As Kate Middleton's July due date fast approaches, the parents-to-be will be putting the finishing touches on their new arrival's nursery.Using knowledge of William and Kate's London apartment in Kensington Palace and archive images of former royal nurseries, design experts RedBook agency have created two possible nursery designs for the newborn royal.Two of the UK's leading interior designers were commissioned to create one traditional nursery and one with a modern magical flair to offer a glimpse of how the royal nursery might look.
Both nurseries feature traditional rocking horses, while the contemporary version showcases a toy RAF Search and Rescue helicopter, as flown by pilot Prince William, hovering in mid-air.The computer-generated designs of the rooms have been closely modelled on the actual dimensions and windows of rooms at Kensington Palace, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be raising their baby. They are expected to move into Apartment 1A, the former home of Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, later this year.With the little one due in around two months, Kate admitted that she and husband William still had "a lot to do" as regards the baby's nursery during a visit to Scotland at the beginning of April.
"You can tell already that Kate and Wills’ royal nursery is likely to be more lively and full of fun than any before," says Sandy Mitchell, founder and director of the RedBook Agency.
"Our research into royal nurseries over the past 150 years—from Prince Albert's in 19th-century Germany through to the Queen's—shows how stiff and Spartan they were.""You can see clearly where the royal children's training in formality began. Princess Diana and Prince Charles loosened things up greatly, but even so a rocking horse and piano were still the main outlet for high spirits. "The two contrasting computer-generated nursery designs were painstakingly created with the newborn royal and family tradition in mind.
The modern fantasy-inspired design took Chelsea-based Christopher Chanond and his design team six weeks to produce. It combines quintessential features of previous royal nurseries including a rocking horse and cot and inspiration from Jules Verne's classic adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days.The wallpaper and silk rug, both printed with a world map, and the hot air balloon lights, are guaranteed to help nurture a child's sense of adventure.The helter skelter which wraps around the castle and unicorn rocking horse would provide hours of fun for the baby and famously active parents William and Kate.
By contrast, Guy Goodfellow Ltd, a renowned restorer of period houses, has created a classical design using soft, pastel-coloured hues. The panoramic wallpaper shows brightly coloured scenes of Hyde Park, which surrounds Kensington Palace, in the 18th century. The floral tepee would be great fun for a game of hide and seek and or a quiet afternoon nap.However, if the couple follow royal tradition, they may well choose the same nursery design company that created the baby rooms for Princes William and Harry and their cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.Dragons of Walton Street, which is based in Knightsbridge, London, can also count Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna among its customers. "I would love to kit out Prince William and Kate’s baby-to-be’s nursery," said Lucinda Croft, owner of Dragons of Walton Street. "This would be the second generation of decorating a royal baby's nursery, as my mother worked with Princess Diana and I would love to work with Prince William."RedBook Agency provides a matchmaking service for clients with the very best architects and has now launched a service introducing clients to the UK’s leading interior designers.