Pastel hues and soft shapes: confectionery-inspired design for kids

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Vipack, Modulo, stackable bed system

Colourful macaroons, tasty gingerbread, strawberry chewing gum... Sweet things are out of the pantry and colonizing our little ones’ bedrooms, with furniture and design objects transforming them into fantasy worlds

Designing a child’s bedroom is not just a matter of scale: shrinking an aesthetically pleasing design object is not always sufficient to cater to a small person’s needs. Specific tricks are needed to create environments that are not only safe and accessible, but include key features for early childhood and fire up the imagination.

Neuroarchitecture, the study of how space influences our brains and moods at a biochemical level, underscores how important sensory stimuli are for children’s intellectual and emotional development. For instance, soft and delicate colours convey feelings of calm and serenity, while interactive or manipulable elements foster the development of brain connections and relative independence.

Circu Magical Furniture, Bubble Gum, salone milano — Circu Magical Furniture, Bubble Gum bed, 2022

One strategy for stimulating young denizens’ imagination is to turn their bedroom into a magical micro-world, populating it with themed items of furniture that communicate with one another. Recent emerging trends in offerings from companies in the industry and beyond (several design brands that focus primarily on adults have now turned their attention to the kids’ universe) include one that is, figuratively and literally, very sweet: in the home, recreating fantastic settings such as Wreck-It Ralph’s Candy Kingdom or Hansel and Gretel’s little house, with a healthy dose of irony, using furniture and objects inspired by cakes, cookies and candy.

qeebo, ribbon chair, salone milano — Qeebo, Ribbon Chair Baby and Ribbon Chair, design Nika Zupanc

Portuguese brand and children’s luxury segment specialist Circu Magical Furniture dedicated an entire collection to chewing gum, a consolidated children’s favourite. The dominant colour of Bubble Gum – a bed with a built-in bookcase, a bench with a wavy marshmallow-like profile, a multi-tasking desk, cabinets and drawers, and even a home playground complete with slide and swing, all featuring rounded lines and sugary hues – is of course bubble-gum pink.

Nika Zupanc’s “baby” version Ribbon Chair design for Qeeboo, a company founded by designer Stefano Giovannoni in 2016, uses the same colour to evoke delicate, romantic atmospheres in one of three versions, the others being white and light blue. Like its big sister designed for grown-ups, a large bow for a backrest is the hallmark feature of this essential, eye-catching, polypropylene chair.

Eneris Collective, Nontalo, salone milano — Eneris Collective, Nontalo, 2022

Working with Barcelona-based biomaterials research expert NaifactoryLAB, the Eneris Collective (aka Spanish designers Irene Segarra and Irene Martínez) unveiled the Nontalo stool at the latest edition of Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. In a colour and texture reminiscent of gingerbread, albeit with a distinctly Mediterranean flavour, the stool is a combination of pieces that may be assembled in a variety of ways. This evolutionary object may be put together to form a small bench or a small table, leaving the field open to kids’ imaginations. All elements are made of Reolivar, a 100%-compostable material created from olive pits held together by natural binders.

Belgian company Vipack’s design for its Modulo stackable bed system also adopts a gingerbread theme, this time in the guise of the gingerbread man, a popular little fellow featured in many fairy tales. Available in three versions resembling either an arrow, a puzzle tile or, indeed, this smiling little man, interlocking feet hold together two or more beds to optimize bedroom space usage.

Finally, the Macaron pouf by Calia Italia is inspired by the eponymous (and highly colourful) French pastry made from almond flour, icing sugar and egg whites. Particularly versatile, it may potentially be used as a chair for children (on its own) or for adults (two pieces stacked on top of one another). Various finishes and numerous colour versions are available, in all cases with a contrasting “filling”.