I’m working on a magazine styling job about nurseries and so I’ve been on the hunt for amazing cribs and changing tables. When I saw the children’s line by The New Traditionalists/ MasonGray Co, it felt like a burst of fresh air! Some of their pieces were featured in the latest Lonny, but this Regency crib below in navy and white lacquer, might be their crown jewel!
The grown-ups aren’t left out, oh no. Here are some of the pieces they craft for those of us who can feed ourselves.
I am sporting a slight tan and a VERY full inbox and to do list after almost a week away in Florida. I spent the vacations amongst the babies and kids of my family and friends- I don’t think I ever realized how much GEAR is needed with kids! Like, an unholy amount of stuff to keep them fed, clean, happy and mobile. High fives to all you moms out there! That said, some of that gear can be pretty damn cute, as in the nursery designs of Rikshaw Design and Javis Davis. A lot of you ask me for nursery decor ideas and these two sources are fabulous!
Rikshaw makes amazing, Indian inspired bedding and clothing that I simply adore. I cannot get enough of those elephant pillows.
Javis Davis makes custom nursery decor, with crib sets starting at just 4250. the bold patterns and modern styling is really fun and unique. plus, they makes custom kids bedding AND matching doll bedding for those who really want to spoil the little ones. :)
I’ve been oogling her bright prints in magazines for a looooooong time and been frustrated that the only way to get them was at her NYC shop- but finallyRoberta Freymann’s line Roberta Roller Rabbit has an online shop and I am positively giddy over the offerings! From quilts to kurtas to tabletop accessories, I want to brighten my home with everything! Not to mention my new favorite “baby item for my non-existent baby“– the quilted baby blankets!!!! Oh my, they are amazing and a fantastic gift for a shower at $60 each!
Said baby blankets (I could design a whole nursery around one of them!)
Roberta also has her own namesake fashion line that really embraces what seems to be her style: luxurious by not over the top, whimsical but not oddly so, detailed yet simple! Loving the necklaces specifically!
Today is an edition of “Deep Thoughts by Erin”- with a smidge of design on the side:
I was out shopping for baby gifts last weekend (as many, many have graced the Gates family in the last 2 months). I was perusing Lester Harry’s, a very lovely but VERY pricey baby boutique (cue Andrew yelling from across the store “This baby shirt is $95 bucks!!!What the f*ck??) when I saw it. The Serena and Lily embroidered baby sling that makes my tummy do flip flops of joy. I have coveted it before online, but had not seen it in person yet. I picked it up and inspected the lovely detailing and then actually, to my horror, held it up to myself. “Trying it on”, if you will. I looked at Andrew and said “I think I might buy it”– he assumed I meant as a gift for one of the baby momma’s, but no, I meant for a very un-pregnant me.
My reasoning being that what if they don’t make this particularly fabulous sling when I am actually pregnant? How upset would I be knowing that it existed and I hadn’t bought it? I was trying to avoid future buyers remorse, but is it creepy (and bad luck) to buy a baby item when you don’t, in fact, have a baby…or even know when you might want to have one? Looking at that sling brought up lot of questions for me: am I ready? Will I ever be ready? Do I even really want a baby or do I just want this stupid sling (which could be refashioned for carrying one of my dogs I suppose- granted they’d have to be heavily drugged to allow this)?
I think a lot of women my age face these questions with their 30th birthdays looming on the calendar. And it’s especially present in my life when I spend a lot of time oogling adorable baby things for the blog, designing nurseries, working mostly with hip, young moms (and having friends who all are becoming hip, young moms too). I see posts like Erika’s about her “bring you to tears it’s so gorgeous” nursery she’s designed (blew the one I designed outta the water) for her little one on the way and start craving to design my own. Look at this space- Oscar de la Renta fabric, drapes with coral and white stripes on the bias for trim, antique chandelier and a GOLD crib? This kid is going to have the most impeccable taste if this is how she starts her life!
Erika’s sister Darby is like SuperMom meets Martha Stewart and her blog is something I love to read- with all their crafts and sticky fingers and cute adventures (and if my kids are even half as cute as hers I will be thankful) and yet she still has time to creatively redo her bathroom (love this before and after) and make her own baby clothes and accessories and then blog tutorials about them! If she can do it all, can’t I? (Booming voice in my hed: NO!)
I’ve mysteriously also gotten hooked on the mega-mommy blog Dooce (for it’s hysterically honest writing) and even oogled her nursery in which she used the awesome Julia Rothman wallpaper I posted about months ago! All of the sudden I am hit with more pangs of “buy that for the fictitious nursery- just in case!”
In conclusion, I did not buy the sling. I think I have some time…
But what do you think? How did you know you wanted your life to change in this major way? And can you ever be 100% ready for it? And how annoying is this post?
Thanks for listening. :)
I remember seeing this nursery in Domino and just FLIPPING OUT about the vintage wallpaper giraffe silhouette. Well, I’ve found it- and a menagerie of other creatures as well, in various cool vintage prints! Inke Heiland crafts them and you can buy them through Romp in Brooklyn.
(p.s. also loving the window shade fabric and the sheepskin rug- I try to put a little sheepskin rug in almost every nursery I do- babies love the feel and I love the look!)
You can also get crafty and make one yourself- I still have tons of vintage wallpaper (more here) I’m selling! :)
I saw this and simply HAD to alert you on a Sunday morning since this sale is only for 40 more hours! Haute Look is another designer sale site like Rue La La, Ideeli, etc.- this sale is for all the moms and moms-to-be out there that need a stylish new diaper bag that looks more like it came from Hermes or Tory Burch than from Babies R Us! Liz Lange has knocked it out of the park with these amazing bags- I kind of want some of them just as a purse! Yummy linings and hardware details make these really fashion forward and special!
I was perusing the very good New York Spaces magazine at my parents’ house this weekend and saw this Hoboken, NJ nursery, designed by Guy Barbarulo and thought it was such a great, non-juvenile space for a baby boy! The “racing stripes” on one wall above the crib, the modern furniture and then the very unexpected antique looking chandelier with turquoise drops all work together to create a very interesting space that will transition into childhood and teen years very nicely! I personally would have done a burnt orange roman shade to punch it up an extra notch, but what do I know… :)
(Click on the image for a larger view)
Courtesy of NY Spaces, photo by Peter Murdock
I saw this FABULOUS pink woodgrain desk (below) in O at Home Magazine and had to check out the website of the company that makes it called Duc Duc. Turns out it’s a youth desk (big enough for an adult-as is all the youth furniture) and their stuff is INSANELY awesome, and really expensive- naturally.
The interior drawer colors below are customizable and I am dying over this bench seat!
The fabric panels on all the furniture are COM- imagine the possibilities (if you want to spend $1,500+ on a crib- which I will- sorry honey!)
The leather strap details on this daybed are such perfection.
A perfectly hip nursery.
A incredibly chic kids room.
Nurseryworks (via fawn&forest) has put out a new line of nursery furniture designed by the ever-so-chic folks at lawson-fenning. Utilizing classic American spindle leg accents and tufted upholstery, the “americana” collection looks like it could be in any grown up space, never mind a space for the little ones.
(headboards only available in twin and full…bummer, I know)
I cannot get over this four poster crib in the advertisements for the new Restoration Hardware Baby & Child line. It is the most stunning crib I’ve seen to date- not to mention everything else they are previewing now on the site! Can’t wait to see the whole line!
