A lifesaving hero, a beautiful princess, a brave astronaut, or a graceful ballerina – what youngster hasn’t dreamt of becoming one of those? I know when I was a little kid I desperately wanted to be a ballerina (tutus – hello!)… well, it was either that or a forest fairy.

That is why I was immediately taken with the realistic yet playful bedding designed by SNURK, a Dutch company based in Amsterdam.  They have put together a range of gorgeous whimsical duvet cover sets that feature life-sized photographic prints of children’s dream counterparts – from a pirate to a soccer player.

The bedding makes the dream a reality. When your little one is firmly tucked in, with his or her head resting on the printed pillow, they are magically transformed into their fantasy alter ego. It is a splendid way to dress up your child’s bedroom and encourage imaginative play at the same time.

SNURK’s co-founder Peggy van Neer describes their design style as sleek and realistic with a fun twist. Their kids designs are poles apart from anything the current children’s bedding market has to offer, which in Peggy’s own words, is “very loud and Disney-dominated”.

It seems SNURK takes the business of being playful very “seriously”. The images they’ve used on their bedding designs were not sourced from some generic stock website. Nope. The astronaut suit, for instance, is not from the costume rental shop around the corner, but from the Space Expo Museum in Holland. For the Ballerina duvet cover SNURK collaborated with the Dutch National Ballet – one of the top 5 ballet companies of the world.

I love the idea that your choice doesn’t necessarily have to be so gender specific. If your little girl wants to be a fire-fighter instead of a princess – more power to her.

The best news of all? The SNURK bedding range is now available in South Africa! Check out the Robert Thomson website for more info.

P.S. They even have double and queen sized duvet sets for all you big “kids” out there.