Art for Babies

Babies will be happy when they're surrounded by the latest line of nursery designs from Dwell Studios.

Babies rejoice! There are great new style options for decorating the nursery we found at the recent New York International Gift Fair in NYC. It's like bringing fine art and design into children's rooms.

Kudos to Dwell Studio for continuing to update popular children's designs from yesteryear, giving them a fresh graphic sense. We saw their largest introduction to date, a new baby and kids collection that was stylish and fresh. Their new Owls Sky Crib Set (see photo at top and below) caught our attention, taking the popular owls from the Fifties and Sixties into a new orbit of sweetness. The line includes a play blanket, a brushed cotton canvas bumper, cotton percale fitted sheets, and a solid brushed canvas crib skirt.

Empress Arts presents the antithesis to the Dwell Studio look and sensibility. Their Crib Set (see photo below) embraces flouncy, girly, frilly, romantic bedding and decor that emphasizes luxury, high quality, and superior craftsmanship.

If "unique" and "highest quality" is what you're looking for in a nursery or kids room -- versus "cute" -- then look no further than the Dutch Touch Art Company. Their Children's Collection features a lovely collection of hand-painted decorative oil paintings in the tradition of old and modern painting masters (pictured at right, Chilly Observation from Charles S. Raleigh). Simply gorgeous, and you'll find their entire painting line, from original oils to designer oils adapted from little known European masters, exquisite for any room of your home.

But you might opt for just plain cute and far less expensive wall decor. If so, then explore the many peel-and-stick art options available from RoomMates. We loved their Polka Dot Piggy collection (see below) of colorful sticker borders (each set offers 5 yards, so measure your space and order the appropriate number of sets) and colorful individual stickers (the Poka Dot Piggy set contains 33 different art stickers). You can opt for collections that appeal to the tiniest of newborns up through teens. The beauty of these decor options is that you can peel the stickers off without leaving a stick adhesive residue and replace them with other room stickers to give your space a new look.