The first world your child knows

Children’s rooms and nurseries, imagined from a story and built down to the smallest detail.

Plan an introduction Discover the worlds

Where you see a room, your child sees a world

Children look differently. They don’t see walls and furniture, but places where a story can begin. Scroll, and watch what happens to an ordinary room.

That is how we look at every room: as a child first, as a designer second.

VI

The Transformation

The same space, before and after. Drag the slider to see the difference.

The Nutcracker room, a warm playroom with striped walls, a red painted fireplace and a bookshelf full of toys
After
The Nutcracker room as a stripped building site, before the renovation
Before

Drag to compare

Worlds that really exist

No moodboard that stays a moodboard: these are rooms where a child falls asleep tonight.

The Nutcracker room, a warm playroom with striped walls, a red painted fireplace and a bookshelf full of toys In the old fireplace: a ruby red puppet theatre. The star rug marks the play spot in front of the hearth. The bookcase, filled with stories and objects from the theme.
The red fireplace above a deep blue rug of moon and stars
A child’s bed under a round mirror, lit by a striped floor lamp

The Nutcracker

A world full of wonder and depth.

Inspired by The Nutcracker, a room takes shape where colour, drama and imagination come together. Warm, deep tones move through the space and give the walls an almost theatrical layering.

A ruby-red fireplace forms the heart of the room. A rug of stars opens the space to play and imagination. A classic bookcase keeps small worlds safe, in stories and objects that are discovered again and again.

The Swan Lake nursery, a sheepskin rocker, a felt swan on the wall and a berry red dresser in golden light The swan above the berry red dresser comes from the story. The rug pictures the pond, with lilies drifting on it.
A lily pad rug and berry red dresser beneath scalloped blue trim and a stained glass door

Swan Lake

Soft, timeless and layered.

Not every room has to be pink to feel romantic.

This world is built around the atmosphere of Swan Lake. A carefully composed palette forms the basis of everything you see. The ruby-red dresser, the heart-print wallpaper and the rug of drifting lilies reinforce each other quietly.

Swans, roses and flowing shapes run through the space like an undercurrent. Not as a theme that demands attention, but as a feeling you recognise again and again.

Why parents choose Once Upon a Room

Because we don’t start with a theme. We start with your child.

Your child is only this small once. This room is the first world they know, and we make it as though it were the most important room in the house. Because it is.

Four layers, one world

A theme is a picture on the wall. A world is built up: from a story, a palette and details at a child’s eye level. This is how The Nutcracker came about.

  1. The story

    Every world begins with a story that fits your child. That story, not a trend, decides every choice that follows.

  2. Colour and light

    A palette follows from the story. Colours that build an atmosphere together, instead of competing for attention.

  3. The details

    The layer children notice first and grown-ups often notice last: small anchors of wonder, at a child’s eye level.

  4. The world

    Only when story, colour and details form a whole does it stop being a theme. Then it is a world for a child to grow up in.

Studie van De Notenkraker
Het palet van De Notenkraker
Het poppentheater in de schouw
De Notenkraker als geheel

This is how your world comes about

From the first conversation to handover, every room follows the same four steps.

  1. Introduction

    We visit you or meet over coffee. We listen to who the child is and which world you have in mind, and we measure the space.

  2. Design

    You get the full plan: palette, materials, furniture and the layout of the room. You see exactly what is coming before anything is bought or built.

  3. Making

    We source the furniture and objects, have the custom pieces made and tune everything to each other. You don’t have to hunt for anything.

  4. Handover

    We install the room completely and style it down to the last detail. The door opens and the room is ready to live in.

Lisa Giasi, Designer and stylist

About us

Lisa Giasi designs worlds you don’t just see, but feel.

Children look at the world differently than adults. They feel more intensely, make their own connections and give their own meaning to what surrounds them. Their room is often the first fixed world where that process begins.

Lisa Giasi · Designer and stylist

VII

Packages and pricing

You pay us for the design. You buy the pieces yourself, at the normal shop price. Here is what each package holds.

Styling session

The door ajar

from €450

One conversation and a colour plan you can run with yourself.

  • A conversation about your child and the room
  • Colour plan and theme: paint and wallpaper
  • You do the searching and the ordering
Plan an introduction
Most chosen

Restyling

Your whole room worked out

from €1,900

Everything on paper before you buy a thing. You order, we do the thinking.

  • Everything from the styling session
  • Floor plan and layout of the room
  • Complete plan: furniture, lighting, accessories and toys
  • Your own item list with links, so you know exactly what to order where
  • We keep adjusting until it fits, well before anything is bought

Had a styling session already? That €450 comes off.

Plan an introduction

Full design

Until the day the door opens

from €4,500

We search, buy, commission and install the room completely.

  • Everything from the restyling
  • Treasure hunt: vintage and second-hand finds
  • Buying, custom work and delivery arranged
  • We install the room, down to the last detail
Plan an introduction

Add separately

Treasure hunt

We go looking for vintage and second-hand pieces that carry the story.

Installation day

We come over and install the room, until everything is in its place.

VIII

Common questions

Where do you work?

We work from The Hague and design all over the Netherlands. Somewhere further away? Just ask, we travel for the right project.

How long does a room take?

A styling session can happen within a few weeks. A full room, from first conversation to handover, usually takes six to twelve weeks, depending on sourcing.

Do you only design for kids?

Children’s rooms and nurseries are our trade, but the same approach works just as well for play spaces, reading corners and family rooms.

Can we keep furniture we already own?

Often, yes. We like weaving in pieces with history. We’ll always tell you honestly what works and what is better rehomed.

What does it cost?

It depends on the room and the scope. The packages above show where we begin, and you get a full quote after our first conversation.

Do I need a big budget?

No. The styling session starts at €450 and gives you a complete plan you can run with yourself. How far we take it from there is entirely up to you.

What if I don’t love the design?

We shape it together. You see the concept early and we adjust until it feels right, well before anything is bought or built.

IX

Let’s design the first world of your child

Your child is only this small once. The room holds on to that time. Tell us about your child, your wishes or ideas, and we’d be glad to think along with you.

Every child deserves magic.

No obligations, just a first conversation about your child and the room you picture.

Rather reach me directly?
Chat on WhatsApp Email us Instagram
You found 0 of 7 stars