5 minutes with Children's Interior Design Queen Nicole Rosenberg...
Melbourne based interior decorator, Nicole Rosenberg, is a creative force in the Interior Design Industry who works closely with her clients to create unique ideas and styles that evoke emotion.
Founded in 2006, Little Liberty is a company that stretches style parameters for parents who want something new, fresh and yet warmly familiar for their children's bedrooms and nurseries. Each of her designs break free from homogeny to create a spontaneous and adventurous masterpiece that are contemporary with splashes of edginess. She encourages colourful foundations and likes to 'build up' with dramatic powerful colours, patterns or textures. 'I've always thought colour and design was an extension of one's personality and I encourage those clients that lack 'colour- confidence' to experiment with striking bold shades,' she says.
We were super lucky to chat with Nicole about Children’s bedroom trends for 2019, who inspires her design style and her top tips for how to create a stunning nursery of your own…
How did Little Liberty come about?
It was a really organic process for me - I had always been really passionate about art at school and was really creative. When I had my first child I started a business creating hand painted babushka/matryoshka dolls and decorated their bellies with Liberty of London fabrics - which is where the name Little 'Liberty' originally came from. I used to sell them all around the world and had a shop on Etsy! I also used to throw elaborately decorated parties for my kids which I would start preparing months in advance for to create the perfect party set up - it was safe to say I needed a creative outlet! I had just had my second baby and was looking for something to occupy my time and fuel my passion other than just being a stay at home Mum. I started obsessively decorating the nursery and then friends ask me to decorate their children rooms as well! I then started a blog about what I was doing (back then no instagram or facebook!) and this started off my little interior decorating business. I gained a large following pretty quickly and the rest is interior decor history!
Boys rooms, girls rooms or nurseries , what is your favourite room to design?
For some reason I really love decorating boys rooms and nurseries - I feel like I can really let my wild side run free when decorating boys spaces and I love using bolder colors! I recently designed a boys nursery where I used dark wallpaper with metallic dots through the entire room and it was really fun to create this unique take on a baby room which I had some amazing feedback on through my socials
What can we expect to see in kids bedroom decor in 2019
I'm hoping that people are going to be more experimental with their kids rooms and steer away from the generic grey and pastel pinks. Kids rooms are the one area of the house that you can unleash your fun interior decorating side and not be as serious as the rest of the house. People need to stop looking at what's on social media and create something specific and unique to their own style and childs personality. I think that people are going to start using color differently this year and look at bolder brighter colors to create something special and memorable.
How would you describe Little Liberties Style?
I love all things 'colourful'l and my house is filled with bold bright and fun art with pops of color in my occasional furniture. I adore older houses with character and high ceilings and could never see myself living in a modern home. I don't really follow trends and my house is an eclectic mix of everything I love .... so there is lots of pink! I'm obsessed with art and don't have enough walls for my ever growing collection - my favourite is this Jai Vasicek skull one which has all my favourite colors mixed into one!
You have styled some amazing celebrity clients homes, if you could style anyone's who would it be?
I would LOVE to style Megan Markles baby nursery!!! Even though most of my work is quite modern and edgy I really enjoy decorating more traditional spaces such as Nadia Bartel's new nursery for her son Henley. I love the royals so much and I'm keeping my phone line free as I know I'm going to get the call any minute now ....
Top 3 tips for creating a cohesive nursery design
1. Paint colour - where to start!
Don't get deterred once you see the Dulux wall color chart! Try to stick to neutral tones (white, grey and beige) and then add in some softer palettes in soft furnishings, art, curtains for added color interest. Feature walls are OUT so if you are painting the walls do every wall and leave the wood features (doors, window frames, mouldings) in crisp white. Also when choosing your wall paint color, look for something classic that doesn't feel too baby specific. Try to use a water based paint with no nasty chemicals and alway remember on the day you paint to wait two or three days for any lingering fumes to dissipate before you, your baby, or any baby essentials spend time in there.
2. Invest in quality pieces that you can use again
Remember you get what you pay for! If it's your first nursery it's a good idea to invest in a good quality classic white cot that can then be passed on to future babies. With regards to the feeding chair it doesn't alway have to be a classic feeding rocking chair that you will want to get rid of in a couple of years - instead, choose a classic occasional chair that you can still use in a family or lounge room after the baby is no longer breast feeding.
3. Storage is the key
Marie Kondo definitely has some good points! When you see clutter everywhere you feel cluttered and chaotic inside. The key to a calm clutter free nursery is storage. If you don't have adequate storage in the room and the babies toys are constantly all over the floor it's really going to ruin the vibe in the room. We have so many great choices for gorgeous storage solutions in Australia from IKEA to designer Scandinavian ones so there is really no excuse for packing away all of the clutter!
Who is your style icon or inspiration
Kelly Whearstler - the coolest interior decorated in the world! Her style is so effortlessly cool and she has the most amazing life travelling all over the world collecting amazing pieces from auction houses which she often sells at her flagship store in L.A. All the furniture pieces in her store and so unique and really reflect her style and amazing design flare.
Nicole Rosenberg for Home Beautiful Magazine | Photographer Eve Wilson
