Our new underbed storage is here.  Coming with a removable lid which when turned over becomes a great play table.

Inside the unit movable inserts allow you to design your own layout. Great for organizing all those small parts from your Lego, Playmobil or Brio collection.

There is an option to have the top inside engraved with a road layout, ideal for building your town scene.

Launched today it is available  on our web shop .

the Michelin Star Restaurant,  L’Enclume in Cartmel.

Over the next 6 week  period we designed, prototyped and manufactured the tables.

A  range of stones collected on the beach at  Walney Island formed the starting point for the shape of the tops.

Scale models 1:10 were made to give an understanding of what the finished product might look like.

The tables were made with local Cumbrian oak which came from a  woodland regeneration scheme in Lorton, Cumbria.

One of the final tables finished with a dark stain in the restaurant setting.

The tables were installed in early March in time for the Culinary Celebrations event which was hosted by  The Good Food Guide to celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

We recently took part in the Liverpool Design Show as part of  the Un-Fold Collective.
Our launch of the Airtein One table was very well received along with our 40′s shelf.
The show took place in the stunning St Georges Hall and was very well attended.

Over the weekend we enjoyed meeting and talking about our work and that of the other

members of the group.

Of late this movement is not just among consumers, but many businesses across a wide variety of industries have taken a keen interest.

Born with this philosophy Childs & Co has been ethically minded from the beginning, offering a wide range of eco-friendly Children’s furniture and accessories. This range of products are beautifully hand made from high quality Finnish plywood from responsible managed forests and are painted with child-friendly paint from The Little Greene Paint Co. Making these eco-friendly products ideal for all those “green” consumers, a must have addition to the family home.

We are delighted to announce that we are taking part in the Liverpool Design Festival 2010.

The event takes place at St. Georges Hall in Liverpool on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st.

More information can be found at www.liverpooldesignfestival.com

We have some complimentary tickets to give away, if you would like one please e-mail us at info@childsandco.co.uk

Babies and toddlers need the benefit of a language rich start in life, a recent study has shown that most brain development occurs in the first 24 months. Engagement and communication is becoming vital with babies from nought to two years old. Such communication makes a big difference for the emotional and learning skills of your baby in later life, to help them lead happy, successful and fulfilled lives. Lots of simple techniques have been developed to encourage even the most reserved parent to chat away with their baby so that they do not feel embarrassed or stupid. Babies love to hear the sound of voice so reading out loud with actions and voices, bring the story alive will help babies and toddlers engage and develop their communication. Link to article

For all those books you are reading to your baby or toddler, Childs & Co specialises in functional furniture must haves for the family home and the contemporary child’s bookcase is no exception, featuring a unique display shelf to display children’s favourite books. The bookcase is designed to be child friendly with a child friendly hinge mechanism to stop little fingers being trapped.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen recently launched his new book ‘Decorating with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen‘ and our children’s products feature on p141/p142 under the heading of ‘Tidy up time’. It has some lovely images of our Letters and a Toy box. The information in the chapter really covers the considerations we feel are important when designing our products. Laurence stated that ‘Since grown up spaces quickly become colonised by children’s clutter, I had the idea of standing up against the tide of brightly coloured plastic by using cunning design to ensure that the living room can regain it’s grown up credentials after a 3 minute makeover’, more importantly I think that ‘Practicality doesn’t necessarily have to mean sacrificing design’.

I have been doing a little sorting out this weekend and I came across this photo. It was made by my Uncle 40 Years ago! and given to my Brother and I for Christmas. Little did I know that one day I would design my own range. I can remember it was made from block board which was varnished and had animal stickers on the corners. It must have been about 1m square and had a lid and wheels. Sadly I’m not sure what happened to it. If anyone has photos of our boxes in use send them over we’d love to see them.

Last weekend on a visit to London I got the chance to see the  exhibition of furniture by the Danish-born American designer Jens Risom at the  Rocket Gallery on Shoreditch High Street.

Jens Risom has collaborated with Rocket and Benchmark, and  re-issued his 1950s and 1960s furniture designs.

It is a small exhibition but gives a good insight into his work and we very much agree with his statement that, ‘ I set out to design contemporary furniture that was comfortable and practical to use’.

You can see further images of his work at www.jensrisom.com.

If you get the chance to go, it runs until 4 September.

Last weekend we had a stand at the Hutton in the Forest Horse Trials. It was our first time at an event like this, and I have to admit I don’t know a great deal about horse eventing, but, that had grown by  Sunday evening. It was great to watch the technique and skill of the riders and judging by the height of the fences it’s something I certainly won’t be taking up. There was plenty to see and it was easy to spend the day wondering around the different disciplines and heading off around the cross country course (on foot!).  There are two more dates this year 24-25th July and 11th-12th September. The weather was fabulous and  it was great to show our Childs and Co range.

You can see more images of our weekend at: Hutton Horse Trials June 2010

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