Air purifiers and ‘appliance garages’: The elite nurseries of the super-rich

Congratulations to Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who have announced the birth of their second baby, Athena, on Jan 22. The family’s £3.5 million farmhouse in the Cotswolds is already home to their daughter Sienna and Mapelli Mozzi’s son Wolfie, but if they’re anything like the rest of the 1 per cent club (those with the most wealth in the world) then this new arrival is going to be getting a newly decorated nursery of her own.

“The top 1 per cent is very much our world,” says interior designer Charu Gandhi, the founder of Elicyon, a Kensington-based architecture and design studio, whose past clients include Simon Cowell and Kylie Minogue. “They are very focussed on their nurseries and what goes in them.”

We already know a little about Beatrice’s decor style – after all, her husband is the founder of Banda, a luxe interior design studio with an emphasis on rarefied materials like burl wood, marble and travertine, mixed with antique tables and flashes of aluminium. So, knowing how much care and attention goes into creating their smart and refined schemes, this is what designers think is likely to be on the couple’s nursery list – and the child-friendly interior trends when money is no object.

Air purification

“Air quality is one of the biggest things that the 1 per cent is worrying about when it comes to their children’s rooms,” Gandhi says. “But [forget] plug-in white boxes – clients want to know if we can factor air purification and filtration into the ventilation, so it comes through from the internal systems.”

London-based designer Lulu Hope agrees: “People are massive on air-purifying systems now; they definitely want to feel in control of every element of their baby’s life, including what they are breathing. They tend to want to build these into the air-con systems, which are also a must in a nursery now, so the baby can get a good night’s sleep in the hot summers we’re getting.”

Safe tech

In fact, air quality is just the start of how the 1 per cent are using tech to safeguard their child’s wellbeing. “WiFi blockers are essential,” Hope says. “No one wants [the internet] in the kids’ room because of all the potential damage it might cause that we don’t know about yet.”

Conversely, the mega-wealthy are also using a multitude of phone-controlled devices to monitor how their babies are doing. “The Owlet Dream Sock is very popular,” Hope says, of the wearable smart baby monitor that costs from £299. “If the baby’s breathing slows down then an alarm goes off,” Hope explains. “It’s very expensive, but it is worth every penny.”

The sterilising station

“Appliance garages” – cupboards that look like charming larders but hide white goods rather than food – have become a micro kitchen trend and have now migrated to the nursery. “A client said she wanted a big cupboard for sterilising, and all the equipment that goes with that,” Gandhi says. “She had a full-time nanny, and this was really so that the nanny didn’t ever have to leave the nursery, as it also had a sink, hot water and milk-warming machine.”

Hope agrees that these stations are key. “You don’t want to be trekking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night, and it has to have bottle warmers and a fridge. But this is different from a medicine fridge, which would never be kept in the nursery for safety reasons.” As with every element of the nursery, these stations are always decorative. “Think lots of hand-painted door fronts with playful depictions of balloons,” says interior designer Portia Fox.

Murals and hand-painted wallpapers

Carrie Johnson wasn’t the only new mother who added a bespoke, hand-painted mural to their nursery. She commissioned the decorative artist Meg Boscawen to create an English garden scene, with oak trees climbing up the wall and onto the ceiling. This desire for painterly prettiness is very common. “We’ve done a lot of hand-painted murals,” Fox says. “We recently commissioned the artist Mario Corile to paint directly onto a pale-blue silk wallpaper from Fromental, creating a nursery that was very playful, full of fun colours and elements,” she says.

Gandhi agrees: “Silk, hand-painted wallpapers are very common. As a material, not only do they look beautiful but they’re also very good for the acoustics, too.”

High-end, mass-produced accessories

Although the decorative elements might be hand-painted, and therefore totally unique, you might be surprised to learn that this level of customisation doesn’t extend to the furniture. “You have to remember that the 1 per cent are [primarily] concerned about their baby’s safety,” Gandhi says, “so they’re more focussed on buying from middle-market brands that are mass-produced and well-tested, meaning you can be assured that it’s safe. Even very high-end nurseries will have mainstream pieces that have gone through thousands of trials.” John Lewis is a consistent hit, while Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex bought Morris & Co Pink & Rose-print products from DockATot, including a Moses basket and play tent for Lilibet’s nursery. Hope also references Totter + Tumble’s playmats as being particularly popular. “They’re beautiful and functional,” says Gandhi, “and soft enough to be good on your knees.”

Organic, vegan and breathable materials

As an overarching theme, quality materials are key. “Organic is the major thing people are asking for,” says Lauren Wood, a co-founder of the textile brand Sirimiri. “We make a lot of recycled-wool blankets for nurseries.”

“Anything hypoallergenic is a must,” Gandhi adds. “They want everything to be toxin-free and not shed into the air around it.” She points to Graphenstone’s breathable paints as being popular, while Hope looks to the Pure Earth Collection and its non-toxic blackout blinds. “Many blinds are made with glue that emits poison into the air around them when the sun heats them up,” she says. “We write shopping lists of non-toxic products [because] this really is [one of the 1 per cent’s] biggest fears.”

Get the look for less

Don’t have the budget of a princess? Here are some stylish buys to try.