It’s a fact of life—your baby will go through many, many diaper changes. Whether you opt for disposables or cloth, those stinky diapers have to go somewhere. Meet Ubbi, the sleek and modern pail perfect for disguising what’s really inside with its good looks. One lucky Project Nursery reader will win an Ubbi Diaper Pail in your choice of color.

The Ubbi diaper pail is made of steel, which keeps it from absorbing smells and stinking up your nursery. True story, I’ve had my Ubbi diaper pail tucked discreetly in my living room for a year, and I’ve never smelled a dirty diaper odor other than when changing the bag. The absolute best part about the Ubbi? It doesn’t require any special, expensive liners. You simply put a regular garbage bag inside. Or if you’re using cloth diapers, you can use a cloth bag if you prefer.

The Ubbi comes in eleven fun colors, including the newly released pistachio above. Which color would you choose?

WIN IT! One Project Nursery reader will win an Ubbi Diaper Pail in your choice of color (restricted to US residents only).

This is our interview series where we bring you the nurseries and kid rooms of successful designers, entrepreneurs and moms. Through this series, our featured guests will divulge some of their design secrets and share stories of how their nurseries came to be.

Say hello to stylist Christina Loucks of Atlanta, GA. Christina is a stylist and lifestyle expert at Christina Loucks Designs and blogger at christinaloucks.com and neutral hue. Her company, neutral hue, is a side-by-side lifestyle blog showcasing her love for chic and clean city-like neutrals. Christina mostly focuses on girls design. Her business partner Ashley, who we’ll be seeing as part of this series in the near future, favors a rustic, classic and country tone, which provides a unique juxtaposition for the site. Ashley covers design for boys.

Not only do these gals love all things neutral, but both became moms only months apart. Today Christina introduces us to the clean and city-like side of neutral hue as she lets us into her baby girl Mila’s home nursery.

What was in your mind when you started to create this amazing space?

There were three things. I wanted the space to be happy and uncluttered, allowing the creative mind to grow. Second, I wanted the space to be one that would grow with Mila. I bought a crib that grows into a toddler bed and wanted the room design to do so as well. With a neutral background and good quality furniture pieces, things can easily be switched out using accessories. That will allow space to grow without too much design change. The third thing I wanted to accomplish was designing a space that would merge seamlessly with the rest of the home’s design.

Many parents find it challenging to incorporate gifts and heirlooms into a space. Did you have any unexpected obstacles with your minimalist approach when creating this room? 

Mila was given the hand-made wooden rocking horse that was mine as a child. The horse is a very large scale for the space, but it is so sweet how much she loves rocking on it. The memories far outweigh the fact that the scale is too large.

Do you have any words of advice for other designers and parents?

A pretty nursery is great, but functionality is a necessity, and they both can be paired as one. Ask friends what worked for them. The last thing you want is a wiggly baby during a diaper change and diapers across the room. Also, invest in a great glider. It was a challenge finding one that has the clean lines I so adore as well as one with comfort, but I did. You spend an unimaginable amount of time in that chair. Every penny you spend is worth it.

Photo Credit: Amber Fouts

Do you know of a fantastic nursery or big kid’s room designed by a successful designer or business owner? Please send a photo of the room to Adrienne@ProjectNursery.com for consideration.

Baby showers are in full effect, and because I always think it’s hard to choose an original gift that is also memorable and useful, I’m sharing some of my favorite gift ideas. Mothers love to photograph their baby each month for at least the first year. These darling neutral monthly onesies are perfect for this! In fun colors, they are work for either a baby girl or boy.

A baby’s ultrasound is the first picture parents have of their precious miracle. I love these ultrasound canvas art prints—they make a great keepsake and nursery decor.

These take baby booties to the next level. How darling are these posh flowered baby shoes?

Help the mommy- and daddy-to-be celebrate where their little family has come from with this darling personalized art print that depicts the place where mommy and daddy were born and where baby will be born.

Lastly, diaper cakes are so much fun, but why not make it into a floral diaper bouquet instead?

What’s your favorite go-to baby shower gift? Or what was the favorite gift you received?

It’s time to reveal the exciting urban redesign for blogger, Brianne Manz of Stroller in the City! Check out her “before” post, and we think you’ll agree that her three kids will be very happy in this bright and modern new space.

I am so excited to finally reveal the much-anticipated Project Nursery “Three Kids in One Room” project. The brilliant Melisa Fluhr, co-founder of Project Nursery, initially suggested I move away from dark wood furniture since the room was on the smaller side. At first, I had concerns that it wouldn’t match the rest of the apartment, but having seen the results, I couldn’t be happier that we went that direction.

To start, we used our favorite pieces of furniture—the numi numi design crib and changing table from the Funky Forest Collection—as our inspiration and building blocks for the entire project. numi numi design uses a modern approach to children’s furniture. Understanding that children tend to outgrow their furniture quickly, they have crafted long-lasting, eco-friendly and sustainable pieces, which are adjustable as your child sprouts. I just love how numi numi design founder, Lior Schapiro, isn’t afraid of exploring new ideas about the form and texture of children’s furniture.

They believe that children’s furniture should be sensory-rich, comfortable, well organized, environmentally friendly, modern, and most importantly, encourage curiosity. The changing table has a mercury-free LED light, making nighttime changes much easier.

Another key furniture piece we selected was my beloved Oeuf Bunk Bed, which I’ve been eying since my oldest was still in a crib. After lots of research and consideration, it was easy to see this bunk is the most sleek and compact on the market—a major factor in our selection process. My two older kids simply adore their bunk, which makes bedtime these days way easier; not to mention that the birch bunk bed matched my numi numi pieces perfectly.

Since the kids’ room was cordoned off from a larger room, there are no closets, which created the need for a piece to house all their clothing. The slim STUVA dresser from Ikea fit our space perfectly and still allowed for lots of storage. Bedding for the numi numi crib and changer are from Dwell Studio’s Meadow Nursery Collection. The Meadow bedding had the perfect mix of colors for a unisex room.

For bedding the Oeuf Bunk, we kept it simple with white comforters but added some color with decorative pillows from The Land of Nod for my son and daughter.

Some of the most unique characteristics of the room transformation are the wall decals from The Wall Decors. One wall behind the bed features bold grey birch trees, nesting beautiful gold birds. These decals add a touch of calm but also add texture to the wall.

A simple white deer head and birdcage from the Tamar Mogendorff collection are some of the wall art accompanying the birch trees.

For the rug, we wanted to show off the parquet floors, so we decided on Elks and Angels‘ white shorn rugs from Australia, which can double as a baby’s playmat.

Small details such as bird hooks from The Land of Nod and a Serena & Lily Senegalese Storage Basket complete the room.

Overall, I am beyond thrilled with the way the room turned out, and I cannot thank Project Nursery enough for all of their input and fabulous ideas, which turned a potentially stressful situation into an exciting, fun-filled experience. Now we are just waiting on our new addition, and we will be complete!

Photos by Ilan Klein Photography

Update: Brianne welcomed daughter Gemma Kingsley Skye on March 30, 2013. Congrats to the entire Manz family!

Nothing can beat custom window treatments to finish out a room, but not everyone has a budget for custom design.

If you like the look of the rugby window treatments above used in this boys’ room by Liz Carroll Interiors, then you can get a similar look with the new Rugby Blackout Panels from Pottery Barn Kids shown below.

I saw these in person this week and was impressed with the quality. I even think they would look stellar as a shower curtain in a nautical-inspired bathroom.

When helping new parents design their nursery, one of my best tips is: Let it grow with the baby! We spend nine months planning the perfect nursery for our bundle of joy, and as all parents can attest, they grow out of it oh-so quickly. Now, by no means am I saying to skimp on the nursery. In my opinion, it should be your favorite room in the house, but if you want to stretch your dollar as far as it can go, design with the big kid room in mind. You can thank me later.

When we started Caden Lane bedding years ago, we didn’t have big kid bedding to coordinate. We were constantly getting requests for it, and it wasn’t until my first was old enough to grow out of his crib that I realized why we had so many requests. You decorate your entire nursery around your crib bedding, then BAM, you’re faced with Batman and Barbie themed bedding at age two (see my old post on themed sheets).

My older daughter has our Boutique bedding in her big girl room now, and every piece of the decor translated so perfectly from her crib to her bed.

So, as our company grew, so did our “Big Kid” bedding collection, and now just about every one of our crib sets has a twin/full/queen version to go with it! Here is an example of our Purple Garden bedding in big kid and baby.

So, plan for the future, and I’m not just talking college! While shopping for your bedding and your decor, make sure it can grow with your little guy/gal. Find wall art that isn’t too baby (or you’ll be buying all new ones in a few years when they tell you it isn’t “cool”), buy furniture that can transition easily, and most importantly, have fun with it! Happy decorating!