It’s not really a weird story anymore to say you met someone on Instagram. Everyone meets on Instagram these days. & that’s exactly how I met Jada Neoni.
She reached out about wanting to collaborate on designing our nursery ( she’s a professional nursery designer & expert sleep trainer ) so we hopped on a call & really jived. After going online & looking at her work, I was really impressed ( she’s designed nurseries for Gwyneth Paltrow & Courtney Cox ).
Her taste & style was really interesting because it’s more neutral than mine which was perfect because as I’ve said, I’m really into neutral for the baby. I don’t want everything bright pink for her, so I’ve been keeping things white, olive & black with pops of pink.
Infusing our styles to design the nursery was so fun!! Jada & I have worked together for the past 5 months to curate the nursery, which we will get to in this blog post series with Jada. Be sure to check back for more posts from Jada on creating your own dream nursery, must-have accessories & sleep training 101.
Today Jada is here to give us some tangible takeaways for anyone wanting to design the shit out of their own nursery. In this post you’ll read about why taking a CPR class is super important, things you can buy RIGHT NOW to get started on your own nursery, & some unique things celebs do for their nurseries.
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♡ Introduce yourself to The Skinny Confidential community.
Jada Neoni: I’m Jada, a celebrity nursery designer. I’ve designed nurseries for some of the most famous tots in Hollywood. While I can’t list all the rooms I’ve designed ( way too many confidentiality agreements to count ), I can say I’ve worked with Grammy Award winners Ciara & Kelly Rowland, CNN journalist Lisa Ling, Courtney Cox & super cute actor Jesse Williams to name a few!
My nurseries are known to be anti-babyish, East Coast inspired glamour with a hint of modern designs. This year I will be launching a new collection of modern baby essentials so every mom can have a little celebrity influence in their nurseries. Recently, after 12 years of designing celebrity & top influencer nurseries, I discovered a shocking similarity among all my clients: the rooms were impeccable, but no one was sleeping in them! Yep, even celebrities struggle with getting their babies to sleep in their nurseries. So I became obsessed with sleep & getting babies to sleep. After months of research I became a certified baby sleep trainer! Now I spend my days split in half… designing AND talking moms off a ledge with my sleep training tips.
♡ Tell us how you got started in the nursery designing business.
JN: When I get asked this question I LOVE to answer saying – I’ve been obsessed with everything baby since my first babysitting job at 13! My complete teenage years were spent babysitting & working at local day cares.
Wanting to start a career in fashion, I moved to NYC & began working as a runway & celebrity fashion stylist. I worked on Oscar de La Renta, & Jason Wu shows while dressing celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Halle Berry & MLB Baseball players. A chance meeting with actress Courtney Cox changed the path of my life. Courtney, who was pregnant at the time, needed help preparing her nursery for her baby Coco. And as they say in Hollywood, “the rest was history.”
I soon became the go-to VIP baby concierge to celebrity moms such as Brooke Shields, Gwyneth Paltrow, & Sarah Jessica Parker to name a few.
♡ What’s the one thing anyone can buy that should be in their nursery?
JN: The one think anyone can buy on any budget are blackout curtains! You do not have a nursery if it doesn’t have blackout curtains, you just have a room with a crib LOL! Blackout curtains are so vital for baby’s good sleeping patterns, for naps & overnight.
Your nursery should be able to go super dark during the day & no light should be able to sneak in during early mornings while the sun rises. Finding blackout curtains in your budget range is super easy as now you can find them on Amazon & Target, as well as more expensive ones from West Elm or Pottery Barn. Don’t be fooled by the price! As long as they are labeled “blackout” they will do the job. And no, blackout curtains are not “black” they come in every color!
♡ Speaking of certification, you’re also certified in CPR. How important is it that a new mom does CPR training? Where should they start?
JN: Every new parent should take a CPR class once a year. CPR training is so important, especially for parents of newborns. Finding your new baby unresponsive & not breathing would be a nightmare for any parent, but imagine not knowing how to help your baby in this state?
Being versed in CPR gives you the peace of mind that God forbid something happens & your newborn should stop breathing, you are prepared to aid your baby until first responders arrive. It’s also crucial that parents with toddlers take CPR training as well because EVERYTHING goes into their mouths once they start walking & exploring. Parents who have CPR training are prepared to handle a severe choking caused by a toddler’s passage being blocked.
It’s so simple to find a local CPR class by simply Googling CPR classes near me. Most CPR classes are free or under $25. it’s one of those tools in life you hope you will never need to use, but will feel good knowing you are prepared.
♡ What are a couple accessories you recommend for a nursery?
JN: My top three accessories I’m OBSESSED with right now are:
♡ The Casper Glow nightlight– this is just so genius. What I love most about the nightlight is you can be anywhere & turn the nightlight on or off in your nursery by simply using your smartphone. Every nursery needs a nightlight because during the late night feedings & diaper changes, you don’t want to turn on any bright lights to stimulate your baby. During bedtime you simply put your kids to bed, turn on the nightlight & once you know they are sleep you can turn the nightlight off without having to re-enter the room. The design of the Casper Glow is just so chic & minimalistic. It’s an easy addition to any room design.
♡ Rose Quartz crystals– these are a new favorite accessory of mine. The Rose Quartz crystal is the stone of love & it also promotes peace. Nurseries with the Rose Quartz crystal have a strong sense of peacefulness & I believe it helps calm the baby & new moms. When you walk into your nursery & you have the Rose Quartz you feel such peace & calm & the room just feels so much love!
♡ The white noise machine– I don’t know who invented the white noise machine but I really wish I could meet them just to say THANK YOU! The white noise machine is what you will need if you ever want your baby to sleep. When used correctly, the white noise machine will signal bedtime for babies & also aid in keeping babies peacefully sleeping. It will block out any unwanted sounds like a dog barking, tv noises, car horn, etc.
♡ What’s a common mistake people make when designing a nursery?
JN: The most common mistake people make when designing a nursery is not being true to their true style. When moms are designing a nursery & go to Pinterest they feel pressured to design a room full of baby animals or chevron print & that’s just not a reality.
Many moms feel a nursery needs to say or be babyish or scream ‘baby’s room’ & that’s just not true. When I design nurseries my first step is to get a clear understanding of the other rooms of the house & what’s the flowing style, room to room, in the house. Once I can get a feel of the mom’s style, I then begin to design with her style in mind, not a baby room.
A nursery can be an amazing room & playroom for your baby without being overly baby. Style for what you like first, then incorporate the baby into it.
♡ How can you make a nursery up to date & cool without feeling too ‘baby?’
JN: The first step in making a nursery feel up to date & cool is a great accent wall. This can be a great warm color or even a bold darker color like black. If you really want to make your room cool, try designing an accent wall with beautiful wallpaper, this will turn any room into a well designed room.
My first step in designing any room is deciding what’s going to be the accent wall. Normally the accent wall is the wall behind the crib. The second thing in making a room cool is a chic throw rug. I love a beautiful shag because it can make a room look so expensive & styled. Shag rugs can work with anyone’s budget & come in so many colors! Don’t be afraid to layer rugs, I love using multiple rugs in a nursery.
♡ With all the celebrities you’ve worked with, what have you noticed they do differently when it comes to their nurseries?
JN: The celebrity nurseries I’ve designed all have two things in common: they aren’t afraid to do the unexpected, and they normally need double of everything in their nursery because they travel so often or have second homes.
I once had to design the exact same room in the three different homes the celebrity owned! Some of my favorite celebrity nursery designs have been an all white nursery, which moms would normally run from, or the nursery we hung over $20,000 worth of artwork in. When designing nurseries, my core stays the same with anyone I design for & that’s the baby’s safety first. I don’t allow anything in the nursery that could put the baby at risk.
♡ Where can everyone find you? Pimp yourself out!
You can find me on Instagram @thejadababy.
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So excited for you guys to take a peek inside the nursery. It’s coming soon! In the meantime, check out Jada on Instagram.
Be sure to stalk her podcast where she talks about sleep training, nursery design & baby CPR.
x, lauryn
+ scope our alligator, pastel-themed baby shower.
++ more baby shower details here.
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