Tiny Little Pads

First, a little bit about Tiny Little Pads!

I'm so excited to share with you the launch of my dream - Tiny Little Pads. Years ago, I decided I wanted to tap into my passion for interior design and build my own business.

This is it! Tiny Little Pads is Las Vegas' only high-end interior design firm catering exclusively to the little ones. I design baby nurseries, children's rooms, playrooms and playhouses to clients all over the world.

Tiny Little Pads is the interior design firm to make those dream rooms for your children a reality. Interiors for kids is my passion and Tiny Little Pads is my dream, realized. I am over the moon to share this dream with you today!

So, who am I? Why am I designing interiors for children? How did I end up in Las Vegas? There's so much to share!

Norway, Home

Would you believe me if I told you I grew up in a scenic town of only 6,000 called Rissa in the countryside of Norway? And, the view from my childhood bedroom was that of a shipyard building fancy ships?

It's true.

But, that small town and shipyard would shape my future more than I would ever imagine.

I wasn't one of those children who, at a young age, knew what I wanted to be when I "grew up." But then, just before I started school, the pieces finally started to come together. My bedroom was up for a design overhaul and mom let me pick out everything myself...paint colors, furniture, upholstery, drapery, and lighting. The finished room came together so seamlessly.

From that point, I knew interior design was my calling.

Fast forward 13 years and I wanted to pursue interior design as a career. Sadly there were no schools, degrees or even programs that offered interior design in Norway (and that is still the case today!). The only option for a degree in Interiors was in interior architecture. I didn't want that, so I dove into psychology studies instead with the goal of earning a Masters in Child Developmental Psychology.

However, after a year, my desire to become an interior designer was still there. I couldn't get color combinations, furniture and fabrics from dancing around in my head. I found a school in the rainy city of Bergen, 400 plus miles away. They offered an interior design program that would earn me a certificate after two years. I packed up my rain boots (....it rains on average a whopping 231 days a year here) and went on to chase my dreams in rubber boots and an umbrella in my hand!

The Seven Seas

With the certificate in my hand, I still wanted more. I wanted that interior design degree. I wanted to be Finn Falkum-Hansen, the architect that had designed the interiors of all the ships at our shipyard. However, since Norway didn't offer a degree, I needed to earn more money to continue my journey. The shipyard turned out to be the catalyst in jumpstarting my interior design career.

I accepted a position as a receptionist there. I was back home again. During that time, the residential cruise ship, The World, was being built. If you're not familiar with this one-of-a-kind ship, imagine a ship that offers a place to live while circumnavigating the globe 365 days a year. This is The World.

Pretty cool, yes?

My time as a receptionist turned into work with the site team building the ship, which again led me to designing the navigation bridge on the ship. Me ... Jannicke!!! It was an experience of a lifetime and a job so many designers would have killed for. And, it was mine.

By the time the ship launched, I was a full-time employee with The World of Residensea. I had followed this ship from its beginning when it came to the yard as a piece of brown metal and watched this "ugly duckling" transform to the finest ship on the planet.

The World was "my baby." I didn't want to let her go. I applied for a position to work onboard the ship. It was the perfect time to see the world as I had come to a stand still with my degree!

In March 2002, I joined the team of only 370 lucky crew members who had flown into little Rissa from all corners of the world. The crew was made up of 24 different nationalities! What an excitement I felt when we waived goodbye to all the jealous people on the dock and raised our glasses at the sail away party out on deck.

I had just embarked on a year-plus adventure on the high seas! To say the experience was amazing sells it short. I still cannot believe this was my home for more than a year.

Viva Las Vegas?

After serving two contracts on the ship, I disembarked in Sydney, Australia in March 2003. Half a world away from home. What a journey it had been! I had seen it "all." But my love for interior design had remained. I booked a flight to Las Vegas.

What a city! It had it all. Even a school offering an interior design degree. Needless to say, it was an easy decision to change out my rain boots with a bikini and sunglasses. A few months later I embarked on a brand new adventure. The Art Institute of Las Vegas. Unlike attending school in Norway, I had no financial support, so it was all up to me to succeed. And, succeed I did.

I graduated as the Valedictorian of my class in 2006. The satisfaction and excitement I felt was indescribable.

The World of Interior Design

After graduation, I was blessed to get hired by the award-winning hospitality design firm, Cleo Design. Ranked one of the top 100 Interior Giants in the US, I got to work with world famous casino properties in the US and abroad. Being hired with Cleo Design was certainly a dream come true. The principals Ann Fleming and Ken Kulas threw me right into the real world of interior design. The world that I dreamed of when I packed my stuff and drove 430 miles to Bergen to pursue "something" in interior design.

I have a lot to be thankful for today because of them. For more than seven years, I worked for Cleo, designing magnificent interiors in world-famous resorts. They knew how to get my feet wet. Fast. They had been in my shoes. They introduced me to so many talented designers, architects and contractors. The biggest of them all, Roger Thomas.

Gosh, I remember so vividly my first time meeting with Roger Thomas. The Roger Thomas, the one I had only read about before moving to Las Vegas. An interior design genius! Everyone in my world knows who Roger Thomas is; he's Steve Wynn's right hand when it comes to interior design.

At the time, Cleo was working with Wynn on its new casino property, Encore. I was sitting across from him being part of this design meeting. I had to pinch myself that this was really happening. Me?!? A girl who grew up in a tiny town in Norway. Now, sitting at a table along with him and these other major interior designers. Boy, had I come a long way!

The Birth

In the beginning of 2012 I married my husband, Trond, in a beautiful ceremony under the big tree in our front yard. The same tree he had proposed to me a year earlier. We said our "I dos" with 160 of our friends and family as our witnesses.

At the end of 2012 our first daughter, Nahla was born. Everything changed.

I quickly came to realize I had come full circle. The feeling I felt when I designed my own big girl room was the exact same feeling I had when I designed my own little angel's nursery!

A powerful experience that lead me to the launch of Tiny Little Pads.

When Nahla's nursery was complete, I laid down on the rug in the middle of the room and looked around. The magnificent carousel ceiling canopy. The stunning upholstered butterfly wall.

I was home.

In more ways than one.

Welcome to Tiny Little Pads!

Xoxo, Jannicke