‘MY FAV ROOM’ EPISODE 11: TOUR OF A PLAYFUL TODDLERS BEDROOM IN LONDON

Welcome back! If this is your first time visiting, let me give you a quick run through! ‘My Fav Room Tours’, is a spin off of the original #howirent tours. Every week I’ll be be interviewing renters from all over the world who will be giving us a personal tour of their favorite rooms, as well as sharing their renting journey and how they’ve been spending their time during this isolation period (as a result of COVID) . You can check out previous room tours here, or catch up with the #howirent home tours here.

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MEET THE RENTER:

Priscilla Seminario

‘What I like most about renting is the flexibility . . . .you can stay in a place for as little or as long as you need to.’

Lives in : London, UK

With: Husband and 2 year old son

About: Architect by profession

Renting in current home For : 1 year

Instagram: @myrentednest

Blog: www.myrentednest.co.uk

Top tip for renters:Keep a good relationship with your landlord/or estate agent.

WATCH THE FULL ROOM TOUR:

READ THE INTERVIEW

What is your favourite room?

My son’s bedroom and library/home office
alcove.

Why is this your favourite room?

Because when we had him, we used to live in a tiny 1-bed flat, and we really outgrew that place, so I was really excited to move to a place where he could have his own space to play and sleep and that we could decorate to suit him. I love that the room is very bright with big windows and faces a garden where there are these big trees, so we don’t need to look onto a busy road.

Next to it is the library/home office nook, which was the game-changer space in the flat. This is what made me stop viewings and decide to go for this one. I am an avid reader, and my book collection is constantly growing. When I saw this space with the built-in shelves, I knew I had found a flat that would be comfortable for us. I recently re arranged the shelves to give ourselves a makeshift desk to work from home.

I love that the flexibility the space gives us. The only con is that it doesn’t have much natural light, but with the doors open, and a lamp, we can make do.

How have you decorated it? I.e what style?

Our son’s bedroom is mostly furnished with IKEA furniture. The style is cozy and playful. I tried to go for timeless furniture that could grow with him, in neutral colours instead of a baby-themed room.

The cot is a hand-me-down from an older cousin, the yellow chest of drawers is from IKEA and we got it when we were expecting him and the armchair is from Sofa.com, which we got as a wedding gift and fitted perfectly into his room. All the pictures hanging on the wall are by me.

I would like to add more wall art with time. We also wanted to paint the walls to cover this awful magnolia, but many things have got in the way, so only the sample swatches remain! I will get around to it.

Is there anything in this room that you are particularly proud of?

I am proud of the Babar drawings I made. The one with the hot-air balloons I completed when I was pregnant. I was colouring the plane on the second one when my water broke! Needless to say, that one was left unfinished for a month or so, and I completed it when he was already born, in between his naps.

Where do you like to shop for home décor?

Ikea is a staple. I wish I had something more original to say, but they do have lovely things for a good price. We try to mix it up with non-ikea pieces, but we rented the flat completely unfurnished, so we had to be careful with our budget too.

We also love Habitat, John Lewis, Sofa.com – their sofas are so comfortable! For accessories, H&M home, Zara Home and then independent boutiques and vintage for accent pieces and decorative objects.

How have you been using this room during the past few months?

We play a lot in his room, read stories, and put together his train tracks to play.We try and keep him distracted between his room and our living room. There
are toys scattered everywhere.

The library nook was my makeshift office until I was put on furlough, so we use it to leave things there, to put books away, just a middle between dumping
ground and useful room.

One word to describe how this room makes you feel today?

Playful.