This week we unveiled our design of a children’s bedroom at Decorex, encapsulating a strong sustainability message whilst showcasing how to make caring for the environment super stylish. The room set, named ‘Into the Wild’, is one of a handful of interconnecting rooms designed by a select group of leading design practices at this year’s Decorex (6–9th October at Olympia).
The Concept
‘Into the Wild’ is the urban wonderland bedroom of a five-year-old eco-warrior. It’s an edgy, cool, fashion-forward mini person’s space. A heady mix of childhood fantasy meets rock and roll 1970s nostalgia. Crucially, the room has an overarching theme of rebellion and environmentalism. Run For The Hills’ Creative Director and co-founder, Anna Burles, says “They say it is the young, eco-crisis generation who will save the planet, pointing the finger at us and telling us to wake up and join their rebellion. We want to bring that story of hope to life, woven through our room set via the eco-conscious brands we have collaborated with and custom design details like our bespoke T‑shirt designs on the clothes rail and a curated selection of kid’s books including The Tantrum That Saved The Earth and Rules For Living on Planet Earth.
‘‘Sexy Sustainability’’
Many of the products and suppliers used within the set have sustainability at their core. One of the hero pieces within the set is the “Princess and the Pea” bed. The mattress is a truly 100% sustainable, eco-friendly organic product and the bed base is made by hand in Devon by NatureMat. Beside the bed is a Twig side table from Pinch Design, made from coppiced hazel. Nestled beneath the bed, on biodegradable flooring from Fibre Flooring, are layered ‘Way’ rugs from Ferm Living, made entirely from used plastic bottles. The Good & Mojo Kalimantan wall light by Houseology is made solely of sustainable and recycled materials.
The paint by Earthborn is free from oils, acrylic and vinyl with no added VOCs and synthetic ingredients is kept to a minimum.
Real tree stems and branches, from Cameron Landscapes, ‘grow’ up from the corners of the room, holding up a sheer gauze fabric, featuring an atmospheric, dream-like shadow puppet projection animation, specially created by the Run For The Hills graphic design team led by Creative Director Chris Trotman, transporting visitors into a world of fictional stories and real life heroes. The creative imagery used in the animated projection is also referenced in art prints on the walls and a series of specially designed mini eco warrior t‑shirts, again created especially for the room set by Run For The Hills in-house artists.
Anna Burles explains:
“Run For The Hills want to be part of the revolution groundswell, so we thought our room set at Decorex was the perfect platform to bring this important message to the fore. It’s time for all of us to embrace the power and responsibility of our role in design, showcasing sustainable products and hero-ing suppliers and makers who care deeply about the way they do things, fashioning interesting and thoughtful things in the eco-space. Our set is designed to show that worthy doesn’t compromise one bit on wow factor.”
The studio is also excited to reveal some custom artist/maker collaborations and unique products — specially designed for the Decorex set. Including the Princess and the Pea bed in collaboration with Corsets & Creations, a custom-made balloon installation from Pop Pop Papier, sequin wall installation from Tracy Kendall and custom trapeze-style, pink tube lights from Nulty Bespoke above the bed.
Chris Trotman says:
“We can’t wait to unveil our shadow puppet animation, full of fantasy and tentacles from our eco-warrior’s dreams, designed to inject a bit of edge into the design.”
Run For The Hills is a London-based creative design house that exists in the space where branding and interiors meet.
If you have an interesting project or commission you want to discuss, email us at sayhello@runforthehills.com.
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