Smaller Cooler 2009: Ben's Simple Shared Space

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Name/Age: Ben
Location: San Diego, California
Family: Ben, his mom Carrie, and his dad
Room Size: 109 square feet
Division: Baby

Tip for Living Small with Kids: Sweet baby Ben is still brand new, so we are still learning about our newest & most favorite addition to our humble abode. A good tip for living in small spaces is to clear the clutter, and don't be afraid to purge! If you must keep something sentimental, then make sure to display it in a beautiful way.

Give Ben and his parents a THUMBS UP if you think this room belongs in the finals!
Thumbs Up Voting is only activated for 48 Hours — so don't delay!

What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in putting together this room? We live in a 2 bedroom 1952 post war ranch house. The lack of space requires an office/nursery. The biggest challenge was to design a space that was functional and aesthetically pleasing for both uses. The goal was to create a graphically inspired space that would feel warm and peaceful for both baby and a work at home mama.

We kept the walls/furniture light and neutral to keep the room from feeling overcrowded with furniture. The main colors of brown, aqua, orange work well for both a nursery and office. I paired bold graphic prints found on Etsy (Sugarloop) with the beautiful high contrast bedding from Dwell Studio. Ohdeedoh was a great resource and a number of items I used in the room were inspired by this wonderful blog!

Give Ben and his parents a THUMBS UP if you think this room belongs in the finals!
Thumbs Up Voting is only activated for 48 Hours — so don't delay!

Do you want more Smaller Cooler? Check out all the entries here.

Where'd you find the tin letters? I love that typeface. (And the Charley Harper ABC book.)

posted by mere1975 on May 14th 2009 at 3:54pm
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This is such a cute room! I love the color scheme. I love how you use the nursery as an office, too!

posted by wednesdayaddams on May 14th 2009 at 4:09pm
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It looks great!

posted by EMS1974 on May 14th 2009 at 4:24pm
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love the wall bookholder... where from?

posted by springishere on May 14th 2009 at 4:28pm
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Beautiful room!

posted by smbumblebee on May 14th 2009 at 4:34pm
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where is the orange basket on the floor between your desk and dresser from? ive been looking for something of that sort, in orange or brown, to hold toys in my sons room.

posted by deeboyayay on May 14th 2009 at 4:40pm
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Awesome room! Where did you get the cute owl lamp?

posted by whitneyd on May 14th 2009 at 5:24pm
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Beautiful room - great job! Can I ask where you found the crib and dresser?

posted by huegs on May 14th 2009 at 6:28pm
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Huegs, the dresser is Hemnes from Ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00067830)

deeboyayay, I think the orange basket is the Strapping Floor Bin from Land of Nod (http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=106&f=4111&pc=16)

And lastly, whitneyd I think the lamp is the Wise Owl Lamp base from Urban Outfitters.

Oh and I too love the room!

posted by Sarah in Nola on May 14th 2009 at 7:16pm
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the letters look like they're from anthropologie. I have one like it and I've seen similar bookholders at pottery barn and walmart.

Awesome room!

posted by inkstainedwriter on May 14th 2009 at 7:19pm
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What a great room! Where did the elephant mobile come from?

posted by mac10006 on May 14th 2009 at 7:43pm
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Thanks for the compliments everyone!

Letters are "Zinc Letters" from Anthropologie

Dresser is "Hemnes" from Ikea

Crib is "Straight-Up Crib" from Land of Nod

Bookshelf is "Catalina Magazine Rack" from Pottery Barn Kids

Orange basket is "Strapping Floor Bin" from Land of Nod

Lamp is "Wise Owl Lamp Base" from Urban Outfitters

Lamp Shade is "Light Years Lamp Shade" from Land of Nod

Happy nesting to all!
Carrie

posted by crdesign on May 14th 2009 at 7:43pm
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Sarah in Nola, thanks for posting the answers too!

Mac10006:
Mobile is "Elephant Party Mobile" by Flensted Mobiles - it comes in primary colors and I painted ours brown to match the room

posted by crdesign on May 14th 2009 at 7:50pm
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What a great mix of colours! I love the style of your room, it's clean, refreshing and very well put together! Bravo!

posted by IsabelleS on May 14th 2009 at 8:15pm
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I love how such a small space looks so open and the personal touches are perfect!

posted by ecarter on May 14th 2009 at 9:02pm
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Oh, so cute! It's kid-friendly without being saccharine. I adore it.

posted by aubreyelf on May 14th 2009 at 11:22pm
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I adore the color combination. Where did you get that perfect rug?

posted by bookworm77 on May 15th 2009 at 3:42am
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very cute room indeed

posted by stevenzhangshen on May 15th 2009 at 12:17pm
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Carrie & Zack,

This is sooo ADORABLE!! :) I love it the blue, brown, and white combination~* ;)

Mary

posted by bebe on May 15th 2009 at 12:18pm
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It looks great. I love that small chair.

posted by WinnieZhang on May 15th 2009 at 12:20pm
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The window and the way the lighting spreads itself out is an amazing idea - I like everything about the room...

posted by bhuvana84 on May 15th 2009 at 1:02pm
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Thumbs up #68! Keep the votes coming!

Room looks gorgeous. Well done!

Steve

posted by sservantez on May 15th 2009 at 1:57pm
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I love that color combination, wall pictures and the wall book holder…
I like the way the sun saying hello…. What a bright room. Good luck.

posted by sivisri on May 15th 2009 at 2:59pm
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Thanks to everyone for the awesome support!

bookworm77,
The rug was a very generous baby shower gift from a dear friend.

posted by crdesign on May 15th 2009 at 3:15pm
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Room looks gorgeos...i like little chair

posted by Sarangan on May 15th 2009 at 3:29pm
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The room looks awesome guys!! I think I'll save myself some work and not show these pics to my wife :)

posted by rduncan23 on May 15th 2009 at 3:39pm
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Isn't he young for an iMac?

posted by junkfish on May 15th 2009 at 7:32pm
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Looks really great
Linda

posted by lpuckett on May 15th 2009 at 10:56pm
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I love the room, simple yet special for Ben to enjoy!

posted by mendog on May 16th 2009 at 9:13pm
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Very nice room!

posted by bharathv on May 17th 2009 at 1:44pm
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LOVE the room. Where are your square white frames from? I am loooking for some square white frames and have had no luck!

posted by melimpea on May 23rd 2009 at 8:47pm
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I really like the colors you chose. Very calming. It m akes me want to take a nap right now. Well done.

posted by TheOrdinaryBoy on May 25th 2009 at 7:12pm
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melimpea- the white square frames are from West Elm:

http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODa472&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1ACCGAL&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1ACCGAL

posted by crdesign on June 3rd 2009 at 11:24am
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