Hey all, sorry for the long absence. We were away for a few weeks, and life got busy, as it always does. We are working hard on the downstairs bedrooms right now, and actually have put our order in for new carpets. Hopefully I'll be posting more on that soon!

In the meantime, check out these coat racks that hang from the ceiling. They add function and interest! Definitely a great way to greet people in the front entrance way.  Lots more neat ideas at Contemporist. 

How much fun would this rocker be as a kid!? It's a great design and would look so good sitting in a nursery. Plus, it looks like a lot of fun to ride. This rocker was designed by Nikolay Avakov of DZZZ from Armenia.  It was constructed with plywood, and has a minimal aesthetic.  Love it! See more pictures at Contemporist.

These shelves are like a neat piece of art on the wall, yet are completely functional. And don't take up floor space! This is the Frame Collection from  by Lassen, and can be customized to meet your look. Check out more at Contemporist. 

This bench is so neat! It is made of individual slats so that is conforms to your body. It's definitely not your normal hard wooden bench. It was created by design studio Sitskie Furniture in Los Angeles. Check out more photos at Contemporist. 

About:
The objective of the Block collection, is to give users a soft comfortable experience, as well as keeping the benefits of a solid surface, like durability and cleanliness.

How neat is this!? A floating bonsai! Now this would be a conversation starter. Check out a video on the Floating Bonsai here. I think I need one of these in our house!

A child sized chair for hiding away from the noise of the house. It looks so comfy and cozy to curl up in and ponder a book. New Zealand based designers, Think & Shift, created the Hideaway Chair for a daycare centre.  Lots more photos and information here.  What a great place for kids to get away from the outside world, and take a quiet moment for themselves. 

From the designers:
Design led childcare company New Shoots, approached Think & Shift to design a product that provides children a comforting sense of enclosure in their childcare centres; a chair that serves as a space for children to get away from the noise and busyness of their surrounding environment.
​
The chair was required to be aesthetically on brand, safe, comfortable, user friendly for children and carers alike, extremely hard wearing and be produced in New Zealand with natural materials and a sustainable approach.

We have been cloth diapering full time for about 6 months now. This has been a pretty good amount of time to find out what I like and don't like, which fit best, and what systems work best for us. Overall, I'm liking it a lot better than using disposables. These are my main reasons why:

1. So much better for the environment! (No guilt required after every diaper change)
2. Cheaper in the long run! (Although we have no broken even yet, mainly because I keep buying more, it will be cheaper once we have our set of diapers. Especially since we can use the same diapers on future kids)
3. As many changes in the day as you want! (You almost want to change diapers because they are all so cute, and you don't have to worry about money down the drain with each change as you know you will just wash them and wear them again)
4. Resale! (You can resale your diapers and make money back. We have already sold a few that didn't work out for us. You really really can't resale your used disposables)

Diaper Covers with Inserts: This is what we use the most. We even use a lot of our pockets as covers and simply place the inserts on top of the pocket. This system we find to the easiest, and fastest to use, and also the quickest clean up after use as well. 

We are currently using quite a few brands of covers. Some brands I only have one of them, shamefully because I really liked the pattern. Others I have a bunch of because we really like how they perform. 

Brands We Use:

• Bumgenius: These are quite popular, and you can now even buy them at Babies R Us. We have 6 of the pocket type of diaper, called 4.0, although looks like there is now a 5.0. However, we have stopped using them as pockets and simply lay inserts on top of the diaper and use it as a cover. I find they fit our baby the best of any diaper, and are nice and trim. We have both snaps and velcro, but I find you get a better fit with the velcro as you can place it anywhere. Until she figures out how to undo the velcro!
• Thirsties: We have several of their covers, called Duo Wrap, in both small and large (she has out grown the small now, they are put away for the next kid). I really like these covers as they have double gussets to stop spills, and they fit well. Ours are all velcro which I like for a customized fit. Not to mention their patterns are adorable, and all made in the USA.
• Sweet Pea: These diapers covers are pretty big, so they are not going to fit your newborn, maybe not even until 6 months. They are designed with a lot of snaps to do up, but because of this you get a great fit. They also have some super cute patterns and are quite affordable. 
• Kanga Care/Rumparooz: We only have one of these covers, mostly because I couldn't resist the cute pattern (seen in the photo above). I like the feel of this diaper cover, but it isn't the best fit on our baby. It does have double gussets for holding in the mess, and the material is nice and thick compared to some. 
• Blueberry: We also only have one of these covers. I find they perform similarly to the Sweet Pea, in fact, I forget they were different brands. They are quite big, have double gussets, but have less snaps to do up. I find these are quite expensive for something so similar to others for a lot less. 
• Best Bottom: We have one of their covers as well, and they fit small. Too small now for our baby. However, if you also buy their inserts (they have nice hemp ones) they snap in place which keeps them from shifting around. I thought their cover as OK, but I do like the look of their trainers, which also snap in. And the systems are interchangeable with each other. I'm planning on looking into it when the time comes.

Pocket Diapers with Inserts: The pocket ones we still use are ones that agitate out themselves in the wash. Which means less touching of the dirty diaper before throwing it in the laundry pail.

The brands we still use as pockets are:

• Apple Cheeks: These are Canadian made and agitate out in the wash. They have nice wide pockets for stuffing, and nice soft elastics around baby's legs and waist. Lots of cute patterns too. Only down side is they come in two sizes only, without adjustment, so for awhile our baby didn't fit into either size one or two. She now fits the size two nicely, and I wish I had more.
• Thirsties Pockets: These also agitate out in the wash, however, so far they aren't my favourite. I find they don't hold much and are hard to stuff the pocket.
• Giggle Life: We have had these from the beginning. I actually ended up selling a bunch and only kept a couple. I only tend to use these when I have nothing else left, or  at night we have been trying to stuff them as they are quite large. They work, but aren't a great fit. However, they are cheap so if you have a limited budget these aren't a bad option. Same with Sun Baby diapers (all of which are too small for our baby now), they are a cheap pocket diaper that does the job. I actually found Sun Baby pretty good, except the fact they fit quite small. We will use them for the next baby.

 Nighttime Solutions: We are still trying to work out a good nighttime diaper combo, as she often wakes up wet. One brand we are trying out is Sloomb, they are all organic and make an overnight solution in the form of a fitted diaper. Once the fitted diaper is on, you still need to add a waterproof cover over top. They suggest a wool cover, however I have not yet adventured into using wool, so for now I just use one of my covers. It seem to be working so far but it is just huge! Baby can barely move when she has it on, so we will see how well it works out.

Favourite Inserts: My favourite insert material is hemp as it is the most absorbent. And my favourite brand is Geffen Baby. We use their Quick Absorbers, which contain the highest percentage of hemp in any cloth diaper brand and are super soft. All made in the USA.

I always double my inserts or else I will have wet clothes to change as well. I tend to pair one of the Geffen Baby Quick Absorbers or a Thirsties Hemp insert with an AMP or a Thirsties Fab Doubler. The two inserts together seem to do the trick for us. 

We also use:

• AMP Hemp Inserts: They are good if doubled with something, but not overly absorbent on their own. Canadian Made!
• Thirsties Hemp Inserts: I'm a big fan of Thirsties products, all made in the USA. These hemp inserts seem on par with the Geffen Baby inserts. The small are a little smaller than the Geffen (which is pretty small) and the big are really big. Something inbetween would be perfect, but they perform very well. 
• Thirsties Fab Doubler: These are super soft and come in great colours. They are great as an extra boost when baby will be wearing a diaper for awhile and you need it to last, as they also wick the moisture away from her skin.

I'm in love with this take on the grandfather clock. Created by Finnish designer Ari Kanerva, it is called Tiuku Clock. It almost looks like a cartoon or something out of a Salvador Dali painting. This clock would definitely start conversations leaning against the wall in the living room. So much fun!

Check out these fun wooden animals. Funny Farm animals were created by  LZF Lab and Isidro Ferrer.  They are so cute and whimsical! Lots more pictures at Contemporist. 

About:
Funny Farm is a project which arises from our admiration for Isidro Ferrer, a very talented designer who has been awarded with the National Design Award, the most prestigious prize awarded in Spain to a designer for his career achievement.

I love these little nooks for storage and visual aesthetics equally. This shelving system is called SuperMod. So neat how you can stack them up anyway you like. They were designed by Sebastian Misiurek and Arianna Lebed of Simplus Design using 3D printers.  Lots more pictures at Contemporist.

About:
SuperMod is a 3D printed modular wall system which creates a versatile aggregation of storage that is equal parts function and beauty. The wall fluctuates between different sized modules to accommodate various types of storage needs, making it an ideal place for your favorite books, plants, spirits and more. The wall makes an excellent partition, that can divide space or stand on it’s own to enhance it.

Images: © Alan Tansey