Cribz: Welcome to Emerson’s Less is More Nursery

Pretty pastels and dainty accessories make baby Emerson’s bedroom a welcome retreat!

Baby Emerson (or Baby E!) arrived into this world straight to a brand new nursery, designed by mama Julie, one of Sassy Mama’s contributors. With a keen eye for interior design and architecture, Julie’s developed a cool and contemporary style for Baby E’s bedroom, inspired by her upbringing in the American south, and experiences living in London, New York and Rome. We love how Julie’s made use of Hong Kong’s limited space! Read on (and check out the stunning pictures!) to find out more about Baby E’s room…

Check out our other editions of Sassy Mama Cribz here. 

How would you describe this room? Which style would best describe the room?
Simply put, Baby E’s nursery is chic, playful and charming with girly undertones. The nursery embraces a less is more approach when it comes to the furnishings (unfortunately we are way to familiar with tiny Hong Kong spaces), and makes cheekier statements with scalable and transferable pieces like custom art and designer textiles. As for style, I find the literal definitions of design styles these days oh so ambiguous! I’d say the nursery is transitional with pops of ‘this and that’.

Where did you get your inspiration from?
I live and breathe this stuff so when it comes to carrying out interior design concepts it is part of my DNA. I grew up tagging along to rug showrooms, combing through antique shops and begrudgingly moving furniture around; so I guess I got it from my talented mama. Literally, I lie awake in bed at night rearranging, redesigning and visualising spaces. I dream of my forever home all too often.

The spirit of my work is inspired by all kinds of things: ancient craftsmanship, Middle Eastern textiles, architectural ornament and parallel design industries; take fashion for instance – a great place to seek inspiration for colour mélanges and textural combinations. In the most practical sense, I find it inspiring to select a piece of art or a textile as the launching point to inspire a design concept, from there it is a bit of a give and take. I fell in love with the piece of Italian art from Rome hanging over my daughter’s crib. Then I introduced a pop of the newly launched Kerry Joyce textile – Flower Power; inspired by pressed pansy blooms as an accent. From there I layered in chic finds here and there that offered sensible storage space and safe fun for my little one.

Read more: Home Design and Interior Decorating

How did you get your kiddo involved with designing her room?
When designing this space, it was for my daughter-to-be at the time, so other than her gender dictating the colour palette and patterning, she did not partake in the design. However, in the future I absolutely love the idea of requesting her carefree expertise and seeking to impart her personal design style in her room.

What was the hardest part of decorating this room?
Hands-down… product sourcing and exorbitant Hong Kong price markups. My background is in architecture, interiors and digital marketing for high-end interior product brands. I moved to Hong Kong from NYC where everything is at your fingertips, online shopping is unparalleled and Amazon.com even offers same-day delivery. I suppose I am a bit too familiar with the industry and know a few too many brand options. On a positive note, and to my husband’s delight, I likely saved a lot of money because when I cannot find what I want I opt to live without or substitute for a cheap alternative until I can find what I love (like the IKEA Kallax cubby shelves in my daughter’s nursery).

Read more: Design Tips and Tricks – Decorating With Colour

What part of the room are you most proud of?
This might sound silly, but it is less about any single material object in the room and more about the essence of the space that makes me proud. It just feels like ‘home’, it reflects my sense of style, filled with sunny rays every afternoon and at the end of the day Baby E’s joyful spirit is what really brings the space to life. As her mama, her sweet smile is what delights my soul.

Is there anything in the room you (still) would like to change?
Yes! Remove the ugly aircon. Find a chest of drawers here in Hong Kong to tuck away her goodies. I like well-crafted period pieces, not repros. Fill her shelves with more books, a collection of gold Elias frames and a handful of little gems collected from our travels. Last but not least, custom drapery, but hard to convince myself of that kind of investment as a rental tenant.

Read more: Design Tips and Tricks – Small Space Design

What is your favourite design or furniture store in Hong Kong?
I love any fancy designer showroom, Fort Street Studio’s luxurious hand-knotted rugs and best of all those little unmarked designer gems sprinkled around the city. I am inspired by the work of Hong Kong born interior designer, Andre Fu. He has an unrivalled ability to engage light, elegantly execute material combinations and tastefully define proportion and scale relative to a human’s interaction. His work is confident, yet delightful!

Read more: Best Homeware and Interior Design Stores in Hong Kong

What advice would you give parents that need to (re)decorate their kids room?
Before you make purchases, think through the space. Evaluate how your kid uses their room, consider the functions the room needs to serve and do NOT buy everything at one single showroom. Invest in key pieces, for me it was a nice crib, lovely textiles and a few chic accessories, but again it is a work in progress. To be quite honest, I am never done designing. Ask my husband, I mean the minute things seem complete I am moving sofas, changing art and scouting design shops or perusing the Internet.

A huge thank you to Kim Bacon from Kim Bacon Photography for the beautiful photos of Emerson and her room!

If you think your bubba or kiddo has a cool room, send us a picture at [email protected] and your room might be featured!