Lainey & Nella’s Pretty Place
Names: Lainey & Nella
Location: Florida
Room size: 13’x13′
Readers of Kelle Hampton’s blog, Enjoying The Small Things, have come to love Kelle and her daughters, Lainey and Nella. True to her blog’s name, Kelle delights in little details, and her daughters’ shared room is a study in simple and beautiful pleasures.
Enjoying The Small Things has a huge and fiercely devoted following. The blog has garnered tremendous praise, including a nod for Best Design as one of Babble’s Top 50 Mom Blogs of 2010, and winning Best Special Needs Blog at The Bump.
Kelle wrote an honest and moving account of Nella’s birth story, when they learned that she has Down Syndrome, and that is where she invites new readers to start when finding their bearings on her blog. It’s the remarkable combination of Kelle’s candor, her wonderful writing and her gorgeous photographs that keep us coming back. Just as Kelle describes Nella’s extra chromosome as magical, she has a real knack for finding the extra magic in everyday life, and it shows in the room she has decorated for her daughters.
Kelle was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about Lainey and Nella’s room.
What is the story of the room? Was it Lainey’s before Nella was born? If so, how did it change with Nella’s arrival? The girls’ room was indeed Lainey’s room first. The moment I found out we were having a girl, I started planning. I knew I wanted pale pink, and then when I found the crib, the rest of the room kind of developed around it. When I found out we were having another girl when I was pregnant with Nella, I was ecstatic. I grew up with a sister and shared a room with her for a long time, and I love those memories. I wanted the same for my girls. The room basically stayed the same with the addition of a day bed (found on Craigslist!) and some more personal accessories that incorporated Nella’s name.
How is your daughters’ room similar or different from the rest of the house? It’s interesting because their room actually used to be an office. We added a closet and bookshelves to transform it into a bedroom. I always envision it as a completely different space from the rest of the house because it’s so feminine and soft, but because it has french doors that open to our living room, the feeling of their room kind of spills into the rest of the house naturally, and I love that too.
Before starting, what elements did you know you wanted to include, for sure? I knew I wanted three things: pink, chandelier and bookcases.
What is your proudest DIY? Two things: the chandelier because I saved so much money by buying an inexpensive one and transforming it, and the girls’ keepsake shadow boxes. They didn’t require a lot of work or creativity, but they represent something sacred to me–the moment each of them came into my life and that precious time in the hospital when I fell in love with them. Shadow boxes, Joanns. Lined with decorative paper and pinned with the hats and hospital bracelets from when the girls were born.
And Lainey’s proudest DIY is her canvases. 12×12 canvases from craft store and I let Lainey have at ’em herself when she was a bit younger.
What is your biggest indulgence? Our crib.
Are there any objects with an interesting history? Our spoons. My grandma had a spoon collection I always admired–spoons she acquired from all her travels (she and my grandpa were missionaries for awhile). When she died, family members all inherited different spoons. My London spoon of hers is framed for Lainey in the girls’ room and one of my most cherished heirlooms. I wanted to continue her tradition for the girls, so I’ve started collecting spoons from the places we’ve traveled with our family. Our little collection is slowing growing, and proudly displayed on a keepsake frame in the room, in front of our favorite photos.
Is there anything you would do differently next time around? Not at all.
Do you have plans for any future projects in the room? When the girls get a little older, I’d like to transform it from girly and pink to more colorful and alive. Yellows and reds and lots and lots of books.
Any advice for other people starting this process? If you find something you love, before you buy it research some DIY sites and get a little creative to see if you can recreate what you love on your own for less money.
Dream resource? I love Serena & Lily and Land of Nod!
Resources
Crib and Dresser: Ma Marie by Young America Stanley
Chandelier: Lowe’s. It was brown and had orange beads, on clearance. We repainted it and rebeaded it with inexpensive pink beads from Joanns.
Round Imperial Area Rug: Home Decorators
Lainey’s Bedding: mix and match from Marshalls and Homegoods. (pillows, I tea-stained)
Portrait Canvases: a gift from artist Jana Laurene
Paint colors: Sherwin Williams Intimate White, Sherwin Williams Romance
Thanks Kelle!
(Images: Kelle Hampton)