My oldest, Cade, will be seven this summer, and by proof of this picture, there was nothing stylish or appealing about the hospital gowns available to me. (Apparently there wasn’t any makeup or a hairbrush around either, geesh!) If I’d had the colorful choices that are available today, I guarantee you, I wouldn’t have looked such a mess. I mean, whose color is hospital-greenish-white anyway?

Now, thanks to these wonderful companies (surely created by style-conscious women), we can add a little color to that special day, and hopefully, look a little cuter in our pictures too! So say goodbye to the oversized, revealing one-size-fits-all traditional hospital gowns—these stylish alternatives are hospital approved!

So whether you are delivering your first baby, facing an extended hospital stay or just want to add a little color to your special day, you can do it in comfort and style!

1. BirthDay Suits Delivery Gown 2. Gownies Delivery Gown 3. Doodlebugs Chic Maternity Hospital Gown 4. Baby Be Mine has a variety of Gownies in prints like Molly Pink Dot or 5. Zoe Brown Dot

Rock a Bye Baby Shower by Jeannette Rivas
Paula, of Frog Prince Paperie, says “This party rocks! It is so well done with a completely darling onesie banner and boldly contrasting color scheme. I love how she gave the houndstooth patterns a rock-and-roll vibe.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

 Gia’s Pink Giraffe First Birthday by Sheyennew
Pam, of Project Nursery, says “Love how she took a classic theme and transformed it into something unique. Great idea to reuse the party decorations as items for the nursery; I’m always a huge fan of a DIY project.”
Click Here for More Photos and Detail

Rainbow Rain Showers Theme by Fanciful Events
Rebekah, of A Blissful Nest, says “The backdrop to the sweets table is spectacular! It has just the right mix of girliness and vintage carnival in this fun palette of colors.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Luke’s First Birthday Circus by Ashlee
Paula, of Frog Prince Paperie, says “The drama that Ashlee created with the top hat in the middle of the room and big balloons is really neat! There are so many great, colorful details and a beautiful collage of her son’s first year.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Baby C Turns One by mosugar
Rebekah, of A Blissful Nest, says “These colors are so beautiful together, and I just love a momma that crafts every detail herself! The twisted crepe paper background is a fabulous touch and really completes the beautiful dessert table.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Little Red Car Birthday Party by greenapplepaperie
Melisa, of Project Nursery, says “Being a mom of two boys I sure can appreciate a great car party. This party is full of creativity and every detail is covered. I LOVE the Vroom Vroom Vanilla Cupcakes.”
Click Here for More Photos and Detail

Now it’s up to you to tell us who your favorite is! Vote below, and comment cause we’d love to hear why your pick got your vote! Voting ends on the 31st of this month at 11:55pm PDT, and winners of best room and party will be revealed on June 1st! Winners will receive a $50 VISA gift card from Project Nursery. Good Luck!

*Finalist selections are chosen at the discretion of the Project Nursery team with no bias to the experience or training of the project owner. You may only vote once in a 24-hour period.

Interested in participating next month? Finalists are revealed on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. Upload your own projects to our Project Gallery now. Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite Room Project this month!

In the under $50 category, I have two favorites. First, I love our exclusive wipes cases in either the heart or fish scale pattern. I adore these because they are practical (let’s face it, wipes are a must in every diaper bag) and fashionable. I have a wipes case in every bag I own. The second is the silhouette plate and place mat. This is a personalized gift that all the moms in my store flip for. Simple and classic, it will be useful as well as a keepsake.

In the $50-$100 range, there is a ton to choose from. The first is one of my best-selling gifts of all time. A tbc exclusive, the custom barrette holder is the perfect gift for a little girl, and you can customize the colors to match your decor. The second item I adore in this price range is our chevron blanket in our signature colors.

Our $100 and over price range has some fabulous goodies as well. My very favorite is a signature ensemble—the bean’s bundle. This baby gift set is made up of twelve hand-selected items appropriate for each stage of baby’s first year.

One of our most extravagant items is our hand painted chevron table and chair set. This custom set can be painted to fit any color scheme. Designed by our own artists, this exclusive set is sure to be the hit of any shower.

We relaunched in May because it’s the month of mothers! Not only do we celebrate mother’s day, but Postpartum Support International has named May, National Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. To help support this important cause, 2% of every the bean’s closet sale will always be donated to Postpartum Support International, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote awareness, prevention and treatment of mental health issues related to childbearing in every country worldwide.

I hope you liked all my favorite the bean’s closet selections—we would love to hear which are your favorites!

WIN IT! One Project Nursery reader will win a $100 shopping spree to the bean’s closet!

HOW TO ENTER: Visit the bean’s closet, and let us know your favorite item in a comment below. Contest ends Tuesday, May 29th, 2012 at 11:59 PDT. Winner chosen by random number generator.

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Attendees were welcomed by Team PN NYC upon entering our space, where we shared a bit about our blog and project gallery before giving them the full nursery tours.

Representing Project Nursery (from left to right) was artist Sam Simon, Michelle Freedberg of Bellini, photographer Johanna Lindsay of From The West Village, Me (Melisa Fluhr), principals of My Tiny Nest, Julie Frank and Alessia Corpino, and lastly, my right arm, Kristin Saulsbury.

Once the attendees “bellied up to the bar” so to speak, we showed off the designs of some wildly talented sweets artists. We had our attendees immediately thinking baby shower! Everyone kept asking how the colorful sugar cookies could possibly have been made by hand. Our official response, “The precision of Stephanie Kappel of Hungry Hippotomus is beyond us.”

The glittered vanilla cupcakes, created by the women of Frosted NYC, were divine. Each was topped off by fondant magician, Brenda Walton, of Sugar High, Inc., with her too-pretty-to-eat peony-inspired fondant.

Paula Biggs, of Frog Prince Paperie, inspired the look of our tables with her graphic paper prettiness. Her latest collection, “Palm Beach,” added a retro edge to our classic pink and green PN look.

An event cannot be complete without florals, and our absolute favorite springtime pick is peonies. We arranged these lovelies in small green frosted glass votives that we picked up at C. Wonder in Soho.

We wanted our new visitors to remember us, so we skipped the gumballs this time and loaded 1,000 colorful tape measures into our sea of glass apothecary jars on display.

In addition to passing out handy tape measures, we gave our visitors packets of valuable gift cards from our sponsors and shared our nursery checklist with parents still working on their nurseries. Check out our online nursery checklist available for download.

Now that you’ve passed our table, we look forward to sharing the nursery details next…

images courtesy of johanna lindsay photography

Copeland’s Colorful Nursery by apenrose
Click Here to View More Photos and Details

Want to be one of next week’s Nurseries and Parties We Love? Upload your project to our gallery, and on Friday, the Project Nursery team will select the top projects. Then it’s up to you all to let us know which room or party you “like” best.

Because of my past phobia, I can understand how people get scared away by the process and end up with white walls. After all, where do you start? Is it really necessary to have fifty different shades of gray (and no, I’m not referring to the ever-popular book everyone is talking about)? I used to get lost somewhere between charcoal and smoke and would end up landing in the safe space of beige. So here is the question, how do you overcome your fear of using color? Meet My Colortopia!

My Colortopia is a website that was created by the folks at Glidden Paint to help make the process of adding color to your life easy and fun. Now I have to be honest, during my first introduction to the site, I had my guard up. I’ve tried many “Pick Your Color” tools, but I’ve always landed back at square one. This time it was different. They have a Design Team blogging and answering questions—REAL people to answer REAL questions! Their “My Image Inspiration” tool is a great starting point.

If you have an image or an object that you want to base the room around, you can upload it to the site, and the tool will automatically generate a color palette for you—genius, right? This is a great solution for moms looking for the right color scheme to fit their nursery. This will help give you the power to discover the nursery color that you and your baby will love with Baby Room Colors from Glidden® Paint, as seen in What to Expect When You’re Expecting (only in theaters).

You can also use My Colortopia to select a color based on your personality, your baby and your design sense by using “My Baby’s Place.” Answer the questions below to uncover your color scheme. We’d love to hear what color palette your personality revealed, so let us know in a comment below.

This post has been sponsored by Glidden brand paint, but the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Evyn’s Colorful Cottage Nursery by Alyson Duke
Katy, of Caden Lane says, “I love the fresh look of this colorful nursery! She made the most of a small space, and the assortment of orange, purple, turquoise and red is just stunning! I especially love the offset shelves—so cool.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Copeland’s Colorful Nursery by apenrose
Beth, of Project Nursery says, “When you look at the details of this room, they are all incredibly eclectic, but the room looks masterfully put together. I’m amazed at how well all the different elements complement one another.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

My Stylish Modern Nursery by MatthewsMom
Melisa, of Project Nursery says, “From floor to ceiling, this room is a perfect ten in my book. I love how the modern design is paired with a calming color scheme. There’s great use of lighting, and I’m smitten with the floor lamp from West Elm.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Beckham’s Preppy Nursery by Kristin
Pam, of Project Nursery says, “I just love those window panels! It was the perfect place to start with the room—they really pop! The color palette of this room really draws you in.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Isabella’s Room by jlfrola
Katy, of Caden Lane says, “This room could be a nursery OR a teenager’s room! The shades of grey with the pop of hot pink is brilliant, but truthfully, she had me at chevron.”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

Small Spaces Re-Vamp by cupcakeMAG Editor
Kristin, of Project Nursery says, “I absolutely adore this room. The bold color scheme brings this room to life, and they did a great job mixing and matching different patterns. They turned a small space into something fabulous!”
Click Here for More Photos and Details

So now it’s up to you to tell us which room is your favorite! Vote below, and comment if you can because we’d love to hear why your pick got your vote. Voting ends on the 31st of this month at 11:55pm PDT, and the winners of best room and party will be revealed on June 1st! Winners will receive a $50 Visa gift card from Project Nursery. Good Luck!

*Finalist selections are chosen at the discretion of the Project Nursery team with no bias to the experience or training of the project owner. You may only vote once in a 24-hour period.

Interested in participating next month? Finalists are revealed on the 3rd Monday of every month. Upload your own projects to our Project Gallery now. Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite Party Project this month (announced tomorrow)!

Forget sacrificing your design sense just because you’re a parent now. There’s something to be said about a company that’s been in business for 50 years and remains a leader in style. In honor of BabyBjorn’s big 5-0 celebration, they have revealed three limited-edition fabric choices with some serious ’70s retro flair for a twist on their timeless bouncer.

There’s no question that in the design world, mid-century modern is in high demand and retro remains cool. So why not go with a bouncer that truly complements your lifestyle and the rooms in your home?

sources via pinterest.com/projectnursery

But then again, it’s not just about the good looks. The Babysitter Balance offers proper back and head support for baby, and because it’s not motorized, it helps your child to develop motor skills and balance. In fact, it’s the child that sets the pace. With three different positions and compact folding for storage, it shows that BabyBjorn is a true testament to both style and functionality.

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We embraced the freedom to mix styles of furniture and multiple shades and tones of pink with crisp white accents. The result is a room that is fun and funky yet still feminine and romantic.

The clean lines of the modern, pink and white, romantic canopy bed contrast yet remain complementary with the curved form of the pink Yolk Chair—a replica of the iconic 1950s egg chair and the transparent iconic ghost chair. The feminine, curved Estiluz Infiore Pendant Light is paired with the fun Giraffe Lamp. The inclusion of Ferm Living’s birdie pillow creates an incidental underlying bird theme, while also contrasting with the more modern throw pillows.

Our last find was the two-tone pink rug that ties together and grounds the room. From the furniture to the accent pieces, from romantic bunnies to funky striped dogs, in this space we found a balance of styles to create a room that is as special and unique as the little lady who lives there.