Bench by Stokperd: www.stokperd.com
When my children were totlets, I was obsessed with the idea of not allowing baby kit (car seats, bottle warmers, bibs, changing mats, walking rings, that kind of stuff) to be infected with anything like a teddy bear print. My ban also included all the cousins and half cousins of teddy bear prints, like kites, ice creams, syndicated Disney characters and bunnies. (Although some bunnies I was prepared to make an exception for. Some bunnies are art. So are some birds.)
I wasn’t going to collect plastic toys in colours that screamed louder than the infant himself on a bad colic day. Nor was I prepared to carry a baby bag that told the world “I am Jack’s nappy bag.” I’d rather have printed a T-shirt that said HOW DO YOU KNOW I’M BREASTFEEDING? AM I LEAKING OR ARE MY 36D’s JUST GETTING IN THE WAY?
I remember looking for a baby bed with toy storage drawers underneath. IM.Possible. Eventually I did find one, but it was big, and white, a little soulless, a gnat too glossy and much more expensive than it needed to be. Seeing as it had no teddies carved into the headboard, and no primary colours, and it was at least inoffensive, I ended up buying it.
Back in the day, there was no Monya Eastman. Monya is a girl after my own heart, who has had similar obsessions about standard issue furniture and things that don’t cut it in her scheme of things. Monya’s company, Stokperd, will make what you need, how you need it. No bears, kites, or engraved Toy Story characters. It will have a great abundance of soul, and be sensible and well priced. Pictured above is a supernice bench by Stokperd, and below, The ‘Forever Bed’ with a chunkiness that’ll last a few generations. Stokperd also makes a version of the toddler toy storage solution that I wanted ten years ago. I found that on the website.
Go http://www.stokperd.com for more.
THE FOREVER BED, by Stokperd
Says Monya:
“I used to be a corporate girl, stuck in an office, daydreaming about making beautiful things. Then one day we renovated our home and I finally got my chance. Frustrated by not being able to find the kind of furniture I was looking for in the world of shops, I made a few drawings and got someone to build my ideas from scratch. And that’s how Stokperd began.
In addition to creating beautiful things I generally just like to get my hands dirty. I grow stuff; I have a garden full of cherry tomatoes, rocket, fat purple aubergines & loads of vetplantjies. I’m also partial to winter, old things, small towns & the Karoo.”
Colours by Midas Envirolite, Zero VOC paint.
