starry night

This heartfelt project was definitely one for the books! A few months ago, Natalie from For Little Monkeys reached out to collaborate on a sensory bedroom project she was fundraising. Natalie does so much for the neurodiverse community in Stouffville and pours her heart and soul into her charity. I was so honoured to join this beautiful cause by dreaming up a calm, organized and soothing room design. Once Natalie had selected the winning applicant, we scheduled a phone consultation to get to know the family — I wanted to make sure that I was designing a functional and elevated space that would meet Raza’s specific neurodiverse needs. With two sons on the spectrum, Natalie shared so much knowledge and ideas for this project and I got right to work to develop a space with designated zones, soft textures and a quiet colour palette. And about 7 weeks later, we had a fully finished space ready to be enjoyed! Seeing Raza walk into his new bedroom for the first time nearly brought tears to my eyes; he so lovingly observed and explored all of the little details…

From the very start, I knew that I wanted to create the feeling of being wrapped in a calming hug, so we opted to paint the walls, trim and doors in Boothbay Gray by Benjamin Moore. This completely transformed the mood of the room and I am so happy everyone was on board with the idea. I then had the idea of adding white star decals to the feature wall to create a serene focal point to gaze at… it turned out so good! The light blue, sage green and buttery yellow colour palette adds just enough saturation to the design while still maintaining a soothing feeling.

Soft textures were an important consideration for this project, so we sourced a tufted rug and layered a cozy padded play mat on top for extra cushioning when playing or using the slide! We also wanted to provide lots of comfortable seating options, so we included a bean bag and a sensory swing to help soothe and self-regulate. We added open toy storage to encourage quiet play with things like blocks, fidget toys, trucks and soft toys. To help Raza ease into a new independent sleep transition, I sourced a floor bunk bed to make it easy for him to get in and out of bed confidently. And since he loves playing at the park, the added slide component to the bunk bed was a huge hit! I wanted to make sure the room could grow with Raza over the years, so we create a really cool hangout spot by incorporating cozy cushions on the top bunk. The plush polar bear is such a fun textural decor element, too!

A very special thank you to the trades who brought the room design to life and to all the wonderful brands and retailers who graciously donated products for this special project. We are so grateful for your generosity:
- padded play mat, ourson baby
- knit fawn doll, cuddle & kind
- weighted blanket, little north co.
- sensory swing, savoiz
- block name letters, timberwood designs
- night light and press phone toy, maude kids

A heartfelt thank you to Raza’s parents, who were so trusting throughout the entire process. They made sure we were all taken care of on setup day with food, treats and drinks and even happily jumped in to help install the wall decals and chat with me while steaming the curtains — they truly are the kindest family. Last but not least, a huge thank you to Natalie from For Little Monkeys… working together and being a part of this special project was so fulfilling and seeing the impact the new room design has on this loving family makes my heart sing.