best bunnies

Our friends at BuyModernBaby recently posted a collection of best Easter basket bunnies, including the Jellycat bunny (number 4 below) that we sell alongside our Logan range.

This pink bunny is available from our shop for $24…and, if you’re considering choosing our Logan range for your nursery, look out for a special bunny-related offer tomorrow :-)

hipsters revisited

I’m a huge fan of Unhappy Hipsters, as I mentioned here a while back, so I thought i’d revisit the site, and share some of my – appropriately child-focused – recent favorites.

I can’t resist UH’s window on the Dwell-home dwellers’ irrelevant daily activities. Actually, I adore these modernist homes…and, for the record, don’t find “grays” the least bit “grim”.

Looks like fun! Perhaps I could rig-up an indoor swing in our office? These bright homes look like cool places to grow up…aside from the concrete floors and sharp-edged furniture.

I could see an O&L-clad crib slotting into that vacant corner very nicely. Oh, click any of these images to visit the UH post and check out readers’ caption attempts/comments :-)

great green mention

Where did the first quarter of 2012 go?! Anyhow, what better way to kick-off April than with a – small but perfectly formed – mention in O&L favorite, Pregnancy & Newborn?

This is PN Mag’s “green issue” so, unsurprisingly, they’ve featured a ‘green’ O&L product; our George 123 wall art, printed on recycled paper. Look closely, bottom-right of the page.

Visit our shop to check out this wall art and the rest of our George range. Thanks to the lovely folks at PN Mag for their continued support of Olli & Lime. We really appreciate it :-)

olli and lime and twins…again

Back in December, I posted a pic of two matching Billie-clad cribs, thanks to Janet, from Burbank, CA; mom of twins Jake and Cassidy, born in August. Time for more pics.

Janet found Billie a logical choice: “this whole nursery was designed around the Billie bedding. I saw it while I was pregnant and fell in love knowing it was perfect for boy girl twins…orange for the girl, brown for the boy and everything ties together so nicely.”

Janet told me, “the mobiles were made by a friend. They are a string/starch/balloon project that I found online and enlisted her to make and she did an awesome job! The wall art I saw online too, created it in Photoshop, personalized it and had it printed.”

Janet got creative with our fabric crib set bags too – a friend created pillows from them! She says “I’m so thrilled with the quality and the customer service…it’s a rarity nowadays!” She also sent this gorgeous pic of the twins, who are “7 months old now and doing great”.

A big thank you to Janet, for letting us inside her twins’ Billie inspired nursery…for a second time! If you’d like to share your own O&L-themed pictures please email me :-)

happy rohe day

Today’s ‘Google Doodle’ jumped out at me; German-American architect Mies van der Rohe would be 126 today. I couldn’t resist sharing two of my favorite VDR contributions.

First-up, the stunning Seagram Building, 375 Park Avenue, NYC. Almost inconceivably completed in 1958…yet it still ‘out-moderns’ many of today’s ultra-modern skyscrapers.

Next, the Barcelona Chair, created for the 1929 International Exposition, Spain. These iconic chairs seem to pop up everywhere, including past Olli & Lime product photography.

If you’re not familiar with Mies van der Rohe’s work, it’s worth making time to find out more about this extremely influential, visionary 20th Century architect and designer :-)

olli and lime and kathy

A customer post now, courtesy of Kathy, who lives in Redmond, WA, a suburb of Seattle. Kathy kindly shared pics of her Logan nursery, created for her soon-to-be-born baby girl.

Kathy’s first child is due mid-April and she’s ready: “I know the nursery is done early. I am such a planner, I couldn’t resist putting it all together early. Now it’s the waiting game!”

“I researched bedding a lot. I always liked Olli & Lime design for the simplicity and neutral colors. I was looking for something modern without a theme that was made of soft and durable material. That limits the choice to approximately 2-3 brands out there.”

“Olli & Lime got me with the ‘no bumper’ option. It annoyed me to pay for something I wasn’t planning on using. When I saw the Logan design late last year, I knew I had a winner. It was modern, girly yet understated and could be used for a toddler as well.”

“The crib and the glider are my favorite two items. I simply love the design of the crib [Oeuf half price: Craigslist]. It is modern and classic at the same time. Very light, lower than most other cribs, making it easier to take baby in and out and it is a space saver.”

“Though the mattress is standard size, it’s so well designed that it takes less space than others I looked at. All my friends who have kids notice that it looks small. It is awesome. The fact it was totally out of our budget and we ended up finding such a deal probably makes me love it even more!” As you may have noticed, this crib is an O&L favorite too!

And we’re also big fans of this Monte Design Grano Reclining Glider in white leather. Kathy says, ”this was our splurge! And we don’t regret it. I already spent hours reading in there. It is so comfortable. I can see myself spending quite a few nights here”.

“The chair is just so comfortable! It is my husband’s favorite! We are already looking forward to moving it to the living room. I think we’ll be fighting over who gets to sit in it…hopefully, he’ll fight over who does the night shifts too!” That may be wishful thinking!

The knitted graphite pouf in front of the glider is another Olli & Lime favorite, from CB2. She says “it is the perfect height for the chair and also perfect to sit on to play with the little one.” Kathy got creative with the window mobile, making it from knitting hoops.

The wall art is a discontinued Dwell Studio range, which Kathy found at a local store in a sell out. She says, “I’m an online bargain shopper but when I saw these in store, at such a great price, I knew it was the right fit! Once again, starting early paid off!”.

Kathy supplemented the nursery with other great shopping finds from IKEA, including the dresser, STUVIA closet organization and a very cool 19″ ceiling lamp. She found the side table at Kasala and bought the boxes and basket at Target a few years back.

Kathy says, “a big thank you to Karen and the Olli & Lime team for a great consumer service. To me, consumer service makes a big difference. Olli & Lime has it all. Good product, great design and out of the chart service. Hats off to you!” Thank you Kathy! :-)

selling out

No, we’re not selling out, our Logan crib bedding is. We’ve had to mark our three and four-piece crib sets temporarily out of stock. We just can’t make them fast enough, sorry!

But don’t fear, we have plenty more on the way. And you can still place your order, for shipping as soon as they arrive; likely by the end of April. Watch our site for updates :-)

design within reach

There’s (almost) nothing we enjoy more than casually wandering around home/design stores on a sunny afternoon…so that’s just what we did on Sunday, in nearby Cambridge.

Amongst our stops, Design Within Reach, a chain with almost fifty stores across the US. I’ve mentioned the Boston store before. Anyhow, no two ways about it, we love DWR.

And what’s not to love? Everything is made by approved manufacturers, like Knoll, Herman Miller and Carl Hansen. We’ve been burned by poorly made replicas before, so this is key.

Though good value, ironically, DWR is still out of reach for many of us. This is a problem, as the stores are stuffed with pieces you simply need to have, if you know what I mean.

Case in point, the Hans Wegner Shell Chair above. We didn’t buy it on Sunday – despite the current sale – but I’ve been eyeing it for some time, and it will be mine…eventually.

So, a warning: be prepared to fall in love…if this is your ‘thing’, of course. Whether a wall clock, sofa, lamp or lounger, something will catch your eye…and by then it’s too late :-)

spot the shamrock

To honor St. Patrick’s Day, we’ve taken 25% off some suitably green George accessories. Each can be identified on our George page by the presence of a conspicuous shamrock.

Just spot ‘shamrock-friendly products’ on our George page, add to cart and enter code “paddy” at checkout. The discount will only be applied to products carrying a shamrock :-)

pinterest

Barring an extended moon vacation, you’ll know about Pinterest, the lastest social media craze to go mainstream. The buzz is such that I had to climb on-board…pardon the pun.

So I did, which demands you first request an invite; no doubt designed to inject a measure of prestige and anticipation. Anyhow, with registration complete, I’m free to start ‘pinning’.

First though, a bit of browsing. There are boards on everything imaginable; great for choosing products to fit with your color theme, or pieces from a certain period or style.

Hmmm…I could lose a lot of time here. Desperately trying to focus, I ran a search for any O&L mentions. Happily, there are lots, as shown in the Pinterest search results below…

Fantastic that people are already ‘pinning’ O&L products. Now I need to figure out exactly how I’m going to use it, while navigating the vast sea of distraction that is Pinterest!

Update since posting: I’ve started by using our ‘get the look’ series as inspiration. You can now view boards for our Logan, George and Billie ranges via our Pinterest page :-)