RO: Am inceput proiectul acesta de redecorare a camerei lui Alexei inca de cand locuiam in Olanda. Iar motivul principal pentru care am vrut sa facem acest lucru a fost ca sa ii cream lui Alexei un mediu cat mai frumos si mai tentant odata cu mutarea inapoi in Romania si schimbarea mediului cu care devenise familiar deja in Olanda. Practic am vrut sa ii facem o bucurie ca sa perceapa noua schimbare intr-un mod pozitiv (bineinteles, acesta a fost doar unul dintre lucrurile pe care le-am facut ca sa ii usuram tranzitia, vom vorbi curand despre toate intr-un articol separat). Si pentru ca nu voiam sa fim coplesiti de toate lucrurile pe care aveam sa le facem odata ajunsi inapoi in tara, am pornit intregul proiect de redecorare in plina pandemie, remote, pe mailuri si conversatii pe Whatsapp. A fost micul nostru proiect pentru serile acasa si spre surprinderea noastra, totul a decurs minunat. Avand si foarte mult timp la dispozitie, am putut sa facem totul linistit, documentat, fara sa luam decizii pripite si fara sa fim catusi de putin constransi.

EN: We started this redecoration project for Alexei’s room since we were still in The Netherlands. And the main reason why we wanted to do this was to create a nice and tempting environment for Alexei after our return back to Romania so that he wouldn’t feel this change. Basically we wanted to make him happy and to perceive the new change in a positive way (of course, this was only one of the things we’ve done to make his transition easier, we will soon talk about all of these in a separate article). And because we didn’t want to be overwhelmed by all the things we had to do once we got back home, we started the entire redecoration project in the middle of the pandemic, remotely, on emails and Whatsapp conversations. It was our little project for our evenings at home and to our surprise, everything went smoothly. We had a lot of time and we were able to do everything without a rush, without hasty decisions, researching a lot and not being constraint at all.

RO: Am avut marele noroc sa ne putem muta in acelasi apartament in care am locuit inainte de mutarea in Olanda, asa ca aveam planul camerelor si am putut sa lucram usor pe baza acestora, fara sa fie nevoie de masuratori sau reverificari (desi recunoastem ca ar fi fost ideal sa putem reconfirma anumite dimensiuni :D). Aveam cateva idei culese pe parcursul timpului de pe Pinterest si alte siteuri de inspiratie, insa designul interior nu a fost niciodata de interes pentru niciunul dintre noi, deci tot ce stiam despre decorat era destul de limitat. Am fi avut nevoie fie de foarte mult timp pentru a ne documenta (ceea ce ne lipsea cu desavarsire), fie de ajutorul unui designer. Si am ales cea de-a doua varianta. The easy way 🙂

EN: We were lucky to be able to move in the same apartment where we lived before our move to The Netherlands, so we already had the plan of the rooms and we could easily work based on these, without the need of measuring or doing other verification (although we have to admit that it would have been ideal to be able to reconfirm some dimensions :D). We had some ideas that we have collected during the time from Pinterest or other inspiration websites, but interior design was never an area of interest for any of us, so anything we knew about decoration was pretty limited. We would have needed either too much time to research (and we were totally lacking it) or the help of a designer. And we have chosen the second option. The easy way 🙂

RO: Asa am intrat in legatura cu cei de la Cooperativa de Design, un atelier de creatie in materie de design interior si arhitectura cu o echipa tanara si extrem de talentata cu care am rezonat extrem de bine inca din primul moment. Ei fac… de toate. Consultanta in design, proiecte de design interior, implementarea proiectelor (mobila la comanda si orice fel de accesorii), design grafic, printare 3D. Orice 🙂 Sunt foarte deschisi, accepta orice fel de idei noi, oricat de neconventionale ar fi si fac niste proiecte extrem de frumoase si inedite. Si chiar daca de obicei astfel de proiecte incep cu o intalnire de consultanta, prin care clientul vorbeste despre planurile si preferintele sale si apoi o vizita in casa/apartamentul ce trebuie decorat, noi am facut totul… pe mail si prin mesaje 🙂 Am pornit initial de la ideea unui singur pat de lemn in forma de casuta dar apoi, gandindu-ne ca am avea nevoie sa depozitam si carti, jucarii si haine in camera lui, am tot adaugat pe lista de cerinte 🙂 Cum la acel moment locuiam intr-un satuc linistit din Olanda, ei au venit cu ideea de a face in camera lui Alexei un mic… satuc de casute olandeze 🙂 Proiectul initial era cel din pozele de mai jos:

EN: So we contacted Cooperativa de Design, an interior design and architecture workshop with a young and extremely talented team that we loved from the very first moment. They do pretty much… everything. Design consultancy, interior design projects, implementing the projects (custom made furniture and all sort of accessories), graphic design, 3D printing. Anything 🙂 They are very open minded, they accept any new idea no matter how unconventional it might be and create extremely beautiful and innovative projects. And even though they usually start such projects with a consultancy meeting, where the customer talks about his plans and preferences and afterwards a visit to the house/apartment that needs the decoration, we did everything via… email or text messages 🙂 We initially started from the idea of a single wooden bed in the shape of a house but then, thinking that we would need some space for storing the books, toys and clothes, we added more and more preferences to the list 🙂 At that time we were living in a peaceful village in The Netherlands so they came with the idea of making a small Dutch village in Alexei’s room 🙂 The initial project was the one in the pictures below:

RO: Ni s-a parut absolut perfect tot ce au propus. Ideea casutei-tabla a fost in totalitate a lor si stiind cat de mult ii place lui Alexei sa mazgaleasca tabla turnului de invatare pe care il avem deja, ni s-a parut extrem dar extrem de potrivita. Insa inafara de activitatea de desenat pe tabla, casuta din mijloc ocupa destul de mult spatiu, fara sa fie neaparat practica. Asa ca raspunsul nostru la aceasta propunere initiala de proiect a fost faptul ca ne-am dori sa existe mai multe spatii de depozitare, pentru ca eram siguri ca cele doua cufere si sacii de jucarii nu vor fi suficienti. Asa ca am latit suficient de mult cea de-a doua casuta-tabla (are dimensiunile 97,5cm lățime, 150cm înălțime si 40 cm adâncime) astfel incat s-a transformat intr-o casuta pentru depozitat jucarii. Am adaptat si casuta sifonier, ca sa fie suficient de lata pentru umerase (are dimensiuni 97cm lățime, 157cm înălțime si 40 cm adâncime) iar apoi a fost un pic ajustata ca sa se potriveasca mai bine conceptului asa ca i-au adaugat doua usi cu doua ferestre albe. In final, proiectul pe care l-am aprobat cu mare entuziasm a fost acesta:

EN: Everything that they suggested seemed perfect for us. The idea of a chalkboard house was totally theirs and knowing how much Alexei enjoys drawing on the chalkboard from our learning tower, we found this so suitable for us. But besides the drawing activity that we could do, the middle house was taking quite a lot of space from the room, without being too practical. So ou response to this initial suggestion was the fact that we wanted more storage spaces, because we were absolutely sure that two wooden chests and two textile sacks will not be enough. So we widened the chalkboard house (the dimensions are 97,5cm width, 150cm height and 40 cm depth) and transformed it into a storage space for toys. We also adapted the closet-house so that it can be wide enough for the clothes hangers (the dimensions are 97cm width, 157cm height and 40 cm depth)) and then we adjusted it a bit so that it can better fit the concept. So we added two white windows. In the end, the project that we enthusiastically approved was this one:

RO: Singurul obiect de mobilier la care nu am avut nimic de schimbat a fost patul tip casuta. Initial ne propusesera un pat tip teepee (ca un cort) insa era destul de micut si ar fi fost incomod sa stam si noi, adultii, in pat cu el (atunci cand citim spre exemplu). Asa ca am preferat varianta clasica de pat-casuta, care sa aiba de jur imprejur “gardulet” ca sa putem sta impreuna, sprijinindu-ne de perne atunci cand citim (sau in fine, dormim, pentru ca nu am avut sperante prea mari ca va dormi singur in pat). Dimensiunile patului sunt 90×200 cm. A fost mai problematic cu salteaua pentru pat, pentru ca nu stiam absolut nimic despre saltele si a trebuit sa facem un research amanuntit. In urma caruia am aflat ca pentru un copilas de 2 ani este bine sa alegem o saltea destul de ferma care sa aiba o grosime de cel putin 20cm (si maxim 30cm). Am ales o saltea pe arcuri de la Somproduct cu o inaltime de 24cm (link aici) si o protectie impermeabile de pus deasupra (link aici).

EN: The only piece of furniture that we didn’t want to change at all was the bed in the shape of a house. They initially suggested a teepee bed (in the shape of a tent) but we thought that it might be too small and uncomfortable for us, the adults, when reading together for instance. So we preferred the classical house bed, surrounded by a “fence” so that we could stay together, resting on pillows while reading (or oh well, sleeping, as we didn’t have any kind of expectations that he will start sleeping alone in his own bed). The dimensions of the bed are 90x200cm. It was a bit more problematic with the mattress of the bed, as we didn’t know anything about mattresses and we had to do a detailed research about them. In the end we found out that the proper mattress for a 2 years old would be a firm mattress with a 20cm width at least (and a maximum of 30cm). We have chosen an innerspring mattress from Somproduct with a 24cm width (link here) and also a waterproof protection (link here).

RO: Decoratiunile pentru pat au fost facute la comanda, la miaki.ro. Luna si stelutele au fost facute conform proiectului celor de la Cooperativa de Design (sunt insa si pe siteul lor, link aici) iar tablourile le-am ales cu tematica de calatorii, chiar daca proiectul initial avea tablouri cu animalute. Au o varietate foarte mare de tablouri, atat seturi cat si tablouri individuale (link aici). Tot la ei am facut si un raft de perete de lemn, in forma de avion retro. Cel initial de pe site era bej, insa l-am comandat bleo (link aici). Lenjeria de pat am facut-o la comanda la ForBed Urban Linen (a fost nevoie de masuri speciale din cauza inaltimii saltelei), un cont de Instagram foarte dragut cu imprimeuri foarte frumoase pentru lenjeriile de pat (link aici). Am adaugat si alte decoratiuni la pat, o ghirlanda luminoasa pe acoperis (link aici) si una de textil cu stegulete imprimate in dungi care urmeaza sa ajunga curand (link aici). Cat despre perne, suntem in cautari 🙂 Am vrea sa umplem patul cu perne, momentan avem doua de la Cortul Fermecat (de la un cort de fapt) si trei comandate de la biano.ro. Am gasit unele absolut superbe la mamisileah.ro, cu multe figurine frumoase, insa vom pastra aceasta idee pentru mai tarziu, pentru cadourile de Craciun 🙂

EN: The decorations for the bed were custom made at miaki.ro. The moon and the stars were made according to the project from Cooperativa de Design (but they are also on their website, link here) and we have chosen a travel theme for the pictures above the bed, even though the initial project had some animal themed pictures. They have a large variety of pictures, both sets and individual (link here). We also made a vintage airplane shelf at miaki.ro but we changed the color into a blue one (link here). The bed linen was custom made at ForBed Urban Linen (it needed special measurements due to the width of the mattress), a really cute Instagram account with bed linen in nice prints (link here). We will also add some other decorations to the bed, a garland with lights on the roof (link here) and a textile one with stripped flags (link here). As for the pillows, we’re still searching 🙂 We would like to fill the bed with pillows, but for now we only have two from Cortul Fermecat (these are from an old tent we had from them) and three others ordered from biano.ro. We found some gorgeous ones at mamisileah.ro, with lots of models, but we will keep this idea for later, for Christmas presents 🙂

RO: Intregul mobilier este finisat cu un ulei special, child friendly, pe baza de plante (uleiul este de la Rubio Monocoat) si este foarte frumos lucrat. Sunt cateva detalii atat de delicate, nu ne-am fi gandit niciodata sa luam in calcul astfel de lucruri. Spre exemplu, casuta tabla are in partea de jos un suport pentru creta, o bucata de lemn iesita in relief, unde pot sta bucatile de creta (cum aveam la scoala, la tabla din clase :D). Sau manerele casutei au fost montate si ajustate inaltimii lui Alexei, ca sa ii fie usor sa deschida usile singur, fara ajutor.

EN: The entire furniture is polished with a special child friendly oil, based on plants (the oil is from Rubio Monocoat) and it is really nice. There are some delicate details that we would have never thought about. For instance, the chalkboard house has a special place for chalk (as we used to have at school :D). Or the handles of the house are mounted and adjusted to fit Alexei’s height, so that he can easily open the doors himself, without help.

RO: Cei de la Cooperativa de Design s-au ocupat si de realizarea mobilei (cele trei casute si casuta-pat) si de montarea ei in apartament. La fata locului a fost nevoie de o mica ajustare a casutei biblioteca, pentru ca in planul apartamentului nu aparea o sipca care ne-a luat putin din spatiu. Din fericire a fost ceva ce s-a putut rezolva foarte rapid, astfel ca intreaga montare a durat extrem de putin. A fost nevoie ca doua dintre casute (cea sifonier si cea de depozitare a jucariilor) sa fie prinse in perete (nu era obligatoriu dar ne temeam sa nu incerce sa escaladeze casutele si sa le traga cumva peste el) iar cea biblioteca a fost prinsa intre casuta cu jucarii si pat. Astfel ca toate casutele sunt foarte stabile si nu se pot misca. Chiar daca la acel moment nu aveam inca toate celelalte obiecte si decoratiuni (erau comandate insa nu ajunsesera inca), reactia lui Alexei a fost minunata 🙂 S-a bucurat atat de mult sa vada casutele si era asa de mandru sa aiba “camera lui”.

EN: Cooperativa de Design made the entire furniture (the three houses and the bed house) and also helped us with assembling them in the bedroom. A small adjustment was needed for the book shelf, because there was a slight mistake in the room plan and a wooden strip took a bit from our space. Luckily, it was something that was easily solved, so the assembling was really fast. Two of the houses were attached to the wall (the closet house and the toy house), which was not mandatory but we were afraid that he might scale above the houses and somehow push them over him, and the book shelf was attached between the toy house and the bed. So all the houses are very stable and they cannot be moved. Even though at that moment we didn’t have other objects or decorations (they were ordered but not yet delivered), Alexei’s reaction was priceless 🙂 He was so happy to see his houses and so proud to finally have “his room”.

RO: Ma ingrijora destul de mult casuta biblioteca pentru ca stiam ca avem foarte multe carti (pe care le depozitam in cutii si parca aveam peste tot cutii pline de carti) si eram aproape convinsa ca nu va fi suficienta. M-a surprins insa sa vad ca am reusit sa punem toate cartile si inca sa avem loc si pentru altele. Nu am delimitat rafturile in partea din fata cu opritoare pentru ca am vrut sa putem pune orice fel de carte, indiferent de dimensiune. Si este minunat sa avem acum toate cartile expuse in biblioteca, sa putem alege usor, fara sa mai controbaim prin cutii 🙂

EN: I was worried about the book shelf house because we knew that we had quite a lot of books (stored in boxes everywhere around the house) and I was almost certain that it will not be enough. But it surprised me to see that we managed to arrange all the books and still have plenty of space for others. We didn’t mark off the front shelves because we wanted to be able to put any kind of book there, no matter the size. And it is now lovely to have all the books displayed in the bookshelf and easily choose, without searching through boxes 🙂

RO: Casuta de depozitare pentru jucarii are patru rafturi mari si 20cm adancime pe fiecare raft. Din nou, mi s-a parut destul de putin loc vazand proiectul, insa cand am inceput sa aranjam jucariile mi-am dat seama ca este de fapt foarte mult spatiu. Am pus puzzleuri, piese de construit si jucarii mici in aceasta casuta si nu este inca umpluta complet. Poate ca am putea sa optimizam putin spatiul si sa mai punem poate niste cutii de depozitare (care ar ajuta si la rotirea jucariilor, lucru pe care il facem adesea cu Alexei ca sa nu se plictiseasca de jucarii), insa imi place si ideea de a le avea pe toate la indemana si ca le poate alege usor, fara sa caute in cutii. Vom mai vedea pe parcurs daca vom simti ca avem nevoie de mai multa compartimentare. Tot pentru jucarii am ales si cateva cutii de depozitare, care sa se potriveasca cu designul camerei. Am vrut doua cufere de lemn ca sa depozitam ustensilele pentru pictat si arta in general (comandate de la Vivre, link aici) si doi saci imensi, extrem de incapatori, din textil pentru alte jucarii, plusuri in mare parte (link aici). Si mai aveam de anul trecut doi saci de hartie de la Adinish, care s-au pastrat impecabil pana acum, desi au fost extrem de incercati 😀

EN: The house used for toy storage has four big shelves and 20cm width on each shelf. Again, it seemed smaller when we first saw the project but when we started to arrange the toys we realized that there is actually quite a lot of space. We arranged puzzles, building pieces and small toys in this house and it is not yet full. Maybe we could optimize the space and add some more storage boxes (which would be very useful to rotate the toys, which we often do so that Alexei won’t get bored by his toys) but I also like the idea of having them all at hand and easily choose from them, without searching in boxes. We will see later if we will need storage boxes in the house. We have also chosen some boxes for storage that were great for the room design. We wanted two wooden chests to store all the painting and art tools (ordered from Vivre, link here) and two huge textile sacks, very large and spacious, for other toys and soft toys (link here). And we still had two paper sacks from Adinish, ordered two years ago, which are still impeccable even though we used them quite a lot 😀

RO: Casuta sifonier a fost gandita pentru depozita toate hainutele si incaltarile. Nu am avut niciodata nici macar un dulap pentru lucrurile lui Alexei (le tineam in dulapurile noastre si erau raspandite cam peste tot, mereu ne era greu sa gasim lucrurile) asa ca acum am vrut sa avem totul intr-un singur loc (haine groase si subtiri, toate laolalta). Singura preferinta mentionata inca din primul moment a fost sa avem o bara de umerase mici, de copil, unde sa atarnam cateva tinute astfel incat Alexei sa isi poata alege mereu ce isi doreste. Am vrut sa fie o bara la nivelul lui de inaltime, sa poata puna si scoate umerasele cu usurinta, iar deasupra acestei bare am vrut spatiu de depozitare (umerasele de lemn le-am comandat de la biano.ro, link aici). Credem ca este important pentru el sa aiba aceasta “atributie” de a-si alege singur hainele dimineata si chiar daca intregul proces de decizie cere mult timp si multa rabdare din partea noastra, ne-am gandit ca ii va prinde foarte bine sa simta ca are libertatea de a-si alege el singur cu ce sa se imbrace.

EN: The closet house was designed to store all this clothes and footwear. We never had a closet for his things (we always kept them in our wardrobe and they were scattered all over the place, it was always a challenge to find something) so we wanted to have everything in one place now (all the clothes, for any season). The only thing we insisted to have was a bar for small clothes hangers, where we could hang some outfits for Alexei to choose. We wanted this bar at his level of height, so that he can take the hangers easily, by himself, and above this bar we wanted to have storage space (we have the hangers from biano.ro, link here). We believe that it is important for them to have this “task” of choosing their own clothes in the morning even though this decisions takes a lot of time and a lot of patience from our side. But we thought that it will be good for him to have the freedom to choose what to wear.

RO: Chiar daca aveam deja o masuta de desen in sufragerie, am vrut sa aiba si in camera lui un loc unde sa poata desena sau sa facem diverse activitati impreuna. Vazusem cu mult timp inainte un set de masa de lemn cu scaun cu spatar in forma de urechi de iepuras si mi s-a parut ca se potriveste perfect in camera. Setul nostru este comandat de la magazinul lilu-lilu.ro (link aici). Masuta are o vopsea lucioasa care se curata usor de carioci sau acuarele, asa ca o folosim inclusiv pentru activitati mai… messy 🙂

EN: Even though we already had a drawing table in the living room, we wanted to have a place to draw or make all sort of activities in his room as well. We’ve seen a set of wooden table and a chair with the back rest int he shape of bunny ears and we thought that it is perfect for his room. Our set was ordered from lilu-lilu.ro (link here). The table has a shiny paint that can be easily cleaned so we even use it for messier activities 🙂

RO: Nu am fi vrut sa schimbam covorul insa ulterior ne-am dat seama ca s-ar potrivi ceva mai neutru, asa ca am ales un covor modular din spuma, care poate fi facut in diverse forme si modele, gasit la davidandthea.com (link aici). Forma finala arata ca un covor normal, insa este mai inalt decat un covor obisnuit.

EN: We didn’t actually want to change the carpet but then we realized that a neutral color would fit better in the room so we have chosen a modular play mat, made of foam, which can be assembled in different shapes and models (we found it at davidandthea.com, link here). The final shape looks like a normal rug, but this is higher that an usual rug.

RO: Pentru peretele gol de vizavi de casutele mobila am vrut initial un sticker cu animale pe care il comandasem din Olanda, de la fleurdesfleurs.nl insa ulterior am primit cadou un sticker modular in forma de pickup truck (de la Cortul Fermcat). Stiind cat de mult ii plac acest tip de camionete, am ales sa punem momentan stickerul acesta pe perete. L-a distrat teribil faptul ca putea sa puna el singur fiecare parte din sticker pe perete 🙂 Acum insa ma gandesc ca poate ar fi mai potrivit un tapet pe intregul perete, intr-o culoare si un design neutru. Sunt atat de multe variante frumoase pe piata ca nici nu stim ce ar fi mai potrivit 🙂 Dar vom vedea ce gasim potrivit.

EN: For the empty wall from the room we initially wanted a jungle sticker that we ordered from The Netherlands, from fleurdesfleurs.nl but then we received a modular sticker as a present, in the shape of a pickup truck (from Cortul Fermecat). Knowing how much he loves this type of trucks, we have chosen to use this sticker on the wall. He had so much fun attaching each part of the sticker on the wall 🙂 But now I’m thinking that maybe it would be nicer to have a wall paper on the entire wall, in a neutral color and design. There are so many options on the market that we simply don’t know what to choose 🙂 But we will see what we will find 🙂

RO: A fost un proiect in care ne-am implicat tare mult si ne-a placut tot researchul facut, chiar daca a fost nevoie de mult timp si multe cautari. Dar am reusit sa ii facem un loc drag, in care petrece foarte mult timp si in care se simte extrem de bine. Acesta a si fost scopul nostru de altfel. Si speram ca ne-a reusit 🙂 Am incercat sa includem toate informatiile si toate linkurile in acest articol insa daca mai sunt alte intrebari despre camera lui Alexei, le asteptam cu drag si vom raspunde fiecareia in parte 🙂

EN: We loved this project and we were so involved in all the research we made, even though it needed so much time and so many searches. But we managed to make a nice place for Alexei, where he spends most of his day and where he really feels good. This was actually our purpose. And we truly hope we made it 🙂 We tried to include all the necessary details and all the links in this article but if there are any other questions about Alexei’s room, we are looking forward to received them and we will answer to each of them 🙂