Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play [Hardcover]

Susanna Salk (Author), Kelly Wearstler (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2010

The first book to present excellent design for children’s rooms, these unique spaces are created by well-known designers, parents, and often even the kids themselves.

Proving that good design is not just for the rest of the house, Room for Children takes children’s spaces with creative seriousness. Whether for a newborn, toddler, or teenager, the rooms shown here enrich the experience of childhood while inspiring with their imaginative design. Showcasing work by top-notch designers, including Kelly Wearstler, Charlotte Moss, Alessandra Branca, Amanda Nisbet, and Thomas Jayne, among many others, the rooms offer a diversity of styles, from traditional to modern, formal to whimsical. Whether in apartments, houses, or country homes, for a single child or for several children, each creates a vision of childhood at its best. In addition to bedrooms, children’s spaces devoted specifically to work or play areas illustrate clever solutions to typical design problems. With stunning photography by top interior photographers, such as Pieter Estersohn, Paul Costello, William Abranowicz, and Melanie Avecedo, Room for Children proves that children’s rooms are a new frontier in design and is sure to appeal to designers as well as kids and their parents.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play, (Rizzoli, April 2010), Salk culled images of every type of kids' space, from nurseries and teen retreats to multi-child bunkers and playrooms in which we’d welcome the chance to hang out. The rooms were shot by the industry’s top photographers and designed by some of our favorite designers, including Kelly Wearstler (who wrote the book’s foreward), Amanda Nisbet, Amy Lau and Sixx Design. You might even recognize the spaces if you’re an ardent follower of shelter mags and design blogs. (Hint: J. Crew Creative Director Jenna Lyons’ much-touted dark-walled nursery makes an appearance.)" ~TheInsideSource.com
 
"Knowing that designers had been creating bedrooms and play spaces for their clients’ children all along — [Susanna Salk] often saw photos that were never published — inspired her to write Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play, published this month by Rizzoli. " ~The New York Times

"...First book ever to treat kids’ rooms with design seriousness. You won’t find cutesy rooms there, no Disney themes allowed either (thank you!) – just great design ideas and execution with a lot of flair and style. Finally!" ~Ridgefield's Talk of Our Town

"Author and style maven Susanna Salk continues to go from strength to strength when it comes to her books... Well now she’s done it again with her latest book Room for Children, with a foreword by Kelly Wearstler. Room for Children is both visually exciting and inspiring, showcasing the work of Kelly Wearstler, Charlotte Moss, Alessandra Branca, Amanda Nisbet, and Jamie Drake, among many others. I wish I had this book 13 years ago!" ~AlltheBestBlog.com

"For a coffee table book, it is, appropriately, compact in size, and uses whimsy wherever possible: A wall stripe or a geometric drapery pattern is picked up and replicated lightly beneath the type, and cheerful, brightly colored text pages accompany most of the images. Room for Children (as in taking the time to truly make room for children, and not the plural, simplified rooms) may prompt you to go back in time if just for a moment, to settle in without a care in your room fit for a prince, princess, rockstar or explorer, and reflect on, as the author says, a place 'where your imagination can be free.'" ~1stdibs.com

About the Author

Susanna Salk is the author of Weekend Retreats and a contributing editor for Bon Appetit magazine, 1stdibs.com, and ivillage.com.

Kelly Wearstler is a renowned interior designer and author of several books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (April 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847834166
• ISBN-13: 978-0847834167
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

To read my blog Open House, view some of my design segments for television or contact me, please visit my website: www.susannasalk.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nice Photos . . . That I've Seen Before, June 12, 2010

By 

C.D.M. - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play (Hardcover)

While the rooms presented in this book are indeed lovely, anyone who is a regular reader of design books, periodicals, or blogs will have seen nearly all of these photos before. The writing doesn't do anything to freshen the rehashed photos either. For example, the following is the ONLY information that accompanies a photo of a nursery (page 27):

"Shades of soft gray and a stenciled white forest make for an enchanted and very personal welcome for newborn twins."

Ummm, okay. So how about further along? Okay, here's what's written about a very intriguing girl's bedroom (page 60):

"A pink and green combination turns from preppy to playful when the scale is oversized and paired with fanciful yellow animal-patterned wallpaper."

Not too much to go on there.

If you want to know who designed a particular room, their name is in the back of the book, but their contact information isn't. Also not included is ANY information about the design process -- how the designer approached the job, sources of inspiration, knowledge about the child's, or their family's, likes, dislikes, hobbies, color preferences, etc.

Finally, the biggest factor that proves this book was given minimal effort (at best) is there is no ONE photographer given credit on the book's cover, rather all the separate photo credits are listed in the back of the book as well. Put simply, these aren't just the same rooms you've seen before, but the very same pictures! It calls into question whether Ms. Salk actually ever stepped foot in any of these rooms.

So, you've got photos with captions that tell you exactly what you're already looking at . That's the book. I guess it comes as no surprise when I say a was more than a bit let down!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Been there, seen it, May 6, 2010

By 

Juleswithtwo (Texas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play (Hardcover)

I was very excited to receive my copy of this book. I am redoing several kid spaces in my house, e.g. playroom and bedrooms, and have been looking everywhere for inspiration. This book has several fashionable rooms; unfortunately, I've seen most of them on design blogs, in magazines, and other books. I was hoping to see new designs. You can find many of these rooms at the Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh, Design Mom, and Design Sponge blogs..for free.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish Book Indeed, July 5, 2010

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LJ - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play (Hardcover)

As an interior designer, I was very excited about Ms. Salk's newest publication on chic living spaces for children. Her presentation is fabulous and gives her audience a glimpse into the interior spaces for children that are clearly out of the box and original. None of these rooms are by any means cookie-cutter. The designers featured pushed the boundaries and created unique spaces that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Ms. Salk is to be commended for a job well done and I look forward to the next book!