A labor of love. We don't want any fathers out there to feel inadequate, but here's another example of an impending baby's birth inspiring a father to create a beautiful (excuse the pun) berth. In this case, however, the crib took longer to make than the baby.
We looked at all the cribs on the market. We didn’t like any of them for a variety of reasons; design, poor construction; value for money, etc. Moreover, they all seemed the same, namely really square, bordering on unfriendly. Mostly I thought I could do better.
We often think we could do better, too, but we don't actually do it. Jeffrey set to work researching federal safety guidelines and thinking about his ideal crib: "friendly, inviting and soft, like a baby."
Three months after his daughter, Maeve, was born he was able to give her this crib. It's made of natural birch plywood, MDF and stainless steel and finished with low VOC milk paint and water-based polyurethane. Reception to the crib was strong enough that he's since sold two other cribs (at $3,500 a pop - hey, handmade takes time).
Whether you're a parent, designer or, in this case, both - we're always happy to see design innovation, especially when it's derived from a love of children.
You can check out 4-pli or contact Jeffrey about the Maeve crib here.
If your ego can handle it, revisit Burton's handmade crib.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
That is stunning! Wow!!
view mschatelaine's profile
just GORGEOUS! Truly impressive.
view dollhouse's profile
Great another $10K crib!
view joebelt's profile
exactly what is missing in store bought cribs
view LaDonnaNichole's profile
nice. thoughtful of the dad, too. but i do find the price point to be kind of ridiculous.
view dcmom's profile
I agree with the comments about the price!
Show me a green, stylish, modern crib with an accessible price tag, then I'll be impressed!
It is beautiful though.
view supapfunk's profile
I think the cost is probably a fair reflection of the labour and effort that went into producing the crib. If the crib is going to be a family heirloom, passed down to your grandchildren and their children, the price is probably more than fair.
The concept of passing down beautiful, meaningful objects to the next generation should be celebrated-- our most treasured item for our children is a Lloyd Loom-style bassinet that was my husband's father's as a babe. It has cradled 7 children, and hopefully will hold many more. Items have to be very special to be handed down, and this surely meets that test.
Also, living in Europe has made me uncomfortable about the concepts of cost and value in North America. In Europe, handmade objects, and the value of the labour of an artisan, are appreciated and prized. Good design is highly valued. And a middle-class person would probably feel that they could afford this; Europeans tend to buy and consume less than Americans on a whole, and so may choose to spend their money on one or two great pieces, get flea market and IKEA for the rest, and do away with lots of other stuff, like no bedding ensemble, and so forth.
The constant demand for lower prices results in the Walmart approach, and look where that has gotten the American manufacuring sector!
So the price point may be high, but calling it ridiculous is not fair.
view mschatelaine's profile
As the designer and builder of Maeve's crib, it's been fascinating to follow this thread, and also exciting to see my labor featured here.
I greatly appreciate all the positive comments about the design and wanted to take a minute to address the mostly negative comments regarding the price.
The price is undoubtedly high relative to other cribs, high enough that I couldn't afford to buy one at retail, but allow me to offer a few reasons.
First, it's made here in Brooklyn, NY, which may or may not be a benefit to you, but it means we pay US labor rates, create jobs here in our neighborhood, and buy materials from local suppliers. Most of the other cribs on the market are made in factories in China or Eastern Europe.
Let's also remember that this is indeed a limited-edition artisan piece. We don't have a factory with thirty people turning out this crib. It's laborious to make (close to 40 man-hours in each one), finely made, and built to last.
When people are paying $1,500 for purse and a few hundred dollars on a pair of jeans, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to offer a unique, hand-crafted and enduring piece of furniture for $3,500.
view jjtaras's profile