When we first broke the debut of Kalon Studios Hut-Hut Kids sculptural kid’s rocker, we loved it but didn’t have any pricing yet.  Since then, production started and shipping followed, but the pricing started north of a cool $1000!  Beautiful pieces but out of reach for many.

Here’s the good news – Hut-Hut will now be made in five sustainable resin colors and shipping on December 15th at a great affordable price of $125.  Pre-order today at Kalon’s website and get 20% off.  Just in time for a lovely Christmas addition to your home.

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• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

How could you be scared of these monsters?  Designed by Family Tree Design in a limited run of 100 prints each.

Monster Friends Posters |  $100 for set of four

via PaperCrave

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

I’m impressed as much by the design of these personalized lunch boxes ($36.75 via Feterie) as I am with the originality of the names on them.

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

Were you a new dad with a hip designer daddy diaper bag?  And after the new dad label wore off, did you start realizing that there were perfectly suitable alternatives that didn’t have to be a “daddy diaper bag”?  If you were like me, I traded in my daddy bag for just my black Northface backpack.  Worked just fine.

Well now, here’ three cool bag alternatives for dads (and other guys, too) that have even more personality as you evolve away from your new dad bag.

The Carter Duffel ($195) from Property of …, made of washed and coated cotton – big enough to carry most of dad’s and baby’s needs for the day.

Farm Ruck Sack ($160) from Makr Carry Goods – made of natural heavy cotton duck and un-dyed leather, includes unique exterior closures, multiple pockets and leather washers/reinforcements.

Finally, the Kelly Moore bag ($199) is on top of my wish list because it’s a “camera bag” that refuses to look like one.  They have bags just for mommy photographers too.

(PS to new dads – From one dad to another – all those diaper bag “essentials” aren’t really necessary, so convince your wife that you prefer a cool bag over a diaper bag.)

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

I love the idea of kids having their own special places of their own – from treehouses, to snow forts, to hand-made tents made from bedsheets – it’s a memorable part of growing up.  New from Modern Playhouses are two beautifully simple kid’s playhouses that inspire play and imagination.  These houses made from local sustainable materials and treated with non-toxic finishes are the work of San Francisco-based designers Gitane Royce and Nisreen Witt.

While kids can makeshift most anything into a private play space, these playhouses also need parents who can make the “house” payments with prices starting at $1,250.   For those lucky kids who do, Modern Playhouses are available now on pre-sale at 20% off until September 1 at modern-playhouse.com.

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

Without question, kids deserve space in your home to play to their hearts’ content. But that doesn’t mean adults have to stress out or sacrifice on style – far from it. Some of the most high-style living spaces are thoroughly welcoming to tots. Whether you’ve got lots of indoor acreage or you’re all sharing the communal living room, here are a few easy ways to creating kid-friendly living spaces that look and perform their best.

1. Kid-friendly Floor plan

The first rule is to keep the floor free and clear for spontaneous fun. That means selecting storage units, shelves, and wall hooks (such as the Hang-It-All, a classic design icon by Charles and Ray Eames) that are inviting enough to motivate everyone to use them. Putting things away means more room for everyone, and colorful, attractive storage tools help sugar-coat this important chore.

While we’re on the subject of floors, make sure whatever you cover it with is designed to take a beating and keep its good looks; patterned carpet is a plus, and modular carpet tile by FLOR accents the fun in functional.

2. The writing on the wall

For areas where kids are likely to spend time, walls should be coated with a wipeable-finish, non-toxic paint that contains no volatile organic compounds. The great news about VOC-free paint is that it’s not only safer, it’s also  more durable than paint that emits toxic fumes, so you’ll be saving money by re-painting less!

Check out Mythic Paint, which offers an impressive spectrum of dazzling color, and is safe to use even with kids and pets in the room. If you’re hesitant to experiment with bold color, a kids’ play space – or one wall of your living room – is a great way to test the waters.

3. Fun with fabrics

Fabrics are your friend when designing kid-friendly digs. Slipcovers ensure that big-investment furniture items – the sofa and easy chairs, for instance - sport a protective barrier against crayon-wielding fingers, sticky hands and muddy sneakers. And a machine-washable, microsuede throw like this one from Crypton is soft enough for nap time – yet tough enough to do duty as a pizza-party picnic blanket, a yoga mat, or even a go-anywhere, diaper-changing station!

Enter to Win a Crypton Throver and Pillow Giveaway – Over $200 value!

4. Seat of honor

Kids love to have a chair that’s scaled to their smaller size, and happily, there are many design options that accommodate both their size and your taste level. Philippe Starck’s Lou Lou Ghost chair is a great example: it’s beautifully sculptural in its own right, and the clear plastic material it’s made of won’t eat up precious visual space where it’s at a premium.

Julia Szabo is a journalist who covers culture and style; her articles, on topics ranging from elegant living to designing with pets in mind, have appeared in the country’s top newspapers and magazines. The author of six books, Julia’s latest title is “Pretty Pet-Friendly: Easy Ways to Keep Spot’s Digs Stylish and Spotless.” She is currently a contributor to Life on Crypton, the new blog from Crypton Fabrics.

image via Cary Walker

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

Crypton is the maker of Super Fabrics, an eco-friendly fabric that is stain, mildew, bacteria, moisture and odor-resistant. What a great option for making your home kid-friendly, so you can worry less about the spills and dirt that comes with growing kids in your house.

To get the word out about how kid-friendly Crypton is around your home, they’re giving away a Crypton Throver and Pillow set (retail value over $200) to one lucky Coochicoos reader.

To enter, just leave a comment below to this post.

For a chance to win a second set, go to Crypton and enter on their blog, Life on Crypton.  One winner from each blog will be drawn at random on September 1, 2010.

Read “Tips for creating kid-friendly play spaces” and learn to live in style with kids.

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

For frazzled new parents who might not have the time to order and mail out printed birth announcements, there’s Nursery Notice, a new service that delivers beautifully designed online birth announcements via email. While printed announcements are limited on the photos, with Nursery Notice you can upload up to 15 photos that are delivered as a slide show attached to the announcement.

After selecting my photos, and having my email list ready, the whole process of getting my online announcement ready took no more than 10 minutes. For new parents short on nerves and time, Nursery Notice is a great time saver.

With their basic announcement service starting at just $34, Nursery Notice won’t bust your budget either.

Visit our sponsors:

• Orbit Baby – a modern baby transportation system
• Boodalee – modern kids bedding
• Boon – hip baby products and toddler gear
• Minted – modern baby announcements
• Tiny Prints – birth announcements & more
• Wallter – coat racks, mobiles, wall decor, and textiles
• Zutano – clothes as unique as your baby
• Babyfloors – modern rugs for baby nurseries and playrooms

Haven’t seen a sea animal ABC poster like this one yet – via Design Evolution.

Just love how graphic designer Lori Danelle takes baby footprints a step further with her customized, hand-cut fingerprint paper cuttings.  These cuttings are available with no text or with a text frame (shown above), and also available as a side-by-side print for couples.  Prices start at $150 for this precious hand-cut family keepsake.

via JolieJolie