I live in a very contemporary home… Ultra mod, open plan, open staircase (!!!) lots of glass, charcoal accents and artfully arranged and curated objet’. I am not a fan of clutter, (I hate mess) everything in my home has a place. Must be the stylist in me.

So here comes my current dilemma. My beautiful baby, Madam M, is no longer a small baby but now an exploring adventurous 8 month old and our home an exciting place to discover. EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK (did I say open staircase!!!!!!)

 

I was not ready for this yet. My house is probably the most un-baby proof house in East London! Contemporary design was not made for babies…I will be the first to admit.

 

So…. about that staircase. It’s a beautiful masterpiece of steel and solid oak treads, stained to a greymist hue. It’s also completely open for the first 6 stairs – no balustrade, no handrail. Not at all appropriate for a little person on the move and pulling herself up onto everything (cat included!)   The edges of the actual treads-all angular in their contemporary design, also pose a problem as sharp edges themselves are a hazard.

 

I wanted to wrap each tread with foam.… (and Madam M, a spacesuit of foam!)

 

Forget ‘Form over Function.’ ‘Safetly over Style’ has become my new motto.

 

My staircase now has a latticed fence that surrounds it. I did insist that it be painted charcoal tho! (Charcoal makes everything look better! Read all about my love affair with the colour here) The latticed fence keeps Madam M at a safe distance away from the death trap.   And from the top, we simply gated it.   Next up on the list is to attach plastic ‘chicken wire’ mesh to our double volume balustrade. I kid you not. ( At least its Charcoal. )

All these fences, gates and wire…shall we call it farm chic?!

 

The next item to address was my leaning mirrors. I love leaning mirrors… its just a bit more casual than a fixed mirror on the wall.

Babies love mirrors too.

One of Madam M’s favourite pastime babbling to herself in front of my artfully arranged cluster of mirrors (3 is better than 1 after all!). Somehow she can see herself thru the grungy patina of the distressed group that I have in our entrance hall.

Due to fear of her pulling the mirror ontop of herself, one mirror has been moved to a spare bedroom and the others fixed to the wall. (sigh)

 

My coffee tables (again a grouping) have been moved from the center of my lounge to make space for a playmat and fun ball enclosure! Brightly coloured baby toys are the ‘piece de resistance’ amongst my moody and sophisticated warm grey palette.  Blue, Purple and Yellow plastic contrast against stormy coloured leather.

I have long gone stopped worrying about what my lounge looks like and am more concerned that my baby is happily entertained and stimulated. I did buy a really nice basket to keep the toys in though. (see here)

 

Something else that I quickly had to move out the way to higher grounds were my beautifully arranged brass and Dutz glassware accessories on my coffee table. They were in the line of fire.

Vases, candles, anything glass or ceramic is really just a no no at this stage. My Meyer Von Wielligh custom made solid oak server is now bare. (I had a few pots underneath it) It makes a really great obstacle course for Madam M to crawl under.

 

And that was just my lounge/entrance hall. We haven’t even got to the kitchen! Custom designed by me with everything conveniently packed away in drawers… nice one for catching little fingers. Especially with the German engineered ‘Porche’ drawer runners (fail!)

 

So life sure has got more interesting. I sadly don’t have time to sit and write blog posts as in between designing new interiors, project managing a big corporate renovation (more about that next week) and building my beach house, I am now baby proofing my house and making sure my little M can explore to her hearts content and hopefully have wonderful memories of our first home. As that is what counts the most.