Caden Lane

My sweet friend Sherri Blum has been around the block and back! But not in that way! LOL. I mean, she’s one of the staples in children wall art. A trend setter people. She’s a wonderfully talented artist that has been featured in more celebrity nurseries than I can even dream of! And today she posted the sweetest Q&A blog about Caden Lane! You can read the entire story on HomeWorkShop.com, or skip on over to her sweet blog about nursery design – JackandJillInteriors.com!

I was scrolling through the pages of her website, trying to pick my favorite one (an impossible task), and I think I decided on this! Mostly because it’s a PERFECT match to our brand new Boutique Collection Bedding!

And I didn’t even KNOW she did coordinating rugs! OMG…. I feel an urge to order this for my daughter. Rug or banner, rug or banner?!?!?

STOP IT! She even has wall art to match the new BOY Boutique Collection! Blue… orange….brown! Check, check, CHECK! (And of course, the all popular SPORTS THEME!)

We are working on getting these added to NurseryCouture.com ASAP! So if you can’t find them on the website, and you needed them yesterday… call the store at 210-494-2627.

Now, off to the hair salon… do we still call it that? Hmmmm? Anyways, I need a haircut. My baby sister is getting married this weekend (to an Aggie….gulp) And I’m hoping a new haircut will distract from my hideous bridesmaid dress.

Holy guacamole! Look at the adorable picture I just found at ColorfulRooms.com! It was as if this wall art was created SOLELY for our Modern Vintage Collection. Or vice-versa. In fact, not sure which came first? Okay…..ummmm…. I’m going to believe they did it all for me. But there’s no question that it is ALL fabulous!

Brooke Burke loved the wall art from Oopsie Daisy too! And well look at that…. it was a Modern Vintage inspired nursery as well!

Gotta have it for yourself? Make sure to check out our fabulous selection of wall art at NurseryCouture.com!

“This wasn’t available when my kids were young…”  Yes, yes… we know. We hear this comment all too often, although, it is kind of nice to know that fashion-conscious parents everywhere finally put an end to the dancing bear themed products of yester-year. All of a sudden (okay, so about 5 years ago), modern nursery design became a huge trend. Clean lines, simple structures… but you have to wonder, was this created for the parents or the child? Take for example, this beautiful baby lounger from Bloom. I almost want to display it in my home even after the kiddos have outgrown it (and probably will have to, since it has a pricey tag of $199.99). The baby has no idea that they are sitting (and pooping) in a modern work of art, but the parents, oooooh we know, don’t we? And somehow a little part of us thinks it’s even cuter for them to be pooping in that creatively master-pieced work of baby-bouncer-art. A little part of me wants to sit on it and see if my adult weight makes the wood POP? That wood bending like that is pretty freakin’ cool. But, I don’t know if I could ever recover from my butt breaking a “seemingly sturdy” plank of wood.

Reality? That gorgeous piece of baby-lounging-goodness needs to vibrate, rock itself, and somehow hold a bottle up so that Mom can have just a FEW minutes of peace hands-free while baby eats. Now THAT is true modern design genius.

I’m still working hard on my kiddos new rooms. Ashlyn’s is the easiest of course, pink, pink, turquoise, pink, roses, bling, and a little more pink. Sometimes I feel like I’m bleeding money into her room. It might actually be cheaper to just staple gun dollar bills to her wall. But then, what fun would that be?

My son’s room (Cade) on the other hand is still a work in progress. I ordered him the swing that matches PERFECTLY to our new Boutique Collection duvet. And the painters are covering his walls in a light bright blue. The furniture is brown, the trim & doors will be dark brown, and the shutters white. I wanted to accent with pops of orange and brown in the room… I feel like that’s a color combination that can grow with him. And then I saw this picture today, and now…. I’m thinking stripes. Horizontal stripes. And I have to find out WHERE can I buy that orange rug???

To be continued…. (now I’m going to search feverishly online to find that rug).

My dresser drawers. My kids toy baskets. Our kitchen catch-all drawer…. These are a few of my LEAST favorite things. Why? Because they are always in complete disaster. I can’t find what I need, I know it’s in there… and in a moment of complete insanity, I dump it out, reorganize it, and fall in love all over again. This silly pattern seems to repeat itself quite frequently in my life. Probably b/c of the small high I get when I’m done organizing something and for a few brief moments (mostly, before my kids get to it) that space is perfectly organized. Decoration in itself.

I found this picture on one of my favorite decor websites (ohdeedoh), and now I can’t stop thinking about doing this myself. It’s so simple – I MIGHT even be able to get my kids to help me do it!

Here’s exactly how it will happen. I’ll dump all the HUNDREDS of books they have (few of which we’ve actually read, b/c I’m just a winner-mom like that) and then we (as in mostly me, and hopefully a few mins of my kids cooperation)… will blissfully organize each book by color. The result? A beautiful representation of my crazy life COLOR-CODED on the wall. Ha. I wish.

Seriously though, don’t these pictures make you want to do the same?

And if you are really feeling creative – you can even make these fabulous book holders - maybe with color coded fabric? Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful???

Sorry I’ve been MIA. We spent last week at the New York Gift Market (NYIGF) and I just got back to the office! Market was a huge success, one of our best NY markets yet!

Ugh, no matter how hard I try, it STILL takes two days to make up for every one day I miss. But I’m back, and we don’t leave for our next market until October – that one is my favorite, vegas… baby. But next week I’ll be back to my daily blogging – I cross my blogger-heart.

I found so many cool new products in New York, here’s a few I think my kiddos would go ga-ga over!

For the creative-kiddos, they can decorate their own playhouse, castle, or pirate ship with these super cool cardboard clubhouses! If you want or NEED one for yourself! Give Nursery Couture a shout – they’d love to order one for you! 210-494-2627

I’m absolutely ordering this for my son’s new room. I’ve been daydreaming about him quietly reading books in it, softly swinging side to side… course, the reality is that it will probably result in a few holes in my wall from him pushing off to see how high he can swing!

And if my daughter gets too jealous… well, they make one for her too!

Now, if I could just find the room in the house to put them….

From the moment you find out you are expecting, the name game begins! And what a tremendous amount of pressure put on the parents to name their child something that they can LIVE with the rest of their lives! Is it hard to pronounce? Will it have nicknames? Will the teacher always call out the first name, and the child will have to correct them with what they “actually” go by? Can they be an attorney with a name like that? Is that a bitchy name? A nerdy name? A name that 10 other kids will have in their kinder class?

Perhaps you are one of those people that knew their child’s name from age 12, and your lovely husband has no opinion…. but not in this household. Nope. We had to sort through HUNDREDS of names. I had to “wear” them for a few days each… picture myself screaming the name up the stairs, visualizing what a child with that name might look like – and if my genes were capable of that….

Unfortunately my favorite name was used before I was pregnant with my first. And it’s a darn good name if you ask me, Caden Lane. I needed a name that was strong, that couldn’t be pronounced wrong… that could sorta be boy or girl… and that epitomized modern-nursery-decor. Okay, so the name doesn’t do that all by itself…. but if the company was named “Eugene Dexter” you might think twice about following our design advice. I would. LOL. Anyways, my first ended up getting the name “Cade Jackson” b/c I just couldn’t think of another name I liked more. AND NO – the company was not named after my son. I need to make that very clear so that when my daughter is old enough to ask where “her” company is… I won’t have to whip up a baby line called “Ashlyn Sophia”! (Although, I did name a bedding set after her, just in case. I’m just a planner like that.)

Okay, so you’ve got this great name planned out that you’ve been obsessing over for 9 months. Or maybe just a few weeks if you and your hubbie didn’t agree until the last minute! Note to those mommies: YOU WILL WIN. Just hang tight, and keep suggesting the name. As soon as our husbands figure out how to carry the child for nine months, AND give birth… then their opinion will be considered. I’m just sayin…

Back to the name you love. Why not decorate with it! Afterall, you are so proud of it, and you’ve been telling it (middle name included) to whoever asks…. it just might be the best name ever! And you know what? It’s one of my favorite things to put above a crib. There’s just something sweet and timeless about a child’s name whimsically hung above their bed. (And it makes for a really cute newborn picture later on too.)

Here’s some of our favorite designers with different letter options! Our favorite being Petite Suites, available at NurseryCouture.com. Only $20 per letter!

Here’s another option we found on etsy! LOVE the prints!

Or! You could even do a personalized monogram applique on the wall – in your choice of colors!

Happy Shopping! And for those of you who STILL haven’t found a name. This is a great website to search for popular and unique baby names.

Aren’t we such trend setters? According to ivillage.com’s article on the “10 Nursery Trends We Love” – #4 is Creating a Second Place to Sleep in the nursery, and guess who they used as the perfect example? US! 

Here’s what they said…

“Your babe deserves his own stylish, one-of-a-kind nursery, right? We talked to our favorite interior designers to get the scoop on the latest baby room trends — here’s a hint: ditch the glider! Get inspired (to do, or re-do! ) with these 10 new decorating trends.”

“Designer Katy Mimari of Caden Lane put both a bed and a crib in Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz‘s son Bronx’s room. While we can assume this was not done for lack of space in the Wentz casa, for the rest of us, we love how this arrangement accommodates both visiting grandma and a tired mom who prefers to crash right in baby’s room after a midnight feeding. And the Simpson/Wentzs aren’t the only ones — in Gwyneth Paltrow‘s temporary Nashville digs, her kids have a Blu Dot ‘Flat Out’ sleeper sofa in their room, in addition to bunkbeds. We love the idea of having some adult-sized lounging options in small-stuff’s room.”

To check out the entire story – CLICK HERE!

I often get asked how I started Caden Lane. Where did I get the idea? How did I market the product? Did I sew the original samples myself? Let me make this perfectly clear: I CAN NOT SEW. We’re talking not even a button to a shirt kind of no-sew talent. If it had been up to me to produce the first diaper bag or bedding sample – the entire thing would have been hot-glued. Thank GOD for talented seamstresses who could take my hand-drawing of perfection and bring it to life.

 And in case you are wondering – everything can be fixed with hot-glue. (And cleaned with windex.)

So, speaking of talented people that can SEW…check out this adorable line of hand puppets by Cate and Levi. I just received their catalog in the mail for Nursery Couture, and couldn’t resist their adorable puppets! They are handmade in Canada, with reclaimed wool…. so even this cute puppet puppy leaves the smallest “pawprint” possible on our planet!

These puppets even give the muppets a real run for their money!

So what do you think? Is this a winner? Should we bring them into the store? Surely at only $28 each it would be a cute addition to any shower gift, right?

I’ve never really been a fan of yellow, but lately I find myself drawn to it….. it’s so bright, and happy, and sun-shiney. And when I think of yellow in the baby’s room – I picture pastel yellow, a lot of it…. in an attempt to keep things “gender neutral” – and in the process, have ZERO creativity in your nursery design. Up until now.

Obviously, I’m new to this blogging thing… but as I start to do the research on really cool nursery design blogs out there (like ProjectNursery.com, and Ohhdeedo.com) I’m finding all these beautiful pictures of nurseries that are COMPLETELY outside the box! And I’m loooving it!

I’m loving it so much, that one of our new Limited Edition color combos features this happy-not-pastel color.

And how about this room? Does it not make you droooool? Scroll down to the bottom pic! The creative mommy-to-be made these herself using a tutorial she found HERE. And I’m totally stealing this idea for my kiddos rooms. Especially since I LOVE fabric. What a cool way to add more “design & print” elements to the wall!

(photos courtesy of ohhdedoh)

My kiddos are 2 and 5 now, so we are past the age of “oh my gosh how cute…” and “oooooh i could just eat those squishy cheeks….” – in fact, when strangers approach them, it’s more common for me to say things like “careful, they are sticky” or “touch at your own risk”.

But it wasn’t long ago that I remember toting them around in their (oh so heavy) car seats with a blanket draped over the top. What is it about newborns that is so hard to resist? It’s almost like a magnet…. pulling your hand in…. forcing you to touch them… just one toe, one cheek…. pleaaaaseee…. let me just get within 12 inches of them! We are all just as guilty as the next person. If only there was an invisible shield that protected our newborns from un-washed hands, un-covered sneezes, and peering toddlers.

And then some GENIUS mom invented this.

It’s a pod. It’s a tent. No…. it’s BRILLIANT! And now it’s available through Caden Lane in a variety of fun and funky fabrics!

Our Car Seat Covers ($48) have an elastic bottom that fits securely around almost any infant car seat. It’s easy to get on, and even easier to take off, and the design of it keeps the fabric away from the baby’s face (something that my “thrown” blanket never did). It has a slit in the front for accessibility (something you first timer mommies will appreciate), and a small pocket on the side to store that emergency pacifier! The best part, it keeps those baby-obsessed people (like me) from touching all over your precious, clean, and healthy newborn.

Disclaimer: If I know you personally, or you just seem super nice. This will not deter me. I will immediately reach through your cover to cuddle on that baby. I know your secrets. You can not hide that bundle of joy from me. (But I promise to have clean hands!)