Womens Refuge Charity Project

We are so excited to share with you our most recent project: the makeover of the Community Playroom at Women's Refuge: bcha Bournemouth.

A lot of the families that come into the Refuge are escaping from domestically abusive homes, which takes incredible courage and bravery to do.

Running into the unknown can be scary, especially doing so with babies and young children. We wanted to create a safe, cosy, and comfortable place where Mothers could put their babies down, as well as educate and encourage play for toddlers and older children.

We think that few things are more satisfying than looking at before and after photos, don't you agree?

THE BRIEF:

BABY SOFT CORNER

With quite a few babies in the Refuge, we were tasked to create a soft floor area where babies could be put down safely. We added radiator covers as well as a Baby Bouncer so multiple babies could be in the space at one time, plus there is a nap-time opportunity (always a high priority if you ask us!). Finally, we added a Canopy and Bean Bag to create a sensory tent using minimal floor space, whilst creating a cosy snug.

SHOP THE LOOK

A special thanks to Jake our hands-on help from The Essex Handyman who helped bring our vision to life!

Creative Corner

In the other part of the Playroom, we created a pre-school style set up for toddlers and young children to learn and create. We created designated spaces for toys utilising Ikea Trofast Storage Cabinets as well as our super handy stackable Crates, and softened the look with Rattan Baskets for soft toys and dressing up costumes.

SHOP THE LOOK

ARTS & CRAFTS CUPBOARD

We did an overhaul of the Cupboard filling it with complementary coloured crates to organise Crafts, Stickers and Paints as well as boxed toys such as Puzzles and Games.

SHOP CRATES

THE BIG REVEAL

Just like an episode of "Changing Rooms" we held out until the end of the day to give the Refuge staff a grand reveal! The pictures speak for themselves, they were quite literally lost for words. The very next day, the families resident at the Refuge played in the Playroom for hours, for the very first time since Lockdown lifted.

For more of our Interior Design Makeovers see here.