So with the colors and inspiration set in my mind I needed to first find some textiles that would reflect growth and be expressed in my chosen color set AND that complement our modern house. That means no literal patterns- mostly abstracted organic (I hate that word) designs. by organic I don't mean pesticide-free, remember- Tim's a chemist so I'm not exactly down on chemicals. I kind of like chemicals (prescription drugs, cleaning products, baking soda) and I much prefer commercial fertilizers to "organic" fertilizers (read animal waste) that greatly increase the risk of ecoli contamination. But that's off the subject- I mean "organic" in a sense that the forms reference the carbon containing plant world. I was also looking for textiles that were not exactly mainstream. Here are some links to some cool baby textile websites that I found.
Dwell Studio http://dwellshop.com/
Love their bold graphic patterns. Great for a babies room that will be both fun and sophisticated enough to blend nicely with the other rooms in the house. Great for taking common baby "themes" such as cowboy, cowgirl, and transportation, and moving them past the level of theme room. Unfortunately for me, no organic patterns in my color set. check out their textiles for the home, too.
Ducduc
This company has some nice textiles, but I really like their furniture. Featured in the photo is their alphabet bedding set, and their Parker Panel Crib in the next photo. Note the Marimekko design of the side panel of the Parker crib. If you aren't familiar with Marimekko, check them out here http://www.marimekk
o.com/eng They design many of the fabrics you have probably seen in Crate and Barrel. I can't get enough of their fabric- I'm hoping to have a large scale Marimekko panels installed in the family room within the next few months- to dress up the white wall that the projector uses when we aren't watching a movie (http://store.txtlart.com/)
o.com/eng They design many of the fabrics you have probably seen in Crate and Barrel. I can't get enough of their fabric- I'm hoping to have a large scale Marimekko panels installed in the family room within the next few months- to dress up the white wall that the projector uses when we aren't watching a movie (http://store.txtlart.com/)Of course the best option for finding exactly what you want is to have it custom made. Last time I was in Atlanta I was so impressed with Lewis and Sharon textiles (http://www.lsfabrics.com/) Great selection and prices and their online store isn't bad. Also, check out their incredible mod line Staceage- If I didn't live with Tim I would so do my house in this Hollywood mod, over the top. So yummy.http://www.staceage.com/ I love how they take traditional frames, put an auto luster finish on them, and apply some of the most luscious fabrics and trims you've ever seen. If you are in Atlanta, its must see. Their new ad campaign is "Live Famously, or die". This may not be the exact motif you were searching for as far as nursery design goes, but its a great shop to look at to expand your creative thinking.
As for budget options, you won't believe who is doing affordable, mod baby nursery designs. You might think Target- they have a history of contracting high quality designers and architects to produce affordable home options- but its not target. I found their selection (in furniture) to be really limited and uncreative, although their ads indicate that they will be pushing into mod nursery in the next few seasons (ie- only available online and in California). So not Target yet, but- this is crazy- Walmart.
Who would have ever dreamed that Walmart would go mod? I actually stumbled upon some pretty groovy rooms in their baby section while looking for something else on their website- and I'm sure glad I did. Their Parklane collection is really not bad- I would say it is easily better than anything I saw at that Babies R us or other stores that carry mass baby furniture and bedding. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7679721 We ordered the Parklane crib bc it was at least a thousand dollars less than my other top choices (Netto, Oeuf, or Nursuryworks http://www.modernnursery.com/items.cfm/NurseryWorksPlatinumCrib/0/pcid/1/cid/3/)
And if we had to buy a cage, I mean crib, I didn't really want to sink oodles of money into it. I don't really like the idea of cribs (look like baby cages) and I'm hoping to move our child into the toddler bed option as soon as they are able. The one we bought was a pain to assemble, but that was Tim's problem. It does come with a nice drawer underneath for storage and the toddler bed rail. here is a lovely pic of Tim and in the middle of assembly- After noticing that spelling error, we decided to have the crib lead tested. Still awaiting the results....
So i was nearly tot he point where I thought that custom bedding was my only option when I came across Bablicious (http://www.babylicious.ca/) They had just what we needed in their "Happy" collection. It is available on target (online only, naturally) and amazon. We ordered the modern bedding bundle shown here, but you can also order a great crib canopy and crib fringe. I'm holding on the crib fringe until I know if the baby is a girl or boy. Girl- we go for fringe, Boy- we hold. I am really happy with it. Be aware that the Consumer Reports baby book discourages the use of bumpers in the crib due to the risk that the baby might become wedged between the railing and the bumper. We ordered the more firm, deluxe set to avoid this problem. Pretty much everyone I know uses a crib bumper and I'm not sure that not having a bumper would avoid the problem they talk about. There doesn't seem to be any research available on the subject, but I wanted to pass the info on.
Babylicious has some other great patterns as well, especially if you know weather you are having a boy or girl- very fun and bright patterns, yet refined enough to avoid the theme room issue.
I'm at 35 weeks today and the nursery is just about done. The draperies should go up this weekend and I will do a post as soon as its ready!!!
2 comments:
We just bought the parklane crib (for our May baby) and my mom came across your blog. I'm trying to decide whether I want to keep this crib because of the lead paint question. Did you get your test results back? And have you been happy with such a low crib?
Thanks for your insight!
Hi Kayla- yes, we have been happy with the crib. Its nice for us because we are short people, so if the sides were too high, it would be difficult for me to get my son out. And I really wanted to avoid a drop-side crib bc of all the recalls that have happened with those. We moved the mattress to the lowest setting as soon as my son was able to stand up and he is pretty active, but he hasn't escaped yet ( he is almost a year old now). I imagine we will transition into the toddler rail in the next 6 months to avoid him making a big escape on his own. I havent really noticed any signs of wear ont eh crib and I have no complaints. So far we have done one lead test and it was negative, so that was a relief. btu it was jsut using a simple test- Davis hasn't been one to chew ont eh crib so far.
Since the crib has held up so well we will probably use it for a our next child too.
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