Trend Obsession: Black and White

As much as I love all kinds of color, I find myself strongly attracted to bold black and white lately. Maybe after years of putting colors together in endless trend-following combinations, my brain just needs a break. Black and white together are both relaxing in their simplicity, yet exciting with their high-contrast.

It may not be the newest trend, but I am noticing more and more nurseries and products in black and white, lately. It's a look accessible for all - easy to interpret across many subjects. Whether it's geometric lines, triangles, or tribal arrows and cactii - black and white works it's magic. Always a classic in fashion, black and white feels fresh applied to children's products.

And besides, babies only see in black and white, anyways. But we all know the nursery is really for the adults. That's why decorating it is so fun!
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Mostly white, just a little black, feels relaxing but playful:

Cloud Kids Room via Babble: 20 Amazing Kids Rooms

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Layering many different patterns is easy:

Finn's Black and white Woodland Nursery from Project Nursery via Apartment Therapy: 5 Bold Black & White Nurseries

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A bold rug to tie it all together is a no-brainer:

Nursery for a baby boy via ID Home

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Hey, doesn't that pop of green look fresh, too? Hint Hint... I think there's a lot more greeny green on the horizon for nurseries this year, too...

Black and White Nursery by Dayme Walther

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Even PB Kids is on the bandwagon, as they try to appeal to an evolving customer with more modern taste. How fresh and lovely is this?

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Such a beautiful crib, made from FSC-certified maple. So popular the company can't keep up with demand, even at over $1000! Kind of seems like a good DIY project for the rest of us...

Kalon Caravan Crib in Black (also in other colors)

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Some nice finds from BHG - and I can't tell you how many times I've seen this zig zag rug in nurseries:

Black & White Delight from BHG Style Spotters

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Every Modern nursery needs a swiss cross, right? Especially in black and white!

via Decoholic

Stripes, chevrons, dots, crosses, diamonds, triangles, hearts, flowers....What's your favorite modern black and white pattern? 

Nia's Nursery Project

I recently gave birth to my second child, a little girl named Nia. She is now 4 months old, and I've spent about one hour total working on things for Little Pop. I underestimated the amount of free time I would have, as baby #2 is very different from baby #1. Everything but eating, sleeping and bathing have taken a back burner at the moment.

As we <finally> settle into some kind of schedule that <finally> includes more than one hour of sleep per day, and less than 12 hours of crying, I hope to find a little time to share my creative endeavors, once again. 

Meanwhile, I'd like to reveal my big nesting project - Nia's nursery. In the last few months of pregnancy, I found the time and inspiration to redecorate the room. I decided to keep the pastel, beachy, shade of blue (greenish gray tinted aqua) in the room and make it girly by adding peach and pink. The blue color and the fact that I plan to spend lots of time on the nearby beach with her inspired some of the artwork and the happy summer floral fabrics, as well as the shag rug, that feels delicious under bare feet, in the color of beach sand. I also became a little obsessed with flamingos in the process, and I found a great watercolor print as a focal point over the changing station. Best of all, the fabrics and artwork can be easily switched out to give a new look as my little girl grows and changes.

Here is the "guest room" before (all pieces from my son's nursery):

This is the Nursery completed:

This quilt matched the wall color perfectly, and ties together the aqua, pink and peach palette of the room. 

My favorite flamingo is the first thing you see as you enter from the hallway.

A delicate mobile and simple watercolor prints add interest without overwhelming.

A very happy watercolor floral sheet adds pop

An alternative pattern I loved that also ties the color palette together

All in all, these are just things in a room. But I think it's a much more happy and relaxing room now, don't you?

Sources

Crib: Babyletto Hudson 3-in-1 Crib, purchased in 2012 from Albee Baby, but still widely available

Quilt: Laura Ashley "Ainsley" Quilt, Overstock.com (and occasionally Joss & Main)

Changing Pad: Serta Perfect Balance Organic Changing Pad, Amazon.com

Crib Sheets, Changing Pads and Euro Pillow Shams: Sewn from fabric from Fabric.com and Carousel Designs

Curtains: Sewn from White Seersucker and Blackout lining from Fabric.com

Throw Blanket: Quilted coral minky, Century21 store

Drawer Pulls: My Dear Watson Designs on Etsy.com 

Mobile: Sea Shells, Starfish and pearls, custom made (shop has closed, no longer available) Etsy.com

Watercolor Prints: Kelly Bermudez, Etsy.com. Frames from Amazon.com and Ikea.

Wicker Hampers: Set of 2, Overstock.com

Rug: Safavieh "Montreal" Shag Rug, Overstock.com

Lamp: Mix & Match base and shade from Target

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore "Heavenly Blue 709" 

Night Sky Custom Bedding

Organic Duvet Cover, print by Andrea Lauren

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a project for a friend. What happens when you put two pregnant women together with the idea to make a couple bed sheets? An entire nursery bedding design project, that's what!

My friend approached me to help her with custom sheets for her toddler and baby. Having recently moved back to the States from years in Paris, she has a Danish crib/toddler cot from Leander. The Leander is oval, similar to the Stokki, but more of a rounded rectangle oblong shape. The crib (shorter than a standard size) extends into a Junior bed (longer than the standard size toddler bed). This presents a challenge, as there is very little available bedding, if not only plain basic white or natural color (BORING) - and quite costly at that. So her only other option has been Etsy makers for custom bedding. Having recently opened my Etsy shop, she wanted to give me a crack at it before searching.

Although we are not that far apart, she in Manhattan and I in Long Island, this was a long-distance project. She is a busy and prestigious SVP juggling a stressful job, 2-1/2 year old toddler, and a challenging pregnancy. Luckily, I don't have the work struggle, only the almost-3-year old and a difficult pregnancy, but needless to say I have little reason to commute to the city. We did manage to get together once for a playdate and mattress tracing session. 

We started out trading ideas through email and a secret Pinterest board. We hunted for fabrics online, and for theme ideas. She ultimately decided that A) she didn't like any of the available fabrics, and B) if she did like them, they were the wrong color. She found a print on Spoonflower that she liked by a very popular print designer, Andrea Lauren, called Constellation. It was meaningful to her personally - thinking about the night sky, the heavens, and teaching her son about the moon and stars as spiritual symbols. 

Finished Organic Sateen Duvet Cover

The project grew when I asked my friend, "So what blanket or comforter does your son use? and what pillow does he use?" I wanted to make sure everything coordinated. But her answer was, "He doesn't have any, does he need those?" Yes! Of course! He's getting a big boy bed, he needs to sleep like a big boy, and if at first he doesn't use them properly, he will soon. But she couldn't find a comforter or duvet in her color scheme, or toddler size. So we decided on a specific pillow, duvet, and cover using the Constellation print in Teal to match her mod teal / tan / lime room. 

The next issue at hand was the ripped and torn cover she was battling with that came with the mattress. A replacement was needed but hard to find - and what about potty training the toddler who would now be sleeping on it? Would he have accidents that would ruin the foam mattress? My answer, yes, absolutely, every kid will have a wet bed, even if it's once a month. And no matter what you do to prevent the leak, or if you think he's night-trained, there will always be a leak. Mattress protection is needed - yet all I could find online was a little oval pad that reminded me of when I tried putting small lap-pads under my baby's sheets. They shift and wrinkle. We'd need something more tailored for her oblong junior bed - which does not exist.

Fitted oblong waterproof mattress protector with bamboo fleece

Detail of fitted waterproof mattress protector

As I considered a solution for waterproofing the beds, and with the duvet cover swatches on the way, we used our Pinterest inspirations to come up with some original artwork. I sketched by hand and produced color options and print repeats on my computer. Eventually, after some late-night texts and email discussions, I sent off to her a mini catalog to finalize her order. The most challenging part of the project is actually costing everything, and making sure the pricing doesn't get out of control, and then redesigning to bring down costs. I am very good at this part, but unfortunately I can't control the cost of materials or wait for sales when we have specific ideas and a deadline.

Dark Teal Constellation print and original prints colored to match perfectly

Coordinating original cloud moon star print artwork

It's been a 6 week process, but all steps necessary to get good results. One step is crucial, however costly: getting swatches. I ran into an issue where Spoonflower has changed their basic cotton quality to retain color better. I had tried it, since I've had quite an issue with fading and lines in my prints in the past. Upon first touching, and then washing, the scratchy new Basic Cotton "Ultra" fabric we decided it wasn't going to be good enough. The colors were more bold - but the quality suffered.

We switched to a more expensive Kona, but when I got the cloud fabric, the colors didn't contrast, and there were large areas where the ink rubbed off. My iron even turned blue! Whether this was a dud print or the standard, I wasn't taking any chances. Spoonflower helped me quickly with many suggestions and above and beyond service to get it right. Luckily, they let me in on testing new Kona Ultra not yet available to the public, as well as a trial swatch of the Lawn Ultra to compare.

Cloud Moon Star printed on regular Kona Cotton. Hey, where are my aqua clouds? What's up with all that ink that rubbed off? !!!!

These are better! My clouds are back! The new Kona Ultra gets soft when washed AND keeps the color bright.

What simply started as "I need a couple sheets" turned into a full bedding project. End of the day, I set to work gathering materials, printing fabrics and sewing everything from the mattress up. We ended up with 2 tailored waterproof mattress covers using EcoPUL and thick organic flannel, 2 junior bed sheets in 2 prints with pillow cases, 1 baby crib sheet, 1 snap-closure duvet cover with matching 18" throw pillow with cover.

Dining room / Cutting room... big patterns pieces!

Planet Print pillow case

Planet print for sheet, drawn with paintbrush marker (shown before elastic insertion)

Spaced Out Stars pillow case 

Spaced Out Stars fitted sheet with encased elastic

18" Square throw pillow with envelope cover

I am still waiting on the final baby sheet fabric in cloud print to arrive next week, but have sent everything else over so the toddler can get to his big boy bed right away. The baby is due any day now, and he needs time to transition to his new bed before that change happens. It was a fun project, but deadlines no longer loom, so I feel a little refreshed. Maybe I'll even get a nap. 

Update:

Here is the beautiful Cloud Moon Star fabric used for the Leander Baby Cot sheet:

Little Pop Design Blog

Welcome to the Little Pop Design blog.

I've found it quite challenging to keep up with social media for my new business. I'm a stay-at-home mom managing an energetic toddler, designing and making products for my Etsy shop. As if that weren't enough, there's a whole world of social media and marketing that needs to be managed!

Posting links to my products on Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook is pretty painless, but that doesn't really express what the Little Pop brand is all about. Pinterest is a great visual to see what I'm into, but gives no real direction about how I'm interpreting it all. Twitter is great for getting people's attention with hashtags, connecting to other like-minded businesses, and sharing real-time random thoughts. Facebook is an easy way to force-feed posts, and although "friends" are a great way to start networking, they aren't always the desired target audience when you're looking for customers.

I'm starting this blog as a way to share news, information, obsessions AND new products in one place. I'll explain the reasoning behind my Pinterest boards. You will find a snap-shot of my Twitter feed in the side bar (usually product links, stay-at-home mom laments and toddler humor). Blogging is an easy way to write something and blast it out across all platforms of media. So, I think it will be an ideal place to summarize the trends behind my design process, and share information to inspire and inform my potential customers.

I hope you find something interesting and inspiring here in future posts!