kukunest bedding

I just stumbled upon Kukunest and thought their small selection of toddler and kid bedding was worth sharing. Lantern and sub adventure were my favorites. I thought their line was modernly sweet without being too themey (is that a word? I don't think so). The sub adventure pillow sham is great inspiration for a do-it-yourself sham.

liberty of london fabric nook

This feminine nook was clipped from Blueprint magazine. The homeowner (sorry, I didn't clip the whole article!) transformed a nook off her bedroom into a nursery, separating them with a curtain on an easy-pull hospital track. She used Liberty of London "Tana Lawn" in Caesar for the room divider and "Tana Lawn" in Mabelle for the wardrobe. Both fabrics were purchased from purlsoho.com which happens to be my favorite place to peruse beautiful fabrics.

mix-and-match napkins

Martha Stewart is my go to gal for party ideas. I have a bag full of various napkins from parties past. I'm using this idea at my next picnic. Get the details here.

paint by numbers

These paint by number wall strips by Jenny Wilkinson are too cute. Available online at 2JANE. They are sold in 6 inch x 15 foot rolls. That's a lot of coloring. This reminded me of the leftover acoustic tiles I colored in as a kid after we redid our basement ceiling. They had a kind of rainbow pattern to them. It was great fun. This is even better.

cribs at jcp

JCP, that's JCPenny's for those of you like me who hasn't stepped in one in 20 years. I can still picture their Christmas catalog like it was yesterday. I spent hours marking off tall the toys I wanted. I remember the forest and beach at sunset wallpaper they use to sell. Of course as a teen I was way too cool to shop there. Now I think it's time to revisit.

The Sweat Pea Modern Crib, looks just like a crib I saw online for over a grand (I wanted to show that one too, but now I can't find it!). I don't think the proportions on this crib are appealing, but the shelves are a great spot for toys and books.

JCP has a large selection of well priced cribs. Check them out at their website.

build a closet

I'm pulling all my favorite storage ideas from my design file this week. This is from a bedroom designed by Nate Berkus for O At Home, Fall 2004. Never let yourself be hindered by a rooms lack of closet space. When I clipped this I loved the mirror doors. Now I'm imagining them covered with tiny little fingerprints. The purple did inspire our repainting the "hallway" which is now home to a cupboard filled with my daughters dresses, shoes, toys and bath gear.

When you break this idea down, it's basically a box (wood & drywall) with doors, trimmed with molding. Nate created sections for the clients work space, entertainment center and clothes storage.

mibo lamp shades

This is my new dream shade. It's from mibo lighting and homewares.
These two caught my husband's eye.

tile tattoos

There are so many fun wall decals out there, I was wondering if someone made something similiar for tiles. Sure enough, they do. The pattern selection at mibo lighting and homewares is small, but if you fancy one of the patterns these tile tatoos would allow for some sprucing up in a rental kitchen, or in a condo when you're not ready to finance a remodel. This is a British site, so when you convert to pounds, you'll feel a pinch in your wallet.

Homewares. We don't use that word in the U.S. I wonder why we say Housewares? It's a little alienating. I don't have a house. But I have a home.

There is a point where one's taste for modern furniture or desire to maintain your home's "adult space" turns to the place of wire monkey's.

This bookhou child's chair is a wire monkey. This chair has institution woven into it's thick grey felt pad. It has the power to drain any child of every ounce of whimsy and joy.

closet office

I originally clipped this from Martha Stewart Living and filed it under fun curtains. Today I'm feeling inspired by the bursts of yellow and think this is an inspiring design for a closet office. There is even a copy of Martha Stewart's kids magazine in the storage tin on the desk - perfect.

We all need a space to mentally escape from our children. Something that is just ours. As I extrapolate on that idea, I realize that at some point the kids will want to get on the computer or you may need a space for them to do crafts. That's the downside of living small - everything has to serve many functions. Okay... this is a fabulous idea for a family office.

alternative closet

One more reason to love Domino magazine. This storage solution is from designer Adrienne Neff and was featured in the October 2006 issue of Domino.

I see this as a do-it-yourself project. Closet companies will charge you a lot of money for laminate shelving that you're going to be hiding behind curtains and a shade anyway. Plus, they won't hang the curtain or shade for you. I use to design for a custom closet company so I'm going to let you in on all you know in designing a closet. Here are the rules:

1. Hanging clothes require 24" of depth. In this situation the side panels next to the bed should be 24" deep so the clothes don't extend beyond it. You don't want to be pearing into the closet from your bed.

2. Folded clothes and shoes only require 12" deep shelves. Don't go deeper than 16" or you'll find you're neat stacks will turn into messy piles.

3. Double hang clothing for maximum use of space. Measure your longest shirt and build to that height (usually at least 36"). Hang pants folded over a hanger so they take up half the space. Long dresses and coats eat up a lot of space. If you must, make a taller section for them, with shelves above - make this a shared space with any long items your spouse has.
4. Put in a bottom shelf to help with keeping dust off your clothes.

5. Personally, I prefer to put shoe shelves on their own or above a section of hanging clothes. Many designers put them on the bottom, but then you're head goes into your clothing as you rummage for a shoe!

6. Drawers require some carpentry knowledge and a lot of measuring to get right. Consider integrating a few store bought drawers if need be. Check out West Elm, IKEA and The container store.

Neff used a roman shade above the bed, and suspended the curtains on a track mounted behind a 12" high valance to create a finished effect.

closet nook

I like the idea of converting a closet into a nook because it gives the baby a sense of it's own space whether they're in your room, a siblings, or the office. Curtains soften the hard edges of the closet and with a non-sheer fabric can make for a darkened nap space on sunny days. There are a million and one ways to give the space personality with paint, art and bedding.

I've had this nook on file since 2004! It's from Home magazine.

You can always slip the closet doors under the bed so they can go back on later. Where will I put my clothes you ask? I have some ideas for that in my file. I'll post them under storage.

life without a yard

Life without a yard proposes some challenges and a serious need for creative solutions. I grew up with a huge yard that nestled up against giants fields and woods. The neighbors across the street had the same. I have dreamy memories of sledding and snow hut building in the winter only to be topped by long days in the summer playing flash and capture the flag. We would spend hours in the woods pretending to be a frontier family surviving on pods fallen from the trees and water from the streams and brooks. I can't help but feel sad for my daughter who won't have that kind of experience. I know it fostered my independent nature and creativity.

Everything is so structured in the city. You can't just let your kids out of the house with instructions to be home for dinner. I see my challenge as a mother to find ways my Babe can feel like an explorer. When we are at the park I sometimes catch myself trying to walk her away from a puddle because if she gets wet she'll get the stroller muddy. I stop myself. I let her get down and dirty every chance she gets. A little dirt under the nails is a sure sign that fun is being had.

For now it's off to the park. I plan to share any activities and ideas I devise for fun without a yard. I'd love to hear yours....

quinny zapp stroller

The Quinny Zapp stroller is my favorite stroller. Boo hoo for me, it wasn't available in the US when my daughter was born. Our big concern was how little space it can take up and how easy is it to fold up and toss in the car. Looks had to take second priority. But with the Zapp it doesn't. It's the total package. Look at how it folds up into nothing! You slip it into a carrying case when you travel! It looks like a case of tennis rackets (it only weighs 15.6 pounds.) Wish I had one. We have the Peg Pereggo which is easy to fold up and toss in the car, looks good enough and stores upright in a modest amount of space.



For newborns, you can snap in the maxi cosi infant car seat, which is lovely. We have the maxi cosi priori convertible car seat and like it's styling, ease of installation and use.

This stroller runs around $199.99 which is far less than it's other attractive counterparts like Bugaboo or Mutsy. If you're an on the go parent with little space definitely give this stroller a look.

nano uban highchair by bloom

The nano urban highchair by bloom caught my eye. It's simplicity is appealing. More appealing is its flat fold mechanism which allows you to stash it away when not in use. The seat is made of a supple micro leather. It's maker promises easy clean up. It's hard to tell from just looking at one how accurate that is. It is also available in a blue, pink and brown. In a color it doesn't have the same graceful appeal.

shopping cart by plan toys

We've finally arrived at the "let's play house" phase. At 18 months it's probably really just "twist knob, chew on wooden beets, transfer egg from pan to pan" phase. My daughter goes for the kitchen play set whenever she sees one so I think it's time we make room for one. I was looking for a kitchen online when I stumbled upon this nice looking shopping cart from Plan Toys, $59.99. I can picture my daughter going up and down the aisles of Pavillions dropping her little selections into the basket. At home I picture her knocking into furniture as she gives her stuffed animals a ride.

Made of solid wood and finished with completely non-toxic, child-friendly paints and finishes. Hence the higher price. It's recommended for kids over 3 years. Not sure why, but that's that. The cart is L 18 x H 18 x W 14.5 in.

gateleg tables at ikea

We gave up our dining room to create a nook for our daughter so this kind of table is a necessity. I think it's important to have a table the whole family can sit around. Without one we'd be sitting on the couch in front of the TV. That would be depressing.

We've spent years ridding our place of the IKEA furniture we bought when we were first starting out. I hate the idea of going back there. Let's face it they are a great place to get decent looking, inexpensive stuff for the home. We already have an antique gateleg table that we have up against the wall that we pull out for dinner. Otherwise, I'd be off to IKEA for one of there's. This is the Langed gateway table for $99.99. It's a great price.

hmm... celery lullaboo rocking pony

I'm trying to look past the dorky "dad" and his matching shirt and contemplate what I really think of this item. It's $1165. If you've got money to burn why not? Or, why?

manhattan chair by babystyle

I have spent way too much time looking for a little toddler chair. It will be a major part of our living room and frankly, most of them are just hideous. They all seemed to have been designed when Shabby Chic was all the rage. The exception is the Jennifer Delonge Ava toddler chair which is a really beautiful little chair. It comes upholstered in microsuede or cotton. Microsuede is the only way to go. The cotton gets filthy easily. I toyed with getting this chair but at $299 I just couldn't pull the trigger.

Then one morning as I strolled past Babystyle there it was. The Manhattan chair... in the exact same fabric as our couch! And, yes, only $160. It's clearly a knock off of the Eva chair. While it lacks the detailing of the Eva, I love it. More importantly our daughter loves it. This morning she kicked back in it with her blanket, bottle and a book. Too cute. The word on the street is that Babystyle has filed for bankruptcy, so you may need to act quick if you want this chair.

summer seating

Hooray for summer! I love eating outdoors in the summer on our "patio." Patio is in quotes because I'm not sure it technically qualifies as a true patio. It's a 3 foot x 10 foot space which we spruced up with brick surrounded by pebbles. The pebbles were chosen way before the Babe was born. They are of great interest to all small children who have over the last few years moved them to various spots around the building. Our daughters favorite spot is under the Oleander leaves that covers the fence between our abode and the neighboring condos.

Anyway, we have a small bistro set and barbecue out there. I want to toss a few potted plants and make room for a chair for my Babe. There is a colorful chair at a local boutique made in Africa from recycled tires that I am leaning towards. At the moment, I am waiting to see if they get more in. I haven't located it anywhere else yet. During my internet search for it I came across some great summer seating for the kids.

I like this H back kids chair from loll Designs ($139). It's a modern take on the adirondack chair made from recycled plastic and it comes in a range of cool colors including sky and leaf (my faves). It works for kids up to age 6. I'm thinking it'll be easy to clean and you won't have to worry about splinters. I wonder how the color would hold up in the sun?


These OFFI Tiki stools ($59) are fun. Kids deserve fun colors. Plus these can double as little side tables.




























The Nest Jax sling-back chair ($68) looks perfect for tots who like to kick back and relax. Besides being made from organic cotton and recycled wood, it's washable. A necessity for anything touched by children and the elements.