Amy Ardlie + Heidi + Alby + a little one on the way

Name. Amy Ardlie

Children.  Heidi (almost 4), Alby (1 1/2years old), and a little one on the way

Location. Melbourne, Australia

Occupation. Business Owner / Designer of Bell Frankie + Co.

Instagram. @bellfrankieandco

What was your priority when creating your nursery space?

Each child has their own room, so I guess they are all a bit different. I wanted the rooms to feel fun and semi neutral so they could grow with the children while portraying their different personalities and my personal style.

Heidi is almost 4 so she now has an opinion of what she likes and wants in her room. This makes it a tricky balance between keeping it tasteful yet at the same time letting her play with plastic dolls houses, my little ponies, shopkins and celebrating her creativity (i.e. sticking her artwork up on the wall). Alby on the other hand is so young that he does not care what I do to his room although he does love playing in his tee pee with his books. 

What is your favourite piece?

I love Heidi's bed - I kept seeing it on blogs and Instagram and decided when she moved into her new room that it would be perfect. I am very lucky that my husband is very handy and creative and could build it for her and transformed her room in a weekend. I also love Alby's felt animal heads by Fiona Walker that are above his cot, he points to them before every sleep. The new baby's oversized Miffi light is also a favourite.

How do you create the perfect sleeping environment for your child?

I'm not sure if I know the key to that - but I do like baby's rooms to be dark for daytime sleeps and not too over stimulating. I guess I have made this a priority in our baby to be's room.  I don't think that it matters as much as they get older, it just needs to be warm, comfy and a space for them to feel safe in.

I am onto my 3rd pregnancy and I've completely embraced the nesting faze. So much so that I have redone the baby's room, moved Alby into a new room and altered Heidi's room so she didn't feel left out. Not knowing the sex of the baby makes things a bit tricky, so at the moment it's very neutral and sparse as I'm waiting for that one important piece of information. Once we know the sex of this little bambino - I can layer it  with masculine or feminine accents. I am not necessarily into blue for boys and pink for girls, it currently has nice bones but I know it needs more before it is complete.  Heidi is a real bowerbird, if she could take 30 bunnies, teddies and dolls to bed with her every night she would. To counteract this, I made sure that Alby's room is clean and minimal. My new theory is the playroom is for the toys whilst the bedroom is for a small amount of play but mostly sleeping.