Caden Lane

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.

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)

Living in Texas, you think I’d be used to all the stuffed trophy animals hanging on my friends walls. Okay, so not my friends. But I’ve definitely been to houses of people I “know” that display these as fashionable wall art. There are entire stores that display coordinating furniture to go with their stuffed-dead-glass-eye-animal-heads. Ugh, sick out. And surprising, if you google “taxidermy blogs” you find very interesting things like…

a drunk raccoon. I mean, who wouldn’t want this in their home? Such a statement piece.

Or, if you prefer to purchase someone else’s road kill to decorate with… you can shop here, and show off to your friends with special decor like… a canoeing squirrel (only $195), a motorcycle riding squirrel ($295), or for a whopping $795 you can get a paddlin’ beaver. Apparently squirrels and canoes are popular decor these days. Poor squirrels, they draw the short straw every time.

Okay, so obviously none of these items are good for your children’s rooms. But, we do have to give some recognition to this new trend – “trend”, really Katy? Ugh, let’s hope not. This is the thing though…. I saw these heads hanging at my favorite store a few weeks ago. A lady was oooohing and aahhhhing over them for her husband because I guess he had a fascination with animal heads in their home. (Yes, that is common in Texas, and NO, we don’t do it.) But I have to admit, I did think they would be cute in a little boy’s room or gameroom if done right!

Each animal head is $68 and available HERE at Anthropologie.com. I took one off and studied it, it was paper mache-d (so it had an artsy homemade feel), and definitely no glass eye balls. What do you think? Is this baby room material? Or perhaps more kids playroom… when they are old enough to know that a animal head (like the see in the Zoo) isn’t staring them in the face each morning.

And for you more “modern” nursery design peeps… well, don’t fret – you can get a white resin assortment of animal heads at Z Gallery for around $150.

Next week we leave for Atlanta market, and I am so excited to show off the new Boutique Collection. I’ve never been more confident about the launch of one of our collections! But I’m even more excited to decorate an entire vignette in our storearound the new color palette – blue, orange, and brown!

When the color orange first was introduced into the nursery it was only in the really modern bedding sets. And orange, understandably so, can be a little intimidating. There’s a MILLION versions of orange. NEON orange. Tangerine orange. Salmon orange. Peachy-orange. Pumpkin orange. Orange-creamsicle-pop-orange. Basketball orange. HOOK-EM-LONGHORNS-orange (we all know that’s the true color orange anyways)…

According to this random website I found: “Orange is a power color. It is one of the healing colors. It is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance. People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere. Lady luck’s color is orange.”

Well, if “lady luck’s” color is orange… my office is the wrong color. So that’s what’s been wrong all these years. I knew it.

The Color Wheel Pro actually had a better interpretation of it:

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young people. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Orange is the color of fall and harvest. In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

As far as applying it to a little boy’s room, I can’t believe it’s NOT done more often! For the theme inspired mom’s, a all-star sports room goes perfectly with the color (think basketballs), and for a more animal-instinct room, think beyond Nemo… orange will blend beautiful with the warm colors of giraffe’s, monkeys, and more!

Always the color enthusiast, I would keep it simple. I love children’s rooms that have a POP of color, and although the orange in our new fabrics is subtle, and could easily be hidden if you wanted to push the blues & browns, it also is a great starting point to add it color punches!

The ever-popular shaggy raggy rug comes in a rainbow of colors ($123 for a 3×5), and the wall art from one of my favorite artists Mary-Jack Studios, “Say Hello to Mr. Wonderful” by Urban Smalls reminds mommy how great you are (even at 3am), and Jelly Cat’s ”Cordy Roy” Collection always makes the perfect shower gift!

Wine and cheese. Peanut butter and chocolate. Tankini’s and motherhood….. PINK and TURQUOISE. You wonder what they ever did without each other !

Between launching our brand new BOUTIQUE collection, building a new house, and getting to re-design my kids rooms… I just can’t get enough of TURQUOISE! And I’m afraid my entire house will reflect it.

Let’s start with my daughters room. I’m OBSESSING with this beautiful wall art from the fabulous artist Susan Brown. Her room in our old house was all about our Modern Vintage Collection, it was perfect, and the nursery I’ve always dreamed about. Purple was my obsession at the time, so the pink and purple bedding combination that the Ava Crib Set brought to the color pallette was the perfect starting point in my design adventure. I took her turquoise chandelier with me b/c I loved it so much (and it totally POPPED against the pink walls)…but I’m going to twist it up a bit with her new bigger-girl (she’s only 2) room! Here’s some of my ideas so far…

That white rose mirror is to DIE FOR, course, so is the price tag. $328. But gosh, it’s almost worth it, isn’t it. Oh Anthro, how I love you so. The cream rose hook is also from my go-to store. As is the white decorative switchplate covers ($18-24) and the turquoise door knob ($42) that was MADE FOR her bathroom door, which connects to her PINK AND TURQUOISE room.  

The pink leopard rose rug is not too bad, and from one of our favorite online retailers www.RosenberryRooms.com! And in case you couldn’t tell in the image… it has a PINK FEATHER BOA BORDER. Am I too old for that in my own room?

The wall art from Susan Brown is a brand new find, and we will be adding it to our store, www.NurseryCouture.com shortly! If you can’t wait – post a comment and we will send you pricing and order information! The art runs between $300-600 depending on size.

Ruffles, ruffles, and more ruffles! The turquoise ruffle curtains, are cheap, cute, and realllly frilly. ($48)

Now on to Cade’s room. Gosh, kind of a buzz kill isn’t it. All that pink, and lace, and roses, and TURQUOISE… if I could just figure out some way to bottle it. Kaaa-ching.

These days it seems that every room shot of a baby’s room (for bedding, furniture, etc) features beatuiful hardwood floors in the nursery!

But let’s be practical here… do we all have hardwood floors in our kids rooms? I don’t know about you, but MOMMY will be getting hard wood floors in her room before

the little rug rats do!

We just wrapped up the the photo shoot for the Boutique Collection, and found this beautiful rug to use in the shoot…. the best part…. it LOOKS like real hard wood floors! The rug is made with a soft foam, and wipes clean.

And for practical mommies like us! How can we resist?

Size: 66″x46″     $148 (a steal of a deal)

Available at: www.UrbanOutfitters.com