'50 Shades of Beige': How we got in bed with boring

THe stripes and arlyge? ADORABLE!!! They're my two favorites, by far! They's so classic and boyish, but when you take photos against them, you won't be distracted by lots of various things. Plus, the color palate is simple, so your family and friends can easily match things to them. But, the stripes and arlyge pattern are busy enough that if (when) baby has accidents/spit ups, you won't be able to see it AS much if it doesn't clean up perfectly 100%. Plus, with a simple color palate like that, you should be able to find a simple bumper, one that you can eventually remove without feeling like a major component of your baby's color scheme is gone. If you're like me, if you don't get a bumper, you'll have nightmares about your baby getting stuck, even if everyone + their brother tells you not to worry about it. But then again, I'm a tad neurotic abotu worrying sometimes .

We don't have any matching sets. I do have a bupmer. People get in quite a tizzy over them. Some people worry that babies will suffocate with them. Other people find that their little ones get arms and legs caught in the slats and swear by them. We had the latter problem, so we use a bupmer, regardless you'll have to take it out when the baby pulling up and can use the bupmer to climb out. There are now mesh options in bupmers, not the pretty colors, but they keep kids from getting caught, though they do not keep them from bumping their heads against the rails. If you have a drop side crib the bupmer can impede the movement of the side.You aren't supposed to use the pretty quilts that come with the bedding sets either, since babies aren't supposed to sleep with blankets, especially those really soft ones. If you choose a pattern that you think is good for a toddler you can use it in the toddler bed though. All the joys (and worries) of parenthood! So for us, we got a plain-jane bupmer and white crib sheets. You can find lots of cute patterned sheets if you want though. I just like being able to bleach them.

We, er, um, we don't have a crib. My father made a crdlae for me when I was a baby and we use that during Charlotte's day naps. No bumper she's still too little to roll around and bump her head on the sides, and by the time she's big enough, the crdlae will be too small for her. And at night, we co-sleep. Donald and my dad are building a bed together with a crib that attaches and detaches, but we won't have a bumper on that either. Instead, he's designing the crib so that there aren't slats on the lowest part, there's a couple inches of solid wood that slope into slats. We circumvent the suffocation controversy that way, but we will still have to worry about her bumping body parts around on the wood.The way I figure it is this: damned if you do and damned if you don't. It isn't necessary, but some people prefer them. It isn't recommended, but thousands of parents use them without incident. So just go with what your gut tells you if you're going to be worried the whole time, don't do it.As for a bedding set, well, we're boring. We ordered some sheets, a crib comforter, and about ten billion blankets, and we figure that's about all we need. I'd love to say that we just have a simple style, but really, I'm boring. And a bit lazy I didn't want to drive myself batty because the sheets that matched were dirty and I'd not done the laundry, you know?

A standard king is 76 inehcs wide by 80 inehcs longA California king is 72 inehcs wide by 84 inehcs longThe length would be fine but width will not fitYou can always put a waterbed mattress back in it

Color is awesome, but a challenge when focusing away from the name-brand lines and on organic. Organic usually means no dyes and colors. My challenge has been looking for ways to spice up a sales floor dominated by beige. I am doing so with bright regal colors in shams and foot protectors. That's about the best we can do.

Remember so of the vibrant colors in damask ticking produced by Burlington, Culp and Blumenthal in the 80's. They made a statement on the floor. Currently we have a sea of white/beige coffins on the floors. It is time to "Go back to the Future".

Coincidentally; we've just ordered a Vi-Spring mattress completely upholstered in grey. I don't know if we're a trend-setter, but we do expect to attract alot of people who will want to get in to our bed!

For our store our mattresses are white with rich blue highlights. Inside the quilted top are light blue patters and the tape line around the edge are blue. We are working on a line that's mostly white, a subtle gray, and red highlights. We think that will look slick but not show through our customers sheets.

I agree that some mattress manufacturers overuse some colors but I think the key is to look modern (not old fashion) and clean. Those are the most appealing. In the end a customer buys because of comfort, not so much on looks.

Mattressezzz