Cradle and all: Parents going gaga over accessories for babies’ nurseries

Kimberley McGee

Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Fluffy stuffed animals, comfy chairs and cushy cribs are what typical children's nurseries are made of.

But today's parents are also turning the nursery into a family affair by creating a whimsical room with which to greet the baby on arrival.

Mothers- and fathers-to-be are rolling up their shirt sleeves to paint nurseries with custom designs, buying luxurious silks and other fabrics for drapery treatments and hiring interior designers to create nurseries that are more than just a room, but also a token of their love.

It's not hard to see that Ladan Daneshmand's hand-painted nursery in her Summerlin home was a labor of love for her 8-month-old daughter, Darya.

Daneshmand used hard work and imagination to create a room she describes as "a little piece of heaven."

"It was an emotional experience," Daneshmand said. "It did a lot for getting us ready for her arrival."

Daneshmand and her husband, Said, spent three months preparing for Darya's arrival.

Six months into her pregnancy her first Daneshmand took a good look at the plain, white walls of the nursery. It didn't reflect the strong emotions she felt for her unborn child.

"We wanted to create a most serene environment that was fantasy-like for her," Daneshmand said.

They used soft, soothing colors, Daneshmand said, mixed with a bit of surrealism.

The walls were painted with nine different glazes to create a faux-greenery background. They hired Donna Zale of Stencil Faux You to paint a woodsy scene with trees, a cottage and birds. The Daneshmands attached miniature birdhouses to the walls.

Darya's favorite stuffed animals greet her each time her diaper is changed on the changing table, which can be converted to a dresser when she is older.

An adult-sized armoire holds Darya's tiny gingham skirts and ruffled shirts, but will eventually become an entertainment center for Darya, or her future siblings.

"It was the most incredible nesting experience," Daneshmand said of designing the nursery. "There is nothing I could think of doing that would give me more pleasure."

Time for change

Winnie the Pooh has been gently pushed aside for more sophisticated tastes in the nursery, said Jana Dagerman, who, with husband Jim, is co-owner of the Dagermans Just for Kids store at 2370 S. Rainbow Blvd.

"(Customers) are staying away from character themes," Dagerman said. "There are so many more choices and designs that they can custom-make themselves."

And they do.

Parents often order the usual baby furniture -- a crib, changing table, dresser -- but with a twist.

These days many cribs, which sell for approximately $600, can be converted into twin- and double-beds so that the furniture can grow with the child.

"You don't want to look like anybody else's nursery anymore," Dagerman said. "They come in and know what they want and they want to be original. They will search until they find exactly what they are looking for."

A high-end baby accessory designer who parents seem to gravitate toward is Wendy Bellissimo. The designer's colors are simple and the style sophisticated, Dagerman said.

From her showroom in Los Angeles, Bellissimo has designed baby bedding for Kelly Ripa, co-host of the syndicated "Live With Regis and Kelly" TV show; actress Camryn Manheim of ABC's "The Practice"; and Lisa Ann Walter, co-star of NBC's new fall sitcom "Emeril."

"It's the calmest, most beautiful room and takes in the personality of us -- the parents -- and our twins," Walter told the Los Angeles Daily News about her children's nursery.

That's exactly what the Dagermans set out to do when they opened their business 16 years ago after the birth of their twin boys.

At the time, the Dagerman's store was, to the couple's knowledge, the only baby boutique in Las Vegas. Today there are a half-dozen, as the trend toward original nursery designs grows.

Gloria Hunt, manager for Bellini in Summerlin, said that parents want the nursery to fit with the decor of the rest of the home, but with a childlike whimsy.

The owners of Bellini will move their store next month to a larger space at the Boca Park shopping center at West Charleston and Rampart boulevards.

"Everyone is going real, real chic," Hunt said. "There's just not a lot of (traditional) baby ... looks."

Animal prints are out; toile (pronounced twal) -- a sheer, linen fabric -- is in.

"It's very antique," Hunt said. "It looks like your grandmother's china."

Hand-painted murals are also popular, for their sentimental value. The paintings can represent the parents' feelings for the child, and no two murals are exactly alike. Most parents opt for cherubs and trees, Hunt said, and other fantasy scenes.

"This is for you," Hunt said of parents' decorating ideas. "The child, as an infant, does not know an animal print (from) a toile print. People are seeing that later on, the child will let them know what they want."

Today's typical nursery purchases total between $3,000-$3,800, Hunt said. When she first began to work for a Bellini outlet in Chicago in 1988, parents were spending approximately half of that.

"People want a more sophisticated nursery," Hunt said. "Parents spend triple on the nursery than what they do elsewhere" in the home.

When Hunt began her career in nursery design more than 10 years ago, slick baby furniture was the norm. But that fad was outgrown by 1990 when real-wood furniture that appealed to adult tastes became stylish.

Tim Kain has been a senior designer since 1989 for Panache Interior Designs, a home and commercial interior design store. He has noticed an increase in nursery decorations in recent years.

He has decorated five nurseries in the past few years. Clients ask for a look that is special, more whimsical and upscale, he said.

"There's a lot of fantasy involved," Kain said.

The fun begins in the thousands of dollars and can -- and has -- totaled more than $15,000.

He recently designed nurseries with a dream-cloud theme and a newborn girl's room as a garden tea party with wrought-iron accents.

Clients are also using lots of fabrics, such as imported silks from France.

"There are things that in the past 10 years I haven't seen being used," Kain said. "They are having fun with the room."

Feathering the nest

Decorating the nursery has become a family affair.

Daneshmand's cousins, aunts, friends and extended family joined in the creation of the nursery. They brought their tools and talents to paint and decorate.

The crown molding around the ceiling was painted by Daneshmand and her sister-in-law. The two women's handiwork can be seen in the different coloring of the painted molding.

Each time Daneshmand looks up she notices the handiwork of a family member.

Home Depot became a frequent stop during the creation of the nursery. Daneshmand chose picket fencing for a wall in the room to give a cottage feel.

"I can't wait to do it again," she said. "I want the other (future children) to feel they are as equally treated."

After all the work, she realized her capabilities as a designer. She has widened her horizons and begun to stencil the walls of the nursery's adjoining bathroom.

"An equally lovely environment can be done with much less (money)," Daneshmand said. "It's not that difficult to do."

When Mishaun Estes of Las Vegas learned that she was expecting her first baby, son Talon, she didn't want a typical nursery with bows and teddy bears.

A former interior designer, Estes decided to decorate the room herself. She recruited her husband, Brad, to assist in the project. Together they searched out their ideal designs for the room and bonded with their unborn child.

"I can't think of one thing we didn't buy for the nursery," she said. "We (got) to know the baby without the baby being here."

The Esteses spent nearly $9,000 on the room, which includes silky fabrics, pillows and sophisticated furniture.

"It's definitely worth it," Estes said. "You can't put a price tag on what our baby means to us. We wanted to do it the right way."

Estes custom painted the walls from ideas she gleaned from the glossy pages of magazines.

She designed a harlequin pattern for the room's theme, and each item in the room coincides with her color scheme -- eggplant, sage green and a bright yellow.

The large crib, which can be converted into a toddler's bed in a few years, and custom bedding was ordered from Dagermans to match the color scheme.

"We wanted it to be more elegant and less cutesy," Estes said.

The Esteses figure that when Talon, who was born last week, is old enough he will choose his decorating preference. In the meantime the room is for the family to play and read bedtime stories in as well as enjoy their new arrival.

"We are going to spend the majority of our time in there, and the baby can care less," Estes said.

She said her expectant friends are also furnishing their nurseries with fluffy fabrics and chic accoutrements.

"This is a way to be able to give a gift of yourself and your time to your baby," Estes said. "My husband and I have had a fabulous time."

archive