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FLASHSALE
Nursery Decor Fresh from the Market—Sweet, Fun and Totally Unexpected
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Time to read 7 min
Introducing the Farmers Market collection for modern nursery decor: New fabric wall decals and prints created from hand-painted fruits and veggies. Read about the inspiration and fun we had making them.
A is for Apple and Z is for Zucchini ... and D is for Delighted, because that’s how we hope you’ll feel about these delicious new designs. Introducing Farmers Market, the newest Mej Mej collection, filled with watercolor removable fabric wall decals and frameable prints, designed to bring joy to children’s spaces and beyond.
This is not your everyday nursery decor theme. These soft, painterly fruits and veggies offer a fresh, modern way to create a room that is as unique as your little ones. Playful, elevated, and easy to install-- they look like they’re painted right on the wall (but peel off when you’re ready for a new taste treat).
PS The stylized fruits and veggies add an unexpected touch of charm to grown-up spaces, too. Add cheerful cherries to the kitchen? Sweet pears in the powder room? There’s a cornucopia of creative possibilities.
This theme has been growing on our drawing boards for several seasons, but we kept tucking it back in the basket while we were growing some new humans of our own. Now those little ones are active, fruit-loving boys — and they’ve inspired us to finally harvest our fresh crop of playful nursery decor created from hand-painted artwork.
Read on to hear the story, but if you are in the middle of harvesting your salad (at the grocery store before the kids get home), just click below to see the quickie video.
The Growth Cycle of Farm-Fresh Nursery Decor
This brain food collection is the brain child of Julianna Larsen — co-founder of Mej Mej, illustrator/designer, and the daughter part of our mom-daughter creative team. I thought you might enjoy hearing about the inspiration and process from the artist herself. So here’s a little mom-to-daughter interview:
CATHY: Hi Julianna. May I call you Jules?
JULES: Mom, you always call me Jules. (except when you’re being full-name serious.)
CATHY: True, well ... Jules ... Please tell us what sparked the idea to create a collection centered around fruits and vegetables? Was it family suppers with toddlers? A Danish husband who loves to cook? Or the delicious, healthy meals from your childhood, lovingly prepared by your adoring parents?
JULES: All of the above — especially the healthy meals of my childhood. Thanks mom! ;-)
JULES: But seriously, yes. All of the above. We love cooking at home and our children are fruit fanatics. We basically don’t have a meal without grapes involved. Apples are always a must when I pick them up from school. And, if I don’t have a banana in my purse when we go to the park, I regret it — and so does everyone around us.
Also, my husband, Anton, is a Michelin-star home-chef (according to me!). He loves visiting local farmers markets and creating meals from whatever’s in season. Those small, everyday fruit-and-veggie moments were a big inspiration behind this collection of modern kids’ room decor — especially our removable fabric wall decals.
CATHY: And, 5 stars to Anton from your taste-testing inlaws! :-)
CATHY: I know our Saturday morning ritual of meeting at the farmers market helped inspire this collection. Tell us about the market from your perspective — as a mom and as an artist.
JULES: With small kids, we need activities. Enter: Old Beach Farmers Market. We LOVE starting spring and summer weekends there. Everyone gets a treat. A new fruit or vegetable from one of the local growers, a loaf of fresh bread, and jars of pickled everything from Fresh Crunch. These sensory little rituals — the colors, the flavors, the scents — stay with me all the way from market to my drawing table. They’re part of what makes our Farmers Market Collection so much fun to illustrate.
JULES: And one more very important part of our market morning: an egg biscuit from Full Quiver Farm — a guaranteed hit with our 4-year-old, who is not not a picky eater.
CATHY: And sausage-on-a-stick for me! Gotta balance out all the veggies we’ve been eating while we embrace the Mediterranean diet. Have you been inspired by all of our veggie bowls?
JULES: Totally! Especially since you send pictures every time you create a new one. We’re all eating the rainbow these days!
CATHY: I feel proud.
Above: Frameable paper prints inspired by local farmers markets
CATHY: Speaking of proud moms ... were you inspired by any home gardens that may or may not have been planted by an accidental gardener who you know and love? (Like this little garden here — full of growing plants and growing grandchildren.)
JULES: As a matter of fact — yes! I was just going to mention that my mom has a green thumb. She’s basically always in the garden. It’s her happy place. And she’s kind enough to let her lucky little grandchildren help harvest her crops! None of the hard work, all of the rewards — that’s my kind of gardening!
Our 4-year-old loves digging with Nana. He has his own little gardening gloves and clippers. I know he will always have happy memories of plucking golden tomatoes right off of the vine and popping them straight into his mouth.
CATHY: Awww. I think my eyes are raining. (That’s how a gardener describes tears of joy. :-)
CATHY: How did you decide on the color palette?
JULES: I usually spend a lot of time curating the colors for each collection. But this time, I let the food do the talking. The natural hues of fruits and vegetables guided the palette — from the soft blush of a peach to the deep green of a broccoli crown. You can go bold and “eat the rainbow” with our full kits, or focus on one fruit or veggie for a more curated color story. Or try mixing two or three of your favorites to create a unique, limited palette all your own.
JULES: It was fun choosing fruits and veggies that we don’t normally buy, too. Like daikon — that milky, lime-green interior is beautiful. And dragonfruit? The skin alone screams tropical. Honestly, it’s such a wild specimen. I mean... what is even going on there? Hot pink on the outside, white with black polka dots inside? Crazy.
One minute, it’s a Dragonfruit Spritz — the next, it’s a wall decor conversation starter.
CATHY: Is there a particular fruit or vegetable in the collection that has a special meaning to you?
JULES: Definitely the kiwi. It reminds me of when I was little, shopping at Central Market in Austin with my mom. Right by the entrance, there was a little table for kids to grab a piece of fruit to munch on for the entire shopping experience. Usually it was bananas and apples — but every once in a while, they had kiwis, sliced in half, with a tiny spoon poked in the top. I loved that so much. That’s why our kiwi decal is sliced in half — it’s a little ode to my ealiest fruit memory.
JULES: How about you... do you have a favorite?
CATHY: My favorite is the fig. I am lobbying for an All Fig Kit next. I love growing figs and eating figs and I can see a fig wall in my future.
JULES: It’s on my list!
CATHY: And do you have a favorite product from this collection? Is it by chance, the Farm Fresh Alphabet?
JULES: Yes! How did you know?
CATHY: Because we brainstormed that one together! And the second you finished it, we both said, “I want that!” New moms, middle moms and teachers are always asking for more alphabet art — how could we not make an edible version?
JULES: How could we not?! I'm so glad we did. I can’t wait to use it with the boys to learn letters... and then making recipes to match.
CATHY: And I love the way you cleverly included the names of each fruit and vegetable in the artwork — so when a toddler asks, “But what is the Q fruit?” a parent can say, “That’s a Quince dear. As in Quince Biscuit Pie by Martha Stewart.” ;-)
JULES: Ha! That recipe might not make our weekly menu. We’re thinking more like “Apple Slices with Peanut Butter by Julianna.” ;-)
One of our faves: Farm Fresh Alphabet Large Watercolor Removable Fabric Wall Decals
CATHY: Thank you for sharing your process with us Julianna. (Yes, full name Julianna — because I seriously love this new collection. :-)
JULES: Thanks Mom! I seriously had so much fun creating it. :-)
And we hope all of you enjoy styling your spaces in fun and creative ways — and that your walls will feel healthy, happy and full of personality wearing their fresh fruits and veggies.
Don’t forget to share your photos and reviews. We love seeing how you decorate with our removable fabric wall decals and prints. You are our biggest inspiration.
Here’s a short little Farmers Market video to see our nursery decor in action. Watch how easy it is to place a plum... re-place a plum... or swap it out for a fig.
Happy growing season!
XO, Cathy and Julianna and the Mej Mej family
And we hope all of you enjoy styling your spaces in fun and creative ways — and that your walls will feel healthy, happy and full of personality wearing their fresh fruits and veggies.
Don’t forget to share your photos and reviews. We love seeing how you decorate with our removable fabric wall decals and prints. You are our biggest inspiration.
Here’s a short little Farmers Market video to see our nursery decor in action. Watch how easy it is to place a plum... re-place a plum... or swap it out for a fig.
Happy growing season!
XO, Cathy and Julianna and the Mej Mej family
The Author: Cathy Heck
Cathy began her career as an art director in New York City followed by 40 years as a freelance illustrator. Her artwork has been licensed for thousands of products for babies and children of all ages. In fact, over 2 million babies' memories have been recorded in a Cathy Heck baby book. You might even have one in your own keepsake box. :-) Today, Cathy, with her daughter, Julianna, and their husbands, Jim and Anton, work together to design, manufacture and ship Mej Mej wall decor and unique gifts to children and families around the world.
