OK, so I admit I am a complete sucker for pretty things. My wife and I have been looking for a cute diaper bag that I would feel comfortable toting around for a long time now. We have found a couple online that are quite nice, but I could never justify paying $150 for a bag. Yesterday we went to a local chic baby store called Babinski’s and they had a bunch of Petunia Pickle Bottom bags. There was one in particular, the “Medow Lark” with its hand-woven tweed-blue/green herringbone design that I absolutely loved, and I made the mistake of looking at all the features and falling in love with it before I looked at the price. By then it was too late, and we walked out having spent $150 on a diaper bag. In hindsight, I have to admit, I don’t regret a thing. The bag is totally sweet.

Available from babypetunia for $158.
Or for the locals, at Babinski’s for $155.

The huge amount of baby equipment that people want you to buy is almost overwhelming. There are things that are nice to have and there are things that you really need. In an attempt to cover some of the basics we figure that we at least need a car seat to get the kid home, and a place for them to sleep when they get home. I am torn between making my own crib, or just getting one from Ikea, but in the interim we got a playard so our bases would be covered. We chose the Combi Sport Desert Sun. It offers all the basic playard goodies including changing table, bassinet, light/vibration, and awful music. The colors on it are quite nice, neutral with a touch of modern. The lines are relatively clean without too much frilly stuff, and the construction is solid. It came in the mail yesterday, and we practiced setting it all up and taking it all down. It looked simple enough, but I admit after 5 minutes of flailing I did have to break out the instructions.

Available from Amazon for $89.

I may have mentioned it before, but my wife and I have been looking for a duvet for a while now. We have been using a off white one that we got from Ikea before we were married, and it’s starting to look a little blah. There are of course plenty of duvets out there that we love, just not a whole lot of affordable modern duvets. If you are faced with the same dilemma, check out the Circle in Square Duvet that is on clearance over at Room and Board. Not only is it pretty sweet, but it is only $49! Thats the best deal I think I have ever seen. They also have some sweet sheets on sale for $18 per sheet too.

Available from Room and Board for $49.

Via Shelterrific

Exclusively from CB2, these hand-blocked screen printed pillows have bright prints of poppy’s and stripes. Printed on 100% easy-care cotton, and stuffed with a feather insert, these pillows not only look good, but are probably nice and squishy too. The covers are even removable and machine washable for when that inevitable accident happens. The best thing about them though, is the price. The 18″ square pillow is only $25, which is a total steal compared to other modern accent pillows. It’s good to see CB2 making a nice affordable modern pillow for the people.

Available at CB2 for $25.

Furni has been a long time favorite of ours here at Grassrootsmodern. Not only do they make some sweet looking stuff, but they also happen to be some of the nicest guys around. They have a couple of products new for 2007, my favorite of which is the Alba clock shown here. In classic Furni style, this functional alarm clock combines a clean acrylic white face, nice detail woodworking, and a retro red LED clock.

Available from Furni for $88.

Here is some more great mid-century modern love for all of you. This time it comes courtesy of an old favorite, Urban Outfitters. This simple side table has the look of a classic danish wenge piece of art, but at a price that won’t break the bank. It doesn’t appear that it is actually a solid wood piece, but laminated MDF stained chocolate. I would love to see it in person, but unfortunately it is available online only. The good thing is it is only $120 plus $15 shipping.

Available from Urban Outfitters for $120

If you are a big retro modern fan, you know just how cool wallpaper used to be. Back in the day there were all sorts of flavorful designs that ended up on peoples walls. Smitten Kitten, a Canadian based company is bringing back all that groovy love, but in a very tasteful way. They have great vintage wallpaper journals and notebooks, that feature an array of classic floral and geometric retro prints. Make sure you check out the website to see all the great prints, and to check out the purses and jewelry too.

Available from Smitten Kitten for $20 CAD.

I’ve been a long time fan of Modest Mouse, and have almost all of their albums. They recently released a new one that I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to yet. It’s called “We were dead before the ship even sank”. I was wondering if there were any other Modest Mouse fans out there who had listened to it, and could give some feedback if it’s worth buying or not?

Modest Mouse – New Album – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank – Download It Now at iTunes

Part of Todd Oldhams La-Z-Boy collection the Snap Coffee Table has a nice blend of Mid-Century flair and clean simple modernism. The Snap table has four storage cubbies in its walnut wrapped top, and is suspended on four nickel finished hairpin legs. This table used to be at Target for $359, but is now out of stock there, and it has shown up at Overstock.com for $149, which is a screaming good deal. I’m starting to think that if I am patient enough, I can find almost all my furniture at overstock.

Available from Overstock.com for $149.

Last Wednesday I got a call from our local Alumanline saying that our windows had arrived. They were nice enough to make some special arrangements to have them delivered on Friday so that I could put them in over the weekend. Unfortunately I found out on Friday that the glass sliders hadn’t arrived yet. Saturday my Father and Brother in Law came down from Cache Valley to help out. Putting the windows in was a real breeze, I think it took us about 4 hours to get all 9 windows cut out, flashed and installed. It’s amazing to see how much light the let in. I can’t wait to get the sliders in, and the back door.

I’ll give exact numbers later, but the cost for two glass sliders, 9 windows and two skylights was about $7,500. Definitely one of the bigger expenses in the whole project, but so worth it.

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