Four tips for stylish, baby friendly open shelving

I recently had the privilege of partnering with Terra of Love and Larock and Anna of Annabode + Co to decorate open shelving in a living space with kids in mind. The challenge: how to keep your home aesthetically pleasing, while still being a fun and engaging space for your children to enjoy?

Shifting the design aesthetic of your home to accommodate your child can be a challenge. As design lovers, we adore beautifully made things - but its hard to resist the influx of colorful plastic that comes with a new baby! Anna, Terra and I found a way that you can have both. 

In this arrangement, the top two shelves are designed for the grownups, and the bottom two shelves are in easy reach for little hands. In this case, those little hands belong to Terra and Perry's sweet daughter, Winter.

Stuffed animals are stored in our Hand Carved Copabu Bowl, which keeps them organized but easy for Winter to find. 

 The Marrakech basket stores small colorful toys out of the way, while the Hand Beaded Rabbit in cream adds some sophistication.

We used a graphic black and white Hand Woven Zig Zag Plateau Basket to store wooden blocks. Winter was a fan! 

Here are the keys to getting this look in your own home: 

• Stick to one color palette, and keep only a small selection of toys and books on display at a time. 
• Use beautiful storage baskets and bowls to arrange items neatly, but also keep them visible and accessible to your child
• Less is more! Edit down the number of items to keep things looking cohesive
• Use closed storage baskets and cabinets to store larger toys, or brightly colored items that don't fit with the chosen color palette.

Thank you Anna and Terra for asking us to be part of this fun project! Read more from Terra's original post about the day here.