Hello

Istill remember the year I went away on school camp and came home to find Mum had moved me into a different room (a much larger one, further away from her and Dad). It was so exciting to have a bigger space to call my own, and the best part was I had a brand-new bed – a water bed! (It was the early ‘90s). I didn’t care about the poo-brown felt carpet tiles or the peeling wallpaper, it was an exciting, new space to store all my treasures in and call my own – and that’s pretty magic when you’re little.

The kids’ bedroom special in this issue created much discussion within the team. Imogen, our designer, remembers desperately wanting a basketball-themed bedroom (thanks to the 1996 blockbuster Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny). Instead she had to endure years of Laura Ashley including matching lampshade, curtains, throw pillows, shams and wallpaper, which sounds rather lovely – but for self-confessed tomboy Imogen it was floral hell on earth! Our stylist Vanessa Nouwens is the style queen of kids’ rooms and she’s really gone all out this month – check out her amazing work on pages 34 and 112. For those mamas and papas who’d love to give their child a bedroom makeover, make sure to enter our competition on page 20. The lovely folks at Meluka and Danske Mobler will kit out the room with bunks and furniture, Harvey Furnishings will provide the soft furnishings, Resene is shouting the paint and Master Painters will even come round and paint it in your chosen colours. Good luck!