The folks at Nurseryworks have been busy, and at ABC Kids Expo, they introduced two new cribs to bracket their existing offering: one's cheap reasonable, and one's really expensive yeah, it's expensive, but it's also a modular miracle.
Both cribs were by Jennifer Carpenter, whose Truck Product Architecture was spun off from Rogers+Marvel architects, and who's also produced designs with/through Offi. [All this small design world-ism, no wonder cribs are on everyone's mind.]
First the loom crib, which features unusual, asymmetrically placed slats, looks so nice, it's hard to believe that it's under $600. But it is. At least with all white. For the slightly bamboo-ish catalpa hardwood version shown here, it's $650. That's almost $300 less expensive than NW's original platform crib. Pretty remarkable.
Also debuting was the studio crib, a sleek, asymmetrical platform bed made from bold-grained zebra mozambique wood. Balk at the $1780 price tag, but then relax a bit: the studio has a built-in, fold-down changing table and diaper station on one end, with additional storage underneath it. Plus, when the drawer-equipped pedestal base and the front edge of the changing table are removed, the thing becomes a toddler bed with a built-in desk.
It's really two dozen pieces of furniture in one, and if each piece cost, say, $600, well, you do the math. You'd be saving a bundle. Practically speaking, about 18 of those convertible options aren't that important--including, for me, anyway, a daybed [seriously, does having a kid create a sudden imperative for daybeds that kid-free-dom lacks?] But even so, the studio looks like it's got the core functions-- crib/changing/storage/ toddler bed/desk down cold.
So if you're not too daunted by a bigger upfront cost, the potential for future furniture purchase avoidance seems real. The cribs are due to drop in January and November, respectively, I believe.
For all the dazzling cribs, though, my favorite find in the Nurseryworks booth was this awesome little finish sample cube. Apparently, the colors, patterns, and slat shapes offered on Nurseryworks' line can be a bit hard to visualize, so they made up these cubes for retailers. Very cool, and of course, not for sale.
Nurseryworks is available in several places, like Modernseed and DT advertiser Sparkability.
