Ella's Room

Here it is - a little peek at Ella's room. I thought I'd get some shots before the posters on her built-in wardrobe doors start morphing onto the walls and ceiling... how do other mothers deal with these dreaded, crinkly, Hannah, puppy, pony, boy scraps that young girls feel so compelled to smother on every vertical surface? Ugh.

I really want to paint this chest of drawers (above) that I originally painted when Ella was a toddler - it's too girlie and I'd love to make the drawer fronts laquer red, with a high gloss white chest body. She wants purple. Not on my watch.

We absolutely love art in our house. These are canvases stretched with vintage fabric found on ebay and I got the black and cream paintings in Beijing. The cartoon portrait was done of Ella in San Diego and the black and white photo with the cut out of a fairy Ella was something I designed for an article in beijingkids magazine.

I began collecting wooden toys (above) for Ella when we first moved to Beijing. Such a shame she'll soon be turning 9 and will be well grown out of such things... maybe I can buy them for ME.

I love this linen (above) that I found as soon as we arrived in Australia. The sleigh bed we had made in China and it is a sort of very pale, pinkish, champagne colour. The painting above Ella's bed is an original, traditional block print painting done by a provincial Chinese artist.

I adore Raggedy Anne and Ella has had this doll all her life. The wall hangings are from Japan and are my one compromises when it comes to Ella's obsession with rabbits. These hangings are displayed in Japan during Hounen-Odori - the Japanese harvest moon festival.

Don't you just love this world?