Beautiful Spaces – Bellissima Kids

Inside Grand Central Station, NYC

Grand Central Station is one of our favorite buildings in the city. In fact, I find it to be one of the most majestic buildings in the world, especially because of the constant life and lives who pass through it’s walls on a daily basis. The girls are growing up accustomed to running around on its marble floors. So, I wanted to share this wonderful structure with you of our trip there today, and show you a little bit of inside Grand Central Station from our point of view. I hope you enjoy it!

If you do, please comment below and also please share with us your fave building in your city.
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Preschool in Japan Lets Kids Play in Puddles

This new preschool in Japan understands kids and was designed to accumulate puddles so the kids could play in them indoors! Usually when it rains, kids aren’t allowed to play outside, but the new Dai-ichi Yochien in Kumamoto City is designed to make sure the puddles stay exactly where they are. And yes, the kids play in them. And what better way to foster fun and learning than to let kids be kids and to live out their fantasies of having puddles indoors?!
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The Incredible Kids Museum of Glass – Shanghai

With China’s first design museum still in the works, a very cool institution dedicated to encouraging children’s interest in glass has opened its doors in shanghai. The ‘kids museum of glass’ is located in a converted warehouse, containing exhibition areas, a DIY workshop, two cafés, a gift shop and a party space. Designed by Tilman Thürmer, founder and CEO of coordination asia, the 2,000 square meter volume is marked by kaleidoscopic patterns, natural materials and contrasting blackened glass surfaces.
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Completely Wild and Amazing Swedish Family Home

Here’s another installment of our Beautiful Spaces series.

This ever so joyful spread from Family Living, a Swedish blog, really made my day. I just could dive into that sea of color and quirk and get lost in it!

This is the three-room Stockholm apartment of Do It Yourself evangelist, interior designer and creative force – Isabelle McAllister, and her husband Eric and their children, Della, and Beppe. I especially love the original wallpaper and the rag doll of none other than herself!
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Vogue’s Tour of Sarah Jessica Parker’s NYC Brownstone

I just got wind of this interview that Vogue.com conducted with Sarah Jessica Parker in her lovely Greenwich Village brownstone. And it’s fitting, see that there is talk of SJP taking over Vogue. We actually live in the same area and we pass her home often, so I kind of feel like a voyeuse seeing what is actually on the inside. And surprise: her home is cozy and pretty down to earth looking, and Bohemian. Yes, we all want to move in!

But you have to really pay attention as this is a speed tour. Sarah Jessica Parker positively races through 73 questions that range from informative (her favorite food: Barbuto’s roast chicken-which I have had BTW) to quirky.

But I am much more interested in seeing her home than hearing the answers, I must admit. And so weird that she has a Ping-Pong table in the middle of the dining room because growing up, we had a Ping-Pong table in the middle of our dining room also. I thought we were the only ones who would do something like that. I am just wondering if she covers it with a big table cloth when there is a big family dinner and eats on it, ~~like we did!~~

By the way, Kokoreç is a Turkish dish that’s made with lamb or goat intestines and offal. Yep. Pretty bizarre.

A Chic and Retro Family Home That Embraces Kids and Dogs!

Okay, I admit it: I have completely neglected our series of Beautiful Spaces, but I figured this post would let me off the hook! (Check out a previous family home fave of mine here).

I am totally in love with this vintage inspired, eclectic home lived in and designed by Southern California interior designer Betsy Ginn of SMID. She has managed to create a space that is not only glamorous, but which also completely ignites the kid’s imagination and opens up the possibilities of so many scenarios and stories. Every part of her home is completely lived in – even the concrete floors are great for riding bikes. And I love the stylish use of the chalkboards for design and play. The carousel horse in the kids’s room is also genius. In addition to the kids, Charlie and son Paxton, Betsy has warmly accommodated for their two dogs, Bommer and Pig Dog. Betsy describes her style as a little Audrey Hepburn meets leather and tattoos. To see more of this amazing home and more of her wonderful style, go to her website.
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Beautiful, Rustic Home of the Ushida Family

Here’s another in our series of Beautiful Spaces. I am truly touched and moved by this heartfelt family home of J’Antiques vintage store owner, Hitoshi Ushida and his wife Fumika and kids, Hanto and Cocone. Their gorgeous home in Kamakura, Japan is filled with a treasure trove of colors, textures, forms and light. I just can’t stop looking at these photos and wanting to transport myself there.

For even more breathtaking photos, go the fab website, The Selby.

How A NYC Couple Fit A Nursery Into A 400-Square-Foot Loft!

I am just amazed at how interior designer and photographer Gunnar Larson and his wife, Sara Larson, senior associate for brand development at HONOR, have rocked their 400 square foot apartment in the East Village to welcome their baby girl, Ihlen! Instead of heading for Brooklyn and more space, they decided to redesign their apartment to work with a new member coming into the family and to share their present life and neighborhood with her. I just love the hammock crib.

Go here to see full story and even more photos!

Amazing ROC Apeldoorn Classroom By Jurgen Bey

Dutch designer Jurgen Bey has created a classroom to inspire and draw out the extraordinary in young minds. The classroom interior project is part of the ROC training school at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The aim was to create an environment that enables students to start their studies in a space with room for investigation, for trial and error, for study and personal development.

Almost every surface of the room is covered with images found in books used at the school. Using mainly a palette of white and grey, Bey placed graphics on walls, furniture and even the floor. Moveable screens allow the room to open completely or divide spaces depending on the activity.

A key feature – the wear-resistant flooring system made with Senso Freeze, contains a transparent resin where digital photographs were embedded into the surface. Every inch of this space bursts with creativity and awesomeness – we can only imagine what kind of inspiration a space like this will generate in the young minds lucky enough to spend time here!