Ok, here it is. The much anticipated crib post. First we have to talk about how giddy we are to have a mini-me mattress going on. Let me explain. Remember back when John and I talked about saving our pennies for an organic mattress (after sleeping on a sketchy old hand me down for far to long) back in June of last year? Yeah, we actually had a “mattress fund” going until we could take that baby home. And pretty much ever since the day that we sprung for our own Organic Serenity Natural Dunlop Latex Mattress By Savvy Rest we dreamed of someday getting a mini version for our offspring in the form of a totally organic crib mattress (p.s. don’t you like my mattress pageantry below?).
After all, if John and I didn’t want to go to bed with just anything (my obsession with all things eco made me yearn for a pure and organic mattress free of fireproofing chemicals and made from 100% natural materials that are just as good for the planet as they are for people) we certainly wanted the same thing for the beanette. So imagine our sheer delight and amazement when the thoughtful and generous people at Savvy Rest contacted us and offered to send over an organic crib mattresses for our big nursery makeover. Yeah, it was enough excitement to make my bladder almost burst (this reaction might also have something to do with all the kicks I’ve been getting lately- we have a little can-can dancer in there
What makes it so covetable? Well it’s totally free of any chemicals and made from five inches of firm all-natural latex. The top and bottom of the mattress are also covered with flame-retardant quilting made of organic wool fiber and organic cotton fabric (it meets all the fire-proofing standards here in the US without being sprayed or dipped in any chemicals). Plus wool is naturally repellent to dust mites and keeps the mattress’s inner environment dry so baby P will sleep cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Doesn’t it sound like the Ferrari of crib comfort? Seriously we were thrilled and we can’t thank the sweet folks at Savvy Rest enough for their amazing gift. Of course we haven’t taken it for a spin since it’s a bit too short for us, but we can definitely vouch for the comfort-factor and durability of our own personal Savvy Rest mattress which we’ve enjoyed for almost a year now (check out an update on how we like it right here). And we haven’t mentioned that Savvy Rest is based right here in Virginia so it’s sort of a “local” company too. Gotta love that it didn’t need to travel far to arrive right at our door.
So that’s the rainbows and unicorns (read: happy-go-lucky) part of the story. Then it was time to figure out where we’d be putting our lovely new mattress… as in, locate a crib. This is easier said than done my friends. It was a major challenge to straddle the line between “we’d like it to be reasonably green and non-toxic since that’s the way we live” (we compost, have a rain barrel, use non-toxic cleaning products, etc) and “our budget isn’t in the $700-1500 range so all those entirely eco crib options sadly aren’t within reach for us” (with things like strollers, car seats, cloth diapers and other big ticket items still on our must-buy list we unfortunately had to set a crib budget and stick to it).
We quickly realized that we’d be happy to find a crib that was somewhat of a compromise (a bit more eco than most super cheap cribs with a few great non-toxic features but obviously nothing in the sadly-unattainable-for-us $700+ price range of those amazing industry leading green crib makers like Oeuf, Cariboo, Pacific Rim, DucDuc, Spot on Square, Argington, and Q Collection Junior). So after a bit of research and soul searching we arrived at a decent little “must-have list” that we thought would work best for us in order to narrow down all the contenders and hopefully leave us with something perfect for Baby P. Here was our required criteria:
- A crib that was constructed entirely out of solid wood (since pressed wood and MDF can be held together with off-gassing glue and formaldehyde)
- Something with a non-toxic finish (since babies are known to inexplicably gnaw on their cribs)
- A price tag under $400 if at all heavenly possibly (our initial budget was actually in the $200 range but we scored such a good deal on a secondhand nursery chair that we had a bit more to put towards the crib).
- A crib that meets or exceeds all of the established US safety standards
- Something modern-ish with clean lines and a white finish (to work with the rest of the room and feel gender neutral enough to reuse for future bambinos)
- A solid well rated stationary crib (we wanted to avoid anything with a drop side since there have been so many recent recalls)
We also had a bonus list of “it would be nice” characteristics that weren’t necessary but were definitely welcome:
- A crib with some sort of pull out storage underneath it (we’re all about maximizing our stash-it space)
- Something that can be converted to a toddler bed or daybed (we’d like to work with what we have for as long as possible)
- A splash of darker wood to balance the clean bright white finish on the rest of the crib (we actually found ourselves loving the dual-toned look but it wasn’t that easy to hunt down)
- Free shipping (because that’s always a nice bonus when purchasing such a big ticket item)
Our minds swirled with a ton of possibilities that we carefully considered as we went…
Idea #1: Could we make our own crib to meet every prerequisite? After a bit of deliberation we realized that with all the safety features, testing and industry standards we’d better leave crib-making to the experts.
Idea #2: Could we grab an unfinished solid wood one (made from birch, maple, oak?) and use a no-VOC stain or paint to finish it ourselves? Well, after hunting down very few totally unfinished solid wood options (many were already stained or sealed so we wouldn’t be able to easily alter the finish) we realized that unfinished cribs were generally in the $500-1200 range (a bit to a lot out of our budget) and usually had country-ish lines due to their raw and unfinished nature (we were interested in something a bit sleeker and more clean-lined).
Idea #3: Could we hunt down a used one? After all, that would be the greenest thing to do. But a bit more consideration had us thinking about those ever-changing safety standards and a slew of recent recalls so it seemed like getting something new that meets all the current safety standards was the right choice for fearful first time parents like us. Especially since my mother generously offered to foot the bill and kept mentioning that we should get something new that we could use again and again and again (somehow she thinks we’ll end up with seven babies since she herself is one of seven). The good news is that we’ve actually purchased an awesome thrift store nursery chair so we were as green as it gets in that category… stay tuned for those details.
Anyway, with all of that pre-hunt brainstorming out of the way, we dove headfirst into active “crib shopping” mode armed with our handy little list of boxes to check off and all the confidence of a nervous eight pound chihuahua (we have to be honest, it was quite intimidating and we were super worried that we wouldn’t find anything at all). But we did manage to dig up this good-looking crib made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. The only downside: it doesn’t outright say there’s no MDF or pressed wood so there probably is. Plus the $379 price is very close to the top of our range (as in scraping right up against it) so we were hoping to find something that checked off all of our boxes and not just most of them for that price point. Back to the drawing board.
Then we came across this chic looking $419 crib, which was also made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. But again it doesn’t outright say that there’s no MDF or pressed wood (something that cribs with this feature like to shout from the rooftops) so it also fell a bit short of checking off that last box (and was also a bit over our max budget). That’s ok… maybe the third time is the charm?
Spoiler alert: nope. We then stumbled upon this crib by DaVinci. We actually heard through a few online reviews that DaVinci cribs were usually made from solid wood, finished with non-toxic paint/stain and even came with BPA free crib guards- but there was hardly any information for this particular model except for the super vague “made from Asian hardwood” line (which could also be true if the thing was riddled with MDF) so we’re not really sure it met much of our criteria at all. The styling was also a bit less clean-lined than we wanted, although there was definitely something charming and undeniably “classic” looking about it. On the upside, it did come in white (our desired color) and was priced extremely well at $267… but it just didn’t do everything we hoped that our future crib would do. Moving on.
We began to wonder if we were (pardon my language) being hard-asses. Was our wish list akin to J-Lo asking for nothing but white candles in her dressing room? Were we tirelessly trolling for something that just didn’t exist? We allowed ourselves just two minutes to wallow in self pity before deciding that we had work to do. Back to the search.
Next we came across two potential Ikea cribs, but the first one wasn’t the white color that we hoped for (although it did seem to be made mostly from sustainable solid wood). Sadly it also didn’t boast keywords like “non-toxic” or “low-VOC” when it came to the clear acrylic lacquer finish, and we learned along our little researching tirade that any crib with these features likes to highlight them in bold (so we always assume that if it doesn’t say something is: no-VOC, non-toxic, sustainable, completely comprised of solid wood and nothing else, etc- then it probably isn’t). Too bad because the price was pretty fantastic at $159. But that’s ok, there was another affordable Ikea option to evaluate.
Our second Swedish find (priced at just $99) also mentioned some nice solid wood & plywood materials (no word of pressed wood or MDF) but again neglected to describe that the “tinted clear amino resin lacquer” finish was anything especially non-toxic or low-VOC. (Insert the womp-womp sound effect here).
Admittedly they were both amazingly priced and we actually know of at least three happy babies with these affordable and stylish Ikea cribs so by no means are we saying there’s a thing wrong with them (or the other cribs that we found along the way)! They just didn’t quite check off all the little boxes that we established going into our big crib hunt. We quickly learned that selecting a crib is definitely a subjective and surprisingly personal decision. What’s right for one person might not be right for the next mom and dad to come along so we definitely believe that ironing out what’s most important to you (and acknowledging that it won’t always be as important to the next person) will help you locate something perfect for your family. To each his own, right? But back to our search…
Next we found this crib. At $490 the maple finish was the only one that we could *almost* afford (it was still nearly $100 over budget). Since the tone of the maple is a bit shy of the deep chocolate color that we lean towards, the white finish would have been our preference… but at $700 that option was out of our price range. And although the maple coloring didn’t really work with our ever-evolving nursery scheme, there was something intensely charming about this guy. He’s actually the cream of the eco crop (Argington is one of those fancy top-of-the-line green companies) and is made entirely of solid wood, touted as one of the most eco-friendly options out there, and constructed with all materials (glues, stains, and finishes) that are 100% non-toxic. Too bad it wasn’t the color we were looking for and the price was ultimately still a bit cost prohibitive for two savers like us. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
This crib was also super appealing thanks to the eco-advantages that it boasted (made entirely from sustainably grown wood with non toxic finishes). But the $700 price tag was just too steep for us, and the rounded corners wouldn’t fit our lovely new mattress. So we gave it one last look and clicked that window closed as a single tear slipped silently down my cheek (ok so I’m exaggerating, but this entire exercise was kind of an ooh-this-might-be-it-nope-keep-looking roller coaster ride).
Then we found this write-up which honestly helped A TON (update: we’ve since unlinked to the write-up because the site was hacked and then removed so it was a dead link). It reinforced that affordable eco cribs were few and far between (especially in the white coloring and clean-lined styling that we were looking for) but there were a few non-budget-breaking options that were still a bit “greener” than the average crib in that price range.
Ahhhhhhhhmmmmmmm.
Yes, that’s the sound of us breathing a long, deep sigh of relief. The affordable reasonably-green-crib-roundup that we had tracked down was insanely helpful! And the last crib they featured not only met all of our initial criteria but also checked off all of our bonus “would be nice” boxes too. And at $299 it was definitely within our budget. Were pigs flying? Could it really be? Oh sweet victory. It was described as “made from New Zealand pinewood with a non-toxic finish” and “the solid wood and wood veneer construction means no toxic VOCs or formaldehyde associated with pressed wood.” It also met or exceeded all US safety standards and received one of the highest user ratings we’d seen (over 85 people had weighed in after purchasing it and it earned almost five full stars out of five). Plus the $299 price tag even includes the rail to convert it to a toddler bed or daybed, there was free to-the-store shipping, it came in white and had a splash of darker wood, it was clean-lined and sleek looking and it even had a handy little storage drawer (talk about a few nice little bonuses).
It really was one of those miracle moments. Perhaps it’ll be up there with actually meeting our baby girl for the first time in May. Ok so that’s probably pushing it, but after hours (literally at least four solid ones) spent looking for something that consistently eluded us it seriously felt like a major coup to click the “buy” button and exchange a few nerdy high fives that we save for special occasions like these.
We could hardly wait to get it home, put it together, add our awesome new mattress, and test it all out with The Burgette. And about a week later we found ourselves doing just that. Nice, right?
Oh, maybe we should stop to explain who Burgette is. She got her name because she’s sort of a hybrid between Burger + The Beanette (we whipped her up thanks to this Burger zoonie and a recently gifted newborn sleeper… just so someone could take our new nursery addition for a spin). Look… she likes it!
And although we luckily were able to assemble things pretty quickly, we sped things up even more for your viewing pleasure (watch it below or over here on YouTube):
So there you have it. The mind-numbingly exhaustive play by play of how we ended up with an amazing organic mattress and a solid clean-lined white wood crib without any pressed wood or MDF and a non-toxic finish. Of course we realize that one comes from a small Virginia based company and the other comes from a giant big box store (and yes, that it could be even greener if we had twice to three times as much to spend on it). But one thing we’ve already learned about impending parenthood is that it’s all about balance. And we love that we were able to add a thrift store nursery chair to the mix (stay tuned for those details). Balance really feels like it’s the key. We won’t be able to keep our little one away from certain things (like boys for instance) or feed her a completely organic diet until she’s 25, so we did the best we could and set out with a few simple “goals” for the bean’s sleeping situation. And we lived to tell the tale. Whew. Now there are only 579,088,989 more dire decisions that we’ll have to make before she graduates college. This should be interesting…
Psst- Wanna see our nursery progress from the very beginning? Here’s our painting post and here are a bunch of accessory-hunting details.
Meredith says
Ohhhhhhh I see a little bit of curtain action in the picture after the crib is up! Can’t wait to see more, your nursery is coming together beautifully… as all your projects do!
Christina says
Ah- you guys are quickly learning that ANYTHING related to babies and sleep is a hot button topic. Just wait until the Beanette arrives and you start getting sleep advice from readers! (If you really want to drive up blog traffic start a cry-it-out versus co-sleeping debate;) Glad you found the crib you want! I frequently shop at Walmart and highly recommend their all-organic cotton baby onesies (they snap on the side rather than having to be wrestled over the head). My dream was a STOKE Crib- which we got for our daughter, but two years later my daughter has refused to ever sleep in its non-toxic Scandinavian perfection- she much prefers our bed. Oh well!
RD says
Congrats on your crib find & your growing family! I read your blog consistently but rarely comment. I do feel compelled to commend you guys on realizing that life is about “balance”! Your crib hunt is a great example of where ideology meets reality. I say this as a mom with 3 kids who were exclusively breastfed for 9 months, ate homemade organic raw baby foods, composts, gardens, etc., and have done all these things for 12+ years. Good for you guys for realizing that sometimes life is about compromise. Congrats again & can’t wait to see the finished nursery!
Erin says
Love the crib! Just curious if a crib skirt would work with that crib? Specifically your DIY crib skirt tutorial? We were planning on getting an Ikea crib and trying the crib skirt tutorial, but now that I see this beauty, I might reconsider… Anyway, just wondering if you’re going to add a crib skirt or leave it plain? Or do we have to wait for the big reveal to find out?!? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Good question! It definitely accommodates a crib skirt (in fact it shows one in a few of the photos on the site) but we’re undecided about what we’ll do with ours. We have considered a clean band of fabric between the mattress and the top of the drawer (we could bring in another color and texture) but we definitely don’t want anything that will go to the ground because it will hide that wood toned drawer that we love. I guess we’ll just have to see how it all shakes out. Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Yansy says
Love, love the crib and burger looks adorable on the mattress. I’m glad you were able to find a crib that was eco friendly as well cost effective. When I get pregnant, that’s the crib I’m buying. I can’t tell you how much I love it!
Tara says
Hey Sherry, I actually found out today that we are expecting! So now I have even more reasons to enjoy reading your blog! :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so exciting Tara! Congratulations!
xo,
s
Alena says
Hello! I just had a mood board done in November… only made a little progress, before finding out I was also pregnant, two weeks later. Now, we’re fencing in our yard, and not really looking to buy a new couch at the moment. Your nursery is coming in handy for me, too! The u/s tech was leaning toward a boy, so your colors wouldn’t work for us, but I love the inspiration and it looks great!
YoungHouseLove says
Congrats Alena! That’s so exciting! Good luck with your little one!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
Hi, guys.
I just love your choice of colors for the nursery and think it’s awesome that you’re aiming for an eco-friendly nursery for your baby’s health and the environment’s.
I don’t, however, understand how that sheepskin throw has managed to find its way into your home and nursery. I’ve seen these skins, as well as various other leather furniture pieces, around your home in the photos you’ve posted and am honestly puzzled by their presence.
You guys seem on top of things, for sure, and I love how you use no/low VOC paints, use non-toxic household cleaners, recycle, buy local and organic foods, barrel catch rain water, etc. But I don’t understand your choice of using animals in your decorating.
Did you know that processing an animal’s skin into leather requires huge sums of energy and our earth’s resources, all while using harmful chemicals along the way in the leather-making process? For example, to keep the skins from rotting, leather is treated with all sorts of nasty things like formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, dyes, and other toxic chemicals. Ewww.
Furthermore, did you know it’s estimated that half of all the water used in the US alone is used for the meat and leather industries? Half! Not to mention the massive, destructive pollution these industries create.
… just something more for you guys to think about.
I mean no offense to you, and I totally understand that it’s obviously all about choosing what’s right for you and your family. Just please reconsider your choices in this regard. It will be good for your family, the earth, and the animals. Your pup would be proud! :-)
I enjoy your blog and love your upbeat attitude and spirit! All the best with your new little girl on the way!
YoungHouseLove says
Your timing is uncanny! This might sound stupid to you but we thought the sheepskins that Ikea sells for around $20 were fake! And the moment we learned they were real (by googling around because ikea.com doesn’t really make it obvious) we packed all of them up and put them in the basement! This just happened last week- in fact you’ll still see one of them in future nursery pics that were taken before we learned! We even posted a question on our facebook page asking if people knew where we could get faux sheepskins. It’s just that we had no idea ours weren’t faux! Our latest plan is to buy wooly white fabric from the fabric store and make our own faux versions for lots of cozy texture without the scary skinned animal skin factor. Ack!
xo,
s
Catherine M. says
That’s actually the crib that we just bought! We love the modern look & reasonable price. I wish it wasn’t from Walmart, but as you say, it’s about balance! Congrats on the find!
krstn says
Wal-Mart? Really? I am very surprised! (And I live in Arkansas :)
Yay! I’m not the only one…I spent about 5 hours last night researching strollers and car seats for my June baby. Ugh… (speaking of which, what kind of stroller/car seat are you going for? I was thinking buy a stroller frame and a separate seat…)
There is soo many decisions to make! I did decide to buy a crib from my sister-in-law’s friend who is moving. The crib is only a few years old and has not been recalled. yay. Green :) And I’m using my grandfather’s 35-year-old recliner that I treasure so much.
kristin says
And by surprised I mean, I shop at Wal-Mart weekly and never knew about this crib…
beabee says
Haha, everyone is so protective of your baby. May I steal your crib for when I have kids? And also your whole house? Thanks.
Allyn says
Congrats on finding a crib! Being a fellow due-in-May-Mama-to-be (whew!), I totally hear you about how hard it was to find a good crib with the look you want and the safety your baby needs. I say good for you, no matter where you got it!
I also love the video of you putting it together and am dying to know what song that is you’ve got playing. I have a love for French pop music and want to download it NOW. Please share!
YoungHouseLove says
There’s a handy little URL where you can find the song (for free) at the end of the video. Enjoy!
xo,
s
abriana says
The nursery looks GREAT so far! Love the wall color even more now that the white crib pops against it!
A couple of people mentioned crib guards. My little guy is 11 months now and quite the gnawer. Found this and thought it might be helpful!! Better than those plastic guards, in my opinion :)
http://www.amazon.com/Leachco-Organic-Easy-Teether-Cover/dp/B001HO44Y6
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the suggestion! Off to check them out!
xo,
s
Manda says
Christina is so right. Too funny!
valerie J. says
Oh my goodness, the drapes are beautiful! The crib seems perfect too. Great job as usual!
renee says
how comprehensive of you to write ths post!
i never thought there was so much to think about in terms of crib-buying!
the one you brought is the one i like the best of the lot too =D
hope everything is going great!
Robin says
The nursery looks great so far!!
I don’t know if anyone else is having this problem (I skimmed the comments to see), but whenever I clink the link to the write-up on tinydecorblog.com or google the website and go to it, it loads for 30 seconds to a minute and then goes to some china museum website or the yellow pages. Weird.
Love your site!! xo, Robin
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, the link seemed to work seamlessly for the better part of the day, but we do see what you mean now. That’s so weird! It loads the correct site for us and then about 30 seconds later it redirects to some scandalous “China On TV” website! I have no idea why it’s happening but it seems to be a recent issue so maybe it’s just a temporary glitch on their end or some sort of hacking thing that will be taken care of? Here’s hoping by tomorrow morning it’ll be back up and running without the redirect…
xo,
s
Katie says
Nice choice! When we brought our crib mattress home I swear our Italian Greyhounds thought it was their new trampoline. I’m also glad to see that we weren’t the only ones who filmed the crib assembly. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw so cute Katie! We’re living parallel lives with our mattress loving dogs and our crib videos!
xo,
s
Laura says
We just got our crib too and making all the choices for furniture and gear is so confusing! A friend recommended to me the “Baby Bargains Book” which has helped us narrow down some choices on things (they do reviews for value and safety) and shows you where other parents suggest you save your money. You guys are ahead of the curve getting the nursery together already! I’m about a month ahead of you and we have yet to paint the walls!
Robin says
I know it’s redirecting to a scandalous site! :)
Thanks for checking. Have a goodnight!! xo, Robin
Destiny D. says
Loves, loves loves it!!!!
Polina says
Fantastic find! Love it! I went through the same emotional roller coaster looking for the crib for my baby girl born last May. I had her sleeping in Arms Reach co-sleeper next to us (highly recommended) for months until i looked for a crib. I ended up picking up Stokke Sleepi crib system at half price when local baby store had warehouse sale.
It is gray, but i really wanted white. Do you have any suggestions on what i should paint her nursery other than pink? Thank you in advance for advice.
tham
Jane says
I’m intrigued at the thought of a non-drop sided cot. I’m fine with not dropping the side, because I’m 5 foot 7 and can go on my tippy toes to lower a sleeping baby in when the mattress is on its lowest setting (you lower it once they can roll over). But I had the impression you were short? Is it a very low to the ground cot, almost like a portacot? How are you going to get the baby into it?
Mrs T says
LOVE that video of Burger. He is such a cutie. Our Chihuahua Ruby does the exact same thing. So funny.
That little mattress is so cute. How nice of them to make you one. Do they sell them in that size to the public?
I so want your mattress too – wish they shipped to Australia!
YoungHouseLove says
Mrs T- Yes, if you click the link that we included when we mentioned the crib mattress you’ll see that it’s totally available to the public! We don’t know how far they’ll ship but we hope that helps you track down more info.
Jane- Good question. Here in the states drop side cribs have sort of fallen out of favor thanks to the biggest crib recall ever so stationery cribs seem to be the preffered alternative. They’re standard in size bur are a bit shorter when it comes to the rails and where the mattress moves, so even when the mattress is lowered I should easily be able to use the crib with ease. I actually am a shortie (5’2″) but I was sure to read a lot of customer reviews from even shorter moms who specified that the crib was great and they could easily reach the mattress at all heights. Hope it helps!
Polina- Your gray crib sounds dreamy. We think gray looks great with mochas and creams and chocolates and icy blues and navy tones. You have a world of options for the walls! We’d just suggest bringing home a bunch of swatches in those colors and holding them up behind the crib to see what works best. Good luck!
xo,
s
xo,
s
Lynn says
This is such a great list. I have starred it in my reader just in case we are crib hunting again in the future. We own the Stokke oval crib you mentioned. I love it, but it is limiting being “stuck” with their mattress, protector pad, sheets, etc. because of the shape.
Lauren says
woaaaaaaaaaaaaah at the site it keeps redirecting me to. i want to look at cribs not a chinese sex museum.
btw I have a white crib, actually all my daughters furniture is white and while its beautiful, it chips like something awful.
Terry says
I know nothing about computers. However, my virus protection was detecting a trojan when I clicked on those links – so it might be something to seriously look into?
On a sidenote, thanks for all the great inspiration in this blog and for always responding to differences in opinion with such grace!
YoungHouseLove says
Lauren and Terry,
Yeah, as we mentioned above the link seemed to work seamlessly for the better part of the day yesterday, but now something’s up with their site. It’s so weird! It loads the correct site for us and then about 30 seconds later it redirects to some scandalous “China On TV” website! Hopefully it’s just a temporary glitch, but unfortunately it’s nothing we can fix on our end.
xo,
s
AnggaRifandi says
Wow, the nursery look so great! I Love the crib.
I really hope someday I can build my own crib for my baby xo
Kim says
It sounds like you did your homework and came up with an option that worked for you – that’s great. I personally don’t shop at Wal-Mart but reserve the right to change my mind if, like you, I find something there that works for me and I feel good about it. So, good for y’all! I think a company like Wal-Mart can actually help to create some positive change across different industries through green initiatives. This crib might do so well that other companies use more sustainable, non-toxic products to compete…and that is good for babies in the long-run, right?
Kim says
Ummm…seriously, Burger is the cutest thing ever!! Oops, my dog is looking at me jealously. I mean the second cutest ever.
Natalie says
LOVE the crib you choose! Seriously, all of the eco-friendly must-haves, combined with the other amenities (fresh white color, great storage) makes it crib perfection. Nicely done! :)
mary says
Thank you for this! Aspiring to live as green as possible without being rich and famous can be a challenge, especially in the land of baby supplies. As usual you guys are a font of useful knowledge!
Cas says
Found this eco friendly crib mattress on Walmart.com Only $199.98!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sealy-Posturepedic-Springfree-Crib-Mattress-Eco-Friendly/10391803
Tan says
I love that crib, great choice! Nice and eco-friendly ‘n all :)
Ellen C says
Thanks so much for the great crib post! I love what you chose. We are expecting our first (a girl) in June, and have been looking at different options. We are currently in a small condo that won’t be our perm. residence for that long, so we don’t have a lot of room for a full size crib at the moment. I am thinking of a co-sleeper for the time being.
I really had NO idea that Wal-Mart.com had so many great crib chooses, though, and the Free Ship to Store option is very convenient. Thanks for sharing, the post was helpful and opened my eyes to a new side of Wally World.
Shannon says
I tried clicking on the TinyDecorBlog link too, and I got a message from my virus scan saying it detected and deleted a trojan virus, as a result. I would not recommend clicking on the link until you are sure it’s safe again!
Love the way the nursery is turning out. Thanks for updating all of us!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Shannon! We’ll put an update in the post and unlink to that site for now, just to be sure no one clicks over and gets anything shady from it!
xo,
s
Melissa F. says
Just wanted to let you know that Restoration Hardware has plenty of eco-friendly items from bedding to clothes! A lot is on sale too if that helps :)
Love the crib, its beautiful!
Joana says
Hi. I love your blog and it’s my first time commenting. First, congratulations on the baby and on all of the efforts you’re making. I love the crib and the nursery looks really nice. I just want to leave a bit of advise (which I think you’re taking already) on this parenthood thing. I had 3 babies in 5 years (last one is 5 months old at the time). I’ve put some effort into the nursery (not as much as you because in my case my husband isn’t really into DYI or decoration at all) but what I found out was that it didn’t stay a nursery for very long. The second baby came along so the first one left the crib when he was only two. I didn’t get a toddler bed, but got them bunkers right away. I’ve turned the second room into a play room that now will have to be the 3rd baby room soon (she’s still staying in our room at the moment). So my only advise when you buy anything is think long term and repurpusing. Especially repurpusing. It’s essential.
Enjoy the ride!
Elisa says
Many things to say!
First: Yay for the crib!! It is gorgeous, perfect for your home. Amazing that you found what you were looking for within your budget.
Second: I read some other comments from people condemning you for buying your crib from WalMart. How rude of them! You guys are sooo eco-friendly & ethical, and anyone who reads your blog knows that. It’s ridiculous for someone to complain about one purchase from WalMart, ESPECIALLY when you did it for your kiddo.
Third: Before I started reading your blog I never thought much about toxins and VOC and being green around the home. I actually feel lucky that you’re having a kiddo before me – you guys give great advice.
And Fourth: Burger!! How cute! Gonna be so cute to see him running around with the kiddo one day!
Elisa says
OH! And the Burgette is hilarious. Sounds like something I would do.
Erika says
Glad you guys found your perfect crib. My husband and I were on the same search last spring when we came across the Baby Mod line at Walmart.com. I am not a Walmart shopper, so I was completely shocked that they had such cool and affordable modern pieces. We purchased the Olivia crib, although The Mister was very interested in the one you guys picked up. After a babysitting incident years ago, I had visions of “leaks” ending up in the drawer below. It’s a long story, but let’s just say the little guy I was watching had an enormous bladder! Hopefully you all will avoid such fun times.
Love seeing the Beanette’s pad come together!
Erika
Lindsay says
Hmmm. I have to chime in to question your decision to shop at Wal Mart after all the ethical wrangling about the environment in this post. Really? I’m surprised that someone so conflicted about MDF would be OK with giving their money to that corporation. Thinking about how we spend our money and the kind of businesses we support is a really big part of green/clean living in my book. Sorry guys, I just had to put that out there.
CasaCullen says
YAY for the crib…
but i must say, it almost make me laugh SO HARD at burger on the mattress
what a lil’ nerdy nerd!
oh burger…you have NO IDEA what’s bout to hit you :)
ps – have you heard what you should do with tiny baby dogs for the last month of your pregnancy, sherry? i heard if you show them NO LOVE (so hard, right?) and then when you bring the baby home…SHOWER burger with lovin’…he will TOTALLY think in his sweet doggy brain, ‘suh-weet, i love this baby thing!’ and not be weirded out! ack, we just have a hairy baby but i heard this from a friend…who knows ;)
CHEERS to the cribbers! – http://www.casacullen.com
YoungHouseLove says
Wow we’ve never heard that before CasaCullen! Wel, we’ve heard the shower him with love part, and we definitely plan to bring home a blanket from the hospital for him to sniff before he meets the bean. The great thing is that he’s great with the three new nieces and nephews that we welcomed this year, so he’s sort of a baby pro already. We have a feeling he’ll love bring a big bro.
xo,
s
Holly says
Excellent work, and impressively exhaustive searching to find it!
Our first baby is due at the beginning of June, and at first I was smitten with the idea of having a crib with a drawer underneath it, but the more that I read about those types of cribs, it became clear that most of the drawers don’t have tops on them, and many reviews said that as a result, the items you stash in there tend to collect a lot of dust — so that would mean clothes and extra linens are a no-go to put in there. I have terrible dust allergies and worry that our wee baby might, too, so that’s definitely not a road we want to go down, and we wound up with a more traditionally styled crib (http://www.munirefurniture.com/Urban_01.htm, in cherry).
Do you have a sense yet of what you’re going to store in the drawer?
Congrats, and can’t wait to see what you do with the room next!
YoungHouseLove says
Good news! We read lots of consumer reviews of the crib and people mentioned that a simple piece of plywood placed under the mattress (which is actually recommended for our type of mattress) serves as a drawer cover and solves the dust issue. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Bridget B. says
Great minds think alike! I actually started out with the Babyletto Mercer (http://bit.ly/b4WlZi)as my inspiration which is almost a dead ringer for your crib. Unfortunately, the price tag didn’t quite fit my budget.
We ended up with the Sorelle City Lights Crib (http://bit.ly/cS6iPV)which still has the modern two-tone look. Plus I was able to get it at the amazing price of $250 after doing some internet price comparing.
Anna-Katrin says
I love that you guys chose the same crib we have in our nursery! Let me tell you I LOVE it and it is still going strong after almost 2 years. A few things to note (other than the chipping paint from little teeth that someone already mentioned):
1) If you plan to use bumpers, it is a little tricky with the way the sides go together. I had to loosen up the sides enough to slide the ribbons to tie the bumpers through, then tighten them up after the bumpers were tied on.
2) I found that when the mattress was all the way up it was a little weird how you could see into the bottom drawer, so I made a crib skirt that I used when the mattress was high, then just removed it when we lowered the mattress.
I hope this helps and I can’t wait to see the finished room!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips! We actually have talked about making a little band of fabric to hide the area between the mattress and the bottom drawer (which definitely won’t bother us once the mattress is lowered as you mentioned). Stay tuned for those details when we finally get around to tackling it!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Let me just say, the crib is adorable. They didn’t have this line at wal-mart when our daughter was born otherwise we might have went with it. It is really cute.
Also… some people on here need to get off their high horses. The two of you spend a great deal of time and effort being eco friendly and I praise you for it. Children cost ALOT of money, heaven forbid you bought something at wal-mart.
Elisa says
Melissa –
EXACTLY!!!
Barbara says
Give me a break. How did we all survive with lead iron paint and VOC’s. Cloth diapers. What planet do you live on. Come down to reality.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Barbara,
As we said in the post, this is definitely a subjective topic and it’s all about personal preference. We believe that every parent has the right to make informed decisions that work for their family (knowing full well that what appeals to one mom might not appeal to the next one). We also do our very best to respect everyone’s right to their own opinion and we hope that you can do the same. We look forward to cloth diapering and keeping lead out of the bean’s mouth! To each his own, eh?
xo,
s