Little Scandinavian

One of our absolute favourite children’s online clothing shops is danish House of Kids, founded in 2005 by Helle Guldmann.
She started the business at home on her spare time with the brands Mini A Ture, Okker Gokker, Serendipity, Rützou and MP. Since then the business has grown, with more customers, brands and employees.

Today House of Kids are a well established online shop in Denmark, known for providing excellent customer services and for their impressive selection of designer labels in store. You’ll find everything from children’s clothings, shoes, accessories and toys.

We think that part of the key to their succsess is knowing what the customers want because they know how to use the online and social media to communicate with them. House of Kids have a solid and loyal group of customers that are both members of their customer club where they receive news about coming stock, sale, events etc. But they also have a Facebook group facebook.com/houseofkids where they communicate directly with their customers, discussing current season collections and making wish lists for the coming.
We think; Brilliant! Well done! Way to go!

Only obstacle; English language is not available as an option… Anyway, for inspiration or if you happen to understand danish visit houseofkids.dk and let us know what you think.

Camden Market as we know it dates back to the early 70s and has since then attracted large numbers of Londoners and tourists because of the character and quality of the goods on sale and also of the uniqueness of the location. Boat trips and walks along the canal, or just watching the barges pass through the lock gates are still important parts of the attraction of Camden Lock.

Recently the Stables Market has been much extended with a wealth of new traders in the area of the old Catacombs and Arches at the north end. This has made a visit to Camden Market even more fascinating with international traders in well-lit new shop units offering products of an amazing variety.

One shop I would love to recommend to you is Karine’s Kids. Karine makes and sell hand knitted toys, children’s wear and funky t-shirts inspired by her heritage from Scandinavia and in peticular Norway where she’s from.
You’ll also find WEE children’s clothes, designed and handmade in England, among the range.

Karina’s charming stall is located in Camden Lock Market, West Yard. Open every weekend from 10am to 6pm.

We have mentioned favourite children’s furniture brand Leka Sweden and their well known Trojan Horse before.
The Trojan Horse was designed as early as in 1962 in Sweden and has recently been redesigned with rubber wheels etc. This fun toy can be a rocking horse, a stool and storage for all those little toys. Brilliant design and solid painted wood, available in several bright colours.


Nordic Kids says

It’s especially hard to avoid falling in love with their adorable and ingenious Trojan Horse designs. So much fun!

And we can’t agree more!

Also check out the gorgeous rugs available in carefully selected colours to match perfectly with other items from the Leka range of furniture.

Visit www.nordickids.co.uk to see more.

Photo: Leka Sweden

Moover Toys are a fantastic range of Danish designed wooden baby walkers, ride ons and push along toys. They are sold very successfully throughout Europe and are now available to the UK market exclusively through Hippychick.

Also winner of The French Toy Federation’s Best Toy Award 2010, the Mover range consist of five retro styled toys, doll’s pram, baby walker, dump truck, baby truck and rocking horse, available in natural or cherry wood.

Beautifully crafted, they will help children explore and enjoy their world. A ’must have’ heirloom toy for every family, and as typically Scandinavian crafts -designed to last for generations.

Competition on now, closing date of 30th June 2010: Win A Fabulous Moover Pram Worth £65!
Enter here: www.hippychick.com

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Sebra Interior is Danish design company founded by designer Mia Dela in 2004, who after having children of her own, got inspired to produce toys, furniture and textiles for kids with a particular focus on children at play and the space they inhabit.

Sebra’s products exude a joyful mix of old fashioned crafts like crocheting and knitting; and modern, eye-catching, durable designs in beautiful colors and inspired shapes, made to blend naturally into a child’s daily life of playing and learning.

Visit Sebra for more inspiration.

What could be cuter than this matchbox mouse? He wears a stylish shirt and shorts to keep him warm and feeling comfortable. Or choose the girl wearing a dress.
The matchbox bed comes complete with flowery pillow, knitted blanket with lace trim and stripy mattress.
100% Cotton. Height/width/depth: 4.5/16/9 cm. Age: 3 years and up.

This is exactly what children would love to have, as a secret soft toy that lives in his own matchbox bed. And easy to bring along on trips etc. After our opinion the perfect gift for any child who still enjoys playing imaginative games.

Available for £20 at PreciousLittleTreasures.co.uk

Photo: Maileg

This is the toy that served as a model for Theodore´s fine design comprising Leka’s logo. When Evy Westerberg-Lindqvist introduced her product in 1962, the magazine “Family Record” wrote: “The Trojan horse is the model for this fun toy that works both as a stool and the location of blocks and small things.” This is still valid today, but Yngve Eriksson has made sure that the horse received hefty rubber wheels and nice round shapes and made it available in all Leka´s bright colors.
Eriksson designed this little wooden horse with inspiration from his mother-in-law Evy Westerberg Lindqvist’s furniture series for children from the 60’s and 70’s. When Evy passed away Yngve wanted to give new life to the unique products which had once been so popular. The result is this collection which is made almost entirely in Northern Sweden. The collection’s mascot is this Trojan horse.
Perfect for all those bits and bobs, secrets and goodies!

Available online at scandinavianbrandsonline.com Prices from £65

Photo: Malou Barré

Danish design company Smallstuff make children’s clothing like nightwear, underwear and long sleeved t-shirts. They also make high quality interior, toys and accessories -all for little people.
Smaalstuff have three colour coordinated main lines;

• Classic, soft underwear and nightwear for children aged 0 – 14 years made after the Oeko-Tex Standard 100. With matching accessories.
• Knit and crocheted accessories to the nursery in beautiful colours, that will add that little extra to the bedroom.
• Toys especially made to encourage imaginative play.

Visit their site for inspiration. Soon to be available with English text…



Photo: Smallstuff

Scandinavian furniture doesn’t have to be IKEA or expensive contemporary stuff (even if it’s a lot of that too). SIA Home Fashion are one of the exceptions, that with it’s successful story is worth mentioning. SIA was founded by Sonja Ingegard Andersson in Sweden in 1963. SIA reflects her passion for decoration, her love for nature and her desire to share the pleasure of feeling good at home. She started by making paper flowers and designing printed fabrics that she displayed in her garden for her friends. Since then SIA’s products are sold in more than 45 countries around the world and the collections are very much influenced by European fashion. Though still with a pure and simple Nordic touch.
SIA presents two seasonal collections a year, that are divided into various themes with different styles from classical to modern. The themes are the strength and the originality of SIA and are making SIA very versatile for all types of homes. Beautiful furniture pieces, mirrors and tableware are complimented by quartz glassware, silk flowers and serviettes. And their Kids collection is fantastic. It’s so complex, offering everything from children’s cutlery sets to nursery furniture and accessories. Many pieces making the ideal gift for babies and children.
And even if the Kids collection consist of beautiful painted wooden furniture and high quality toys the prices are still kept at a pleasing level, making SIA affordable compared to many other brands.

All parents (and kind relatives and family friends) will have a lot to choose from when having a little princess or a pirate at home! Have a look at SIA Home Fashion to find a shop near you.



Photo: SIA Home Fashion

JaBaDaBaDo was founded in Sweden in 1993. Their high quality and contemporary children’s furniture and their exclusive toy range is designed by Eva and Calle based on their own family experiences.

Picture to the lefts shows the Wooden Market Stall By Jabadabado.
With simple bright colours and a strawberry design this eye catching wooden market stall will capture any child imagination. What better way to learn about the food we eat and the value of money whilst developing social skills playing with other children, and last but not least perfect for imaginative play.
Suitable for 3+ years. Available at the Prezzie Place £37.27

For more fun toys and gorgeous children’s furniture visit Jabadabado.se

Photos: Jabadabado

bObles was founded by the two sisters Louise and Bolette Blaedal in Denmark. They emphasise on children’s motor abilities, high quality of the products and that colours and shapes appeals to children’s fantasy and creativity.
bObles designs and manufactures lovely, colorful, useful romping animals in soft and still stable foam plastic. The Tumbling animals are tested especially for children and is free of any toxin or phthalates.
Children can play, sit, surf, roll, swing, lie on it and much more, as there are endless possibilities to create an own world and playground with the bObles animals. And they look great too, as a decorative item for the nursery.
The soft animals are available in several color combinations and have simple geometrical shapes that give a feeling of a specific animal such as an elephant, a fish, a pig or a giraffe.
Picture to the left shows Elna, the Elephant. Elna is lovely, soft, fun, colorful animal furniture but also usable for rolling, jumping, riding, balancing and stacking!
Elna, the Elephant available at Lula Sapphire £80.

Photos: bObles

dundelina, a norwegian brand, is a unique clothing concept that combines design and literature, allowing children to explore their imagination beyond the ordinary fairy tale stories.
By taking contemporary literature as a starting point, dundelina gives children new elements that encourage creative play and nourish their imaginary. Every year, dundelina invites a Norwegian author to write a special story for us. This book becomes the soul of the collections, from which all the graphic elements and fabric characters are developed.

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