Last week we visited Saratoga Springs, NY for my son’s crewing regatta, as well as a visit with family.

You can see why Travel and Leisure magazine  calls Saratoga one of America’s greatest main streets. It is just beautiful and filled with interesting small business boutiques.

One very inspiring shop was the Saratoga Turkish Bazaar. It is filled with color and style.

These slightly sparkly light fixtures would add ambiance to a Bohemian baby’s nursery. They are a great alternative to the much used chandelier.

Use the lights as inspiration and build the room. Elizabeth Allen crib bedding works perfectly and is just beautiful.

A great Moroccan pouf for baby.

We could add a little more contemporary furniture, that still has more eastern design elements..

All products can be found at Cici Crib Main Street store. Find your design inspiration and build on it!

See you..

Christina

These beautiful pillows are custom made for Cici Crib in the most beautiful hand dyed cowhide. It is an heirloom pillow that can work in a luxurious baby’s nursery to a super chic tween  bedroom. Or a nice splurge for a master bedroom or living room.

Our sample for the shop..

See more about them in our online shop at http://www.cicicrib.com/browse.cfm/monogrammed-cow-hide-pillow/4,447.html.

See you,

Christina

Crystal boudoir lamps were very popular from the 1940s-1960s.  They can be  the perfect touch for a little girl’s bedroom. They make some reproductions today, which for the most part are made of plastic. The vintage lamps are twinkling crystal. At Cici Crib they make a transformation from dusty, rusty lamps to beautiful table lamps. I take the lamps apart, replace old pieces and CLEAN them. Then they are sent out to be rewired.

Finding the correct shade is a whole other story. The lamp bases are too big for chandelier shades and too small for most lamp shades. Eventually we find the correct drop and have them custom banded in pretty colors.  Tons of time and love are put in before they reach their final destination.

The lamp below is trimmed in one of the most beautiful calm lavender  linen from Rogers and Goffigon. It is going into a nursery that  I will photograph shortly.

See you..

Christina

A few weeks ago, Blauen invited me to visit their atelier.  So fun to peak behind the scenes of my vendors. Blauen is an old world baby bedding company. With European roots, it is perhaps the most luxurious and fine baby bedding company that this world offers.  It is known for a very, very  traditional look  that is often times embellished in fancy lace and trims.

Located in Long Island City, amidst the many warehouses and art studios, Blauen’s home is sun filled and clean. Every item is lovingly made by seamstresses that have worked there for many years. It is so wonderful and unusual to see how proud the employees are of their products.

Boxes of trims and laces are nicely organized and are ready to use…

I saw many finished products…

I wanted to design a crib set for the shop in a way that was alittle more modern. I wanted to use Blauen’s sensibility and update it a bit. So I picked some fabrics for inspiration and thanked the lovely people.

The bedding arrived and it is just beautiful!

So lovely!

See you…

Christina

It is true that our tastes change over time. I am seeing more clients that would like to refresh their current, relatively newly decorated rooms. The rooms are currently traditional, but they would like to make them more transitional. Add more modern. Give the room lightness. Add something that is unexpected. Ok the last sentence is my theory.  My current client has a little girl that is growing out of her crib. The nursery was very traditional. We will have to keep some of the furniture from the nursery.  Her  crib bedding, named Greta,  was from Serena and Lily. All very lovely.

The pink in the Greta bedding is a bit dusty. It is a tough pink to work with, since it is hard to find complementary pink fabrics.  The old decorator made a valance out of the same damask pink fabric and the walls are also the same pink. Lots of pink!

Realizing how difficult the pink was to match, the mom bought the complimentary sheets for the big girl bed in the same Serena and Lily pattern.  Called Gracie, Serena and Lily has since discontinued it.

So now, my job is to change the nursery into a little girl’s bedroom  and add a modern feel to the space. So lucky that this Gracie bedding  can easily harmonize  with some modern elements.   The mom also  bought this fun Andy Warhol print that we will use as inspiration.

For the bed, I would like to do a high headboard upholstered in white faux patent leather.

I found these pillows at the last gift show that will add a little sparkle to the bedding. They are so delicate and sweet. From one of my favorite companies, Sivaana.

At the end of the bed I would like to put this upholstered  brown and white linen storage bench .

We will keep the nightstand.

I found a crazy fun lamp to put on it.  We may change out the shade.  But how fun is it!

We will keep the simple white dresser

And add this mirror.

A nice bookshelf is needed…

A loveseat will sit underneath the Warhol with a very cool fixture

I wish I could blink and it would be done. How easy that would be….

See you…

Christina

Tina, big helper at Cici Crib, sent me these photos this morning. Done by a computer specialist mom from Helsinki, Finland. She sets up shots while her daughter is sleeping.  She has created a blog, Mila’s Daydreams.  Makes you smile…

See you…

Christina

As far as children’s rooms go, we are oh so familiar with clouds on the ceiling. Whether they are painted or wallpaper, it seems like we see it quite often.   But what if we just chose beautiful wallpaper to line the ceiling. How nice…

House of Turquoise

Nursery  by Rhoney Design. I so love this sweet home for baby…

Girls bedroom by David Cafiero…

Then there is Miles Redd, oh so chic constellation ceiling.Ok maybe this isn’t wall paper, but so inspiring…

See you…

Christina

I found these brushed aluminum letters at a flea market not long ago. They are quite large.  The dealer told me they came from  an old car dealership. The letter A went into a little boy’s bedroom. We mounted the A on top of a large aluminum framed bulliten board. I still have the letters F and C. I wish I had more. The font is so simple and clean..

Collecting letters and putting them up thoughtfully can be a really fun way of decorating a nursery.

Shabby chic letters in a shabby chic nursery…

You don’t need an entire alphabet to make an interesting statement. Just begin by collecting the odd letter at a flea market and look what you can create…

This is one of my favorites…

This is no ordinary mural in this modern nursery…

At Cici Crib, Binth’s alphabet poster is oh so stylish.

This print has alphabet whimsy..

Crib bedding with an alphabet pattern.

Many different alphabet directions.

See you..

Christina

I would say one of the nicest parts of my job is meeting some really good people.  I remember the first time Bari  made her way into Cici Crib. Her smile filled her entire face as she talked about the upcoming birth of her daughter, Leryn.  We discussed many details of the nursery.  After months of planning and waiting, the moment finally came. Leryn arrived in early July.  It’ s so nice to see good things happening to good people.

Bari wanted the nursery to have a bit of a bohemian feel. Very soft and relaxed.  Perfect for baby. The bedding completely inspired her. It is by Elizabeth Allen.

A petite chandelier was needed in this cozy little nook.

Storage bins from Macbeth were purchased from Bari’s registry at Cici Crib.

The artwork is from Oopsy Daisy.

Birdies and butterflies are delicately painted  through out  the room  The inspiration was taken from the bedding, as well as the artwork.

A lovely nightlight fits right in.

And, of coarse, a vintage pin caddy that came from Bari’s nursery when she was a baby.

Thanks Bari for sharing your daughter’s lovely space.

See you..

Christina

The boys came home from camp with piles of dirty, stinky laundry and stories. Oh boy  the stories. Justin, my oldest says camp was soul revealing.  There is always something so calm and zen about him. Fiery James, says no way.  He goes on to tell me he received a formal behavioral warning for climbing on the roof of the dorm and pouring a bucket of water on a counselor. It was an act of retaliation for a super soaker incident that happened 4 years ago when the counselor was a camper. My  2 boys are polar opposites.

The house was tidy and neat when they were gone . Now it is back to normal. The kitchen counter is full with ipods and books and hats and sunglasses. Sneakers and jackets all over. Messy again. All of sudden I was reminded of the few vintage items I found at the flea market recently. A sweet little doll,  from the 1940′s and a 1950′s picture created by Johnson and Johnson “dedicated to mothers and fathers of America.”

Ok so the poem is a bit corny, but how the house so changes when the children are around.

So there are no more diapers, but loads of t-shirts and shorts.  Baby cereal is replaced with Lucky Charms. Beautiful cribs are replaced with messy beds. The red faced cherub is now a teenager sleeping until noon. But the feeling of having them home is the same,  joy  and heartwarming. My oldest will begin his junior year of high school this fall.  Time at home is fleeting . Enjoy every moment…

See you…

Christina