Thanks to the folks over at Pregnancy Magazine for including us in their wrap up of favorite cribs of 2010 in the March issue! They featured the all slat version of the Ray Crib (in Hazelnut).
(N.B. The price is actually $845.)
Check out an excerpt from a recent issue of Hello Magazine (UK) featuring Karolina Kurkova and her new family. We were thrilled to see that her Sam Crib with blue whale MuuPanel was included in the photos. Thanks for being a fan!
Muu Sam Crib with Blue Whale MuuPanel as featured in Karolina's Nursery
For our Canadian readers or fans of HGTV’s home improvement show “Holmes on Homes” or fans of Mike Holmes’ “Make it Right” mantra or all three, we know you will enjoy the feature on eco-friendly kids rooms in the January/February issue of Holmes Magazine featuring the Sam Crib. The fact that our products are made just over the border has been a source of significant enthusiasm for our Canadian customers and retailers alike.
If you are having trouble reading the text, here’s what it says:
“Robert Kwak’s penchant for good design and his Zen belief that there is no difference between people and their environment led him to found Muu, a company dedicated to selling items that are safe, non-toxic and useful. Because the whims of children change with the wind, he developed a unique system of interchangeable crib panels attached with magnets. A thumb hole makes it easy for parents to remove one panel and replace it with a different design to satiate their child’s obessions – whether butterflies or trucks. Panels can also be customized and personalized. The clean modern design of the cribs and youth beds are also reflected in Muu nightstands, storage units and dressers (www.muukids.com).”
The Sam Collection can be found across Canada at select retailers including ella + elliot (Toronto), Princess and the Pea (Edmonton), Tadpole (Waterloo), Flo Urbain (Montreal), Dream a Little Dream (Markham) and the Mom Store (Calgary). The January/February 2010 issue of Holmes Magazine is on the newsstands now.
We are thankful that our hometown paper, the Los Angeles Times, has been kind enough to support us since we launched with the Sam Collection. While last time we were over in the home section, this time we’re in the Magazine’s “Pretty in Green” section. We particularly liked their twist on our zen name:
This furniture inspires peacefulness and is clearly thoughtfully designed. I imagine any baby would grow up to be a Zen master after sleeping in one of these cribs.
Check out the entire piece here. Also, for interested customers, note that in addition to the three great Muu retailers listed in the article, My Little Bebe in Pasadena and Spoiled Beginnings in Costa Mesa also carry Muu in the Los Angeles area. However only the Juvenile Shop (Sherman Oaks) and Spoiled Beginnings have the Ray Collection on the floor. . . at least for now.
This past Friday we snuck out of work early to attend the opening of Upward Bound’s new family shelter facility in Culver City, California. Upward bound is a terrific organization we support that provides, among other services, temporary housing to homeless families with children.
We learned about Upward Bound from our good friend and uber-designer Kelly LaPlante who was approached to design one of the recently renovated apartments at the facility. Eighteen designers contributed materials and their design expertise to create truly incredible and unique temporary housing for people in need. Known for her commitment to sustainable design, Kelly completed many of the pieces in low-VOC paints and remnant fabrics and finished off the table, bed and nightstands with inspiring hand-drawn artwork.
Upward Bound House Project by Kelly LaPlante (credit: Organic Interior Design)
In addition to Kelly, several of the other designers created truly amazing rooms. Wander on over to Inhabitat’s coverage of the event to see more photos and descriptions of the project. Additional photos of Kelly’s work for the Upward Bound project can be found on her blog. To learn more about the organization and make a contribution, check out the Upward Bound website.
Kelly LaPlante Shows off her designs (Credit: Inhabitat.com)
We were very excited to surf on over to one of our favorite modern parenting and design websites, Ohdeedoh, and discover that they had featured the entire Ray Collection. After challenging us with their “new from Muu” tongue twister (smells like a new marketing campaign) we were even more excited to discover that they proclaimed the Ray Collection “our new favorites.” Read the entire post here.
Thanks to the folks over at Pregnancy Magazine for spreading the word in MOM, their special issue, about the Ray Storage Unit and for showing off our new design “Blastoff”
It seems fitting to kick off the beginning of the holiday season with a posting about Lego, without doubt our favorite “toy” from childhood. Our first set was inherited from our cousins and over the span of a decade or so that one box grew into several overflowing bins thanks to some very generous parents and extremely indulgent grandparents. While it may be hardly surprising that a series of interlocking blocks would be a particular favorite of budding designers (after all who didn’t like Lego), it was truly one of the most formative creative influences from our childhood. Unlike many other toys that came with a specific context or meaning that you would either embrace or override, a box of Lego was always a blank slate that could be transformed into anything. In our house, the images on the box cover –train, bulldozer, or even spaceship– were rarely created as it was far more fun to transform the pieces into whatever you wanted it to be.
That said, we always got a special thrill from the space series and enjoyed the nostalgic trip through twenty-plus years of space toys, thanks to the folks at i09.com. The Mobile Tracking Station (1978) and Space Shuttle (1979) were two of our favorites.
As you know from some of our earlier posts, space has been on our minds a fair amount this year. We even added Blastoff to our MuuPanel designs for the Ray Collection.
Looking back, given the universal design emphasis underlying the Lego concept, its simplicity, Danish origins, and development in the 1950s and 60s, perhaps it should come as no surprise that we were drawn to mid-century architecture and design –Lego primed us to gravitate towards it long before we had any idea who Eames or Bertoia were. As those overflowing bins have now passed through at least three other generations, it is incredible to think about how many hours of inspiration they’ve already encouraged.
Happy shopping!
We’re pleased to announce a new edition to the Muu family– the Ray Collection!
The Ray Collection is all about simplicity and grace and we’ve taken all of the things people have loved about the Sam Collection –the MuuPanels, making it in the USA, the quality– and translated it for a new audience.
We continue to draw inspiration from our local community and the amazing mid-century architecture that surrounds us. Our problem with a lot of modern design is that it feels cold and angular, and we’ve attempted to give the Ray Collection a lightness by designing the base with a turned-wood leg and gently contoured base, both of which are made from solid maple. The slats and rails of the Ray cribs are also made from solid maple and we’ve excited to be able to offer the collection with a hazelnut stain or painted white.
The MuuPanel offering has been tailored to three great designs: Vines, Butterflies and our new design-Blastoff and the crib is also is available in an all-slat version.
Ray is rounded out by an understated white dresser and storage unit with open shelving on the front and sides, a changing tray that can fit either storage piece, and a toddler conversion kit for the crib.
The collection is priced from $795 to $925 and is available for immediate order. Check our list of retailers to find a store near you (it will be in stores in most cities by mid-December).