I am pregnant with my first baby and excited about creating a nursery. How can I do so on a budget while keeping the design versatile enough to evolve with his or her age (and no, I'm not finding out the sex beforehand!)
When decorating a nursery you may want to play it safe buying more expensive items such as the cot or furniture. Stick to lots of white, cream or wood as they are perfect for both boys and girls. They are also ideal for a country with a hot climate by ensuring the room looks fresh and cool. It's often underestimated how influential the aesthetic of a room is in creating something as simple but important as a calm, cool feel. However, this doesn't mean you can't experiment with design and colour. Once the important larger items have been bought you can add distinctive details and colourful accessories to personalise the room, easily adjusting them over time to suit the mood.
Cots and cribs are often the costliest pieces to buy so take the time to source something universally appealing. A wooden or white cot with co-ordinating furniture is a prudent choice and creates the ideal blank canvas for you to play with once your little one has arrived. Neutral furniture pieces are also often a sensible idea because they create an understated backdrop that will still work when your baby is a toddler and even beyond. Think about practicality and value for money before you make your decision.
A classically designed crib on wheels might seem frivolous but is an imaginative and practical option because you can move it into another room when needing to keep a watchful eye over your new arrival. A multi-functional cot that can become a bed suitable for a toddler is also a wise purchase. The upmarket Théophile & Patachou collection offers a whole range of cot and furniture options for sophisticated nurseries.
Alternatively, why not try a more environmentally friendly cardboard cot? Offering the same safety standards as a traditional cot, a cardboard model can be decorated once your baby has arrived and can be very cost-effective. Staying neutral doesn't mean you have to compromise on interesting design. The Cyrus collection includes beautifully designed cots and cribs, from a classic crib dressed with sweeping fabric to create a stunning effect, to a more contemporary cot with butterfly, star and heart cut-out details.
The Cyrus collection also includes a co-ordinating changing table and chest of drawers, which enables you to keep all of your baby related paraphernalia hidden from view and will be useful in the coming years. Storage is all-important in a nursery as a newborn baby comes with lots of extra bits and pieces. Add a shelving unit such as the Paulina, Clara or Denise model to add a touch of dramatic colour.
Once you have chosen your larger items, add an interesting, or masculine or feminine, edge with smaller colourful accessories, rugs and fabric, all of which can be switched around as you wish and updated later. Patterned duvets such as the Petit Pan collection come in a whole range of versatile colours and can be used to add individuality to your baby's room. The Mushkane collection has rectangular, circular and leaf-shaped rugs in bright colours, which are ideal for babies and still great in a young child's room.
New mums and dads may want to add extra light to the nursery to create a safe, protected environment. Night lights are a stylish but practical addition that are also cost-effective. Incorporate an animal or nature-inspired light to create a fun, focal point, perhaps a rabbit, duck or frog, or a design featuring detailing such as mushrooms, flowers, or butterflies.
Emily Davies was talking to Niloufar Bakhtiar-Clignet, an interior designer and the co-founder of bobo kids in London. A Dubai store will open later this year. All of the brands mentioned are stocked by bobo kids: www.bobokids.net or telephone + 44 207 838 1020
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
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Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Company%20profile
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DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Company%C2%A0profile
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km