Summer vacation is always the time of year to dive headfirst into a new adventure. A two-week trip to the beach with the kids, a weekend with an SO to the mountains or a solo hiking trip are just the beginning. The days are long and entire afternoons are spent exploring and playing pretend in the backyard. Maybe it’s a trip to a deserted island via a reading of The Swiss Family Robinson for the first time as a part of a summer reading project, or perhaps a journey to California while watching Finding Dory.

This summer especially we have been bit hard by the adventure bug with the Summer Olympics in Brazil (that was not a Zika joke.) We will happily watch the opening ceremony while the citizens of Rio show the world what they’re made of. Athletes around the globe will fly their flags and wear their national pride on their sleeves. We will see champions from all over, hear languages we don’t speak and maybe even learn the name of a country of which we have no prior knowledge.

Sometimes it seems like the world is getting smaller every day. It’s easier to travel—though increasingly more expensive—and with all the various media outlets including Snapchat and Instagram, we are constantly given glimpses of life we have never seen before. But with all this access comes the realization that we have so much to see for ourselves during our lives. A kid’s room full of maps and modes of transportation can jumpstart a life of wondering what this world has to offer.

Below is Marlena’s vision of how to bring adventure into your home. Contact her here for more information.

Photo Reference 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

Is it just us or is every pregnant friend waiting until the bun is out of the oven before finding out if it’s a John or a Jane? In that case, the new parents have what is, we’re guessing, not the last challenge of having a baby. How do you decorate a baby’s room when all you know about it is that it’s smaller than a bread basket?

A brand new life means the opportunity for endless possibilities, a new source of inspiration, a fresh imagination, a little person to marvel and wonder at the sites and creatures of the world. Our whole lives are shared with critters, both real and fictitious. We’ve loved our grandmother’s cat who let us put his tail in our infant mouths, the White Rabbit in middle school English class and Bill Murray’s Baloo the bear in this year’s The Jungle Book.

But animal-themed kids’ rooms don’t have to be just cutesy cartoons either. Thanks to the whimsical inspirations from movies like Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, there’s décor with characters that go from newborn to dorm room in art work or throw pillows. New colors, patterns, decorations and bedding can be added as baby grows up, personalities develop and interests evolve. With a black and white animal face wallpaper, add bold strips or plaid for a boy’s room. For a girl, use her favorite color as an accent and mix in some chevron or polka dots.

Thankfully there are plenty of ways to bring indoors the animals with whom we share this big, big world.

Photo Reference 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

Below is Marlena’s vision of how to bring adventure into your home. Contact her here for more information.

marlena design group llc - 100 S. Madison St. Denver, CO. 80209