Getting the room ready with Kenneth Brown (at BRU)

Look, I don’t really need more baby bedding for this one. I have the PBK sailboat bedding that I still adore from 2003 (which has been used for 2 boys). And I have a gorgeous Skip Hop Vine Floral that’s been sitting around the guest room for over a year in case I should ever have a girl. So when a sample of Kenneth Brown’s Monkey Vine bedding arrived recently, I became surprisingly needy of new boy bedding.

Kenneth Brown is a leading celebrity designer in LA. Currently, he’s designing rooms for Soccer Star Mia Hamm and LA Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Founder’s Room,  The Park Residence in Laguna Beach as well as other high profile clients. But even more important, he has a little one of his own, Harper, and he recently designed her room… so he has a great understanding of nursery design. (Read Brown’s baby room design tips here.)

His new signature line at Babies R Us combines modern shapes, southern colors and a tiny bit of cutesy (Monkey Vine, for example, focuses on  modern coordinating patterns of stripes, dots and vines, but has a super cute monkey popping out every now and then.) The soft sheets and fantastic firmness of the bumper make the entirely reasonably priced crib ensemble one to definitely consider for a baby’s room. I’m so impressed with the craftsmanship, and my kids love the monkey. Yesterday, in the midst of a playdate, 3-year-old decided it was time to get the baby’s room ready, so he found the Monkey Vine bedding and proceeded to open it and take it out. To say nothing of the fact that the crib is still in pieces in the basement, I asked where this bedding would go? He wanted to decorate the guest bed, currently in the future nursery.  Huh. I didn’t know 3-year-olds nest.

On a recent venture to Babies R Us, the boys were on a treasure hunt to “find the monkey”, in-other-words, I wanted to check out the rest of the line. If you’re familiar with Babies R Us’ store design, Kenneth Brown’s selection isn’t found on the “back wall”. Its over by the designer collections and, in the case of the Exton, PA, store, on an end cap. (Speaking of the store, if you need it, its a great time to get lots of baby gear and furiture on sale at BRU Exton right now. They had an over abundance of floor models stuffed into small areas).

That adorable monkey was featured on so many coordinating products you could really go monkey-wild. But it wasn’t in an obnoxious way. The soft yet modern colors and patterns dominated the fabrics, wall-art, and accessories. I’ll soon be adding the wall art, decals and lamp to my “boy” registry–no need to shop around for coordinates when its all so nicely done right in front of you!

Included in  the crib bedding package is a Nursery Design Guide with helpful suggestions from Kenneth Brown. The highlight of this guide, paint suggestions! Because even with my background in design one class in interior design at the local night school, paint suggestions aren’t just a desire for a nesting mom, they’re a splendid relief amongst a great deal of stress and confusion.