children’s kids interior styling and design service. It all began with Max’s room which has been a real labour of love. Max’s room design began with two hero pieces - the bed and the rug.

We live in a small 2 bedroom semi-detached maisonette so space is at a premium. We needed a bed with storage. So we designed and made our own bed. As you do! The brief was simple - needed oodles of storage, could age with Max through the years and had to look good. My husband (@angus_design) designed and made a flat pack plywood bed with two underneath storage compartments on castor wheels. The storage units can be moved around and fit an amazing 350 litres worth of stuff. Storage is king! It's a bed that will stay with him for years, from toddler to teen. 

The second hero piece was the yellow Fab Habitat chevron rug. I adore the colour yellow and chevron so I fell in love with this rug. Max's room is pretty big so I went with the largest sized rug. The indoor/outdoor rug is so versatile, it's made of eco-friendly recycled polypropylene, but it doesn't look like plastic, and it can take the hammering and battering of a 3 year old boy. Dirt, sand, dust are all just vacuumed away.

Max's room then took on a monochrome vibe which I've coined Monochrome Pop! I'm a big fan of colour but the room needed monochrome tones to offset the colour pop of the yellow rug. I wanted the rug to be a stand out. So black and white was the perfect choice.

Oh, the Places You'll Go print had been on my wish list for a long time. It's one of Max's favourite books (big Dr Seuss fan). The print is from Hunting For George, and was the catalyst for the rest of the room which took on a life of its own.

A 'places' theme started to emerge. Places to see, places to go. Just go, go, go. Bit like my boy. So I ran with it. Next were the Newbies wall planes from The Greater Good. I originally wanted to cover the wall near Max's bed with wallpaper but unfortunately, I couldn't convince my hubby and it was also way out of our price range. The Newbies planes worked a treat though and I like how they relate to the Oh, the Places You'll Go print.

Finishing this wall off are shadow boxes from Cotton On Kids which make great little vignettes for Max's Schleich animals and the La De Dah Kids Zaney Zebra. The Sir Trouble Handmade storm cloud is cloud porn personified! I turned the little space at the end of Max's bed into a reading corner which will grow with him through the years. It's a bit of a tricky space because there are three small cupboards high up above the wall which can't be accessed without a step ladder. Very awkward but from time to time I need to access storage in these cupboards. So a reading corner with no obstructions was the best use of space here. IKEA ribba picture ledges, and replica Eames chair from Globe West and THAT lion cushion by Anny Who, a gorgeously quirky and fun label from Germany, from This Modern Life. 

On the day of shooting Max's room I had the idea to put some prints on a clipboard to create an easy and affordable way to display unframed art. The clipboards were a whole $3.99 from Officeworks! Say Yes to Adventure print from Global Kidz.

To the wall opposite Max's bed. We decided to keep our two existing IKEA pieces (Expedit bookshelf and Malm chest of drawers). These two pieces work well for us so it seemed frivolous to get rid of them just because we wanted something nicer, that we couldn't really afford anyway. I just had to figure out how to make these existing pieces work for Max in his new room. I originally saw the cityscape wall decals positioned above the same IKEA Expedit bookshelf. The decals are from Chispum, a Spanish company. I replicated this look to give Max a play area at his own height teamed with train tape from Little Me Little You to complete a virtual city with train tracks, cars and transport vehicles. Some of Max's favourite things and keeping in the 'places' theme. 

Above the IKEA Malm chest of drawers is Mini Willa's Berg print from Leo and Bella. Mini Willa is a gorgeous Swedish brand that is fun, unique and on-trend. Every cityscape needs a mountain, right? A white star light from Little Letter Lights Co. which I had coveted for a while and was lucky to get my hands on, are produced by a local Australian company. We use our star light as a night light as I have one little boy that is scared of the dark. I like to keep the chest of drawers uncluttered (easy to do with lots of storage options in this room) and home to a couple of lovely items like the monochrome arrow from Made by Mosey.

Next stage of the room design was to add a couple of key pieces that would finish the room off and bring the look together. My piece de resistance - the Bull Terrier from Alfie Wild. No words are needed on this gorgeous piece. It's in your face yet understated. It's one of the first things you see when you walk into Max's room but it doesn't scream for attention, it just slowly draws your eye in.

Iused Noodoll wall hooks, from Leo and Bella, to form a triangle shape replicating the lines of the shadow boxes on the opposite wall. The wall hooks are for primarily practical reasons. Max started pre school this year so I wanted somewhere he could hang his bag. Super Hero garland by La De Dah Kids, a fabulous Australian brand. 

I hope you've enjoyed Max's room tour. Nothing beat seeing the smile on my son's face when he saw his room. He would notice little details and comment on how much he liked them. Max loves his room, and I hope you do too.

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Full Room Product List
Plywood Bed: Angus Design
Chest of Drawers/Bookshelf and Storage Baskets/Picture Ledges: IKEA
Replica Eames Chair: Globe West
Yellow chevron rug: Fab Habitat (got ours from Bauhaus Rundle Street)
To the Moon and Back Cushion/Shadow Boxes: Cotton On Kids
T-Rex Dinosaur Cushion: Lion of Leisure (got ours from This Modern Life)
Lion Cushion: Anny Who (got ours from This Modern Life)
Bed Linen: Aura by Tracie Ellis (got ours from Temple and Webster)
Oh, The Places You'll Go Print: Hunting for George (got ours from Oscar and Willow)
I Love Cars neon orange sticker: This Modern Life
To the Moon and Back felt banner: Homely Creatures
Wall Planes: Newbies (got ours from The Greater Good)
Dreamcatcher, Grey rabbit/White Duck/White Owl: Bungalow Living Bali
Clipboards: Officeworks
Bull Terrier: Alfie Wild
White Star Light: Little Letter Lights Co.
Monochrome Arrow: Made by Mosey
Cubebot: Raw Space
Berg (mountain) Print: Mini Willa (got ours from Leo and Bella)
Cityscape Wall Decals:
Train tape: Little Me Little You
Lightning Bolt/Storm Cloud: Sir Trouble Handmade
Zaney the Zebra soft toy/Super Hero garland: La De Dah Kids (got ours from Have You Met Charlie?)
Zebra and Lion animals: Schleik
Say Yes to Adventure print: Global Kidz
Blue dotted whale painting: Gifted. Drawn by a 15 year old teenager in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Monster Wall Hooks: Noodoll (got ours from Leo and Bella)
Stuff storage sack: Kolor (got ours from Moppit and More)
Grey felt storage: 

Photos | Reflexio