Name: Oliver
Location: San Francisco

We had a small, family only (sister, us, aunt and uncle) party for my son Oliver when he turned two. We don't start going all-out on the parties until they turn three in our family. But we make sure it's super-festive, all the same.

Name: Violet (1 month)
Location: Topsham, ME

We had at least a dozen different colors on the wall of the nursery, in our (rented) turn-of-the-century farmhouse in Maine. Though we were nervous that painting our new baby girl's room pink meant that she would never become a scientist, more modern colors just didn't feel right with the wide knotty pine floors and the chair rail we installed to separate color.

Woodsy Window Stickers
• $18
• My Sweet Muffin

I often overlook windows when considering ways to customize a rental space, but window stickers can be an ideal way to add to a room impermanently. These, from France, adhere via static electricity so you absolutely won't be getting out the Goo Be Gone when you're ready to move on. Also available: circus and rockets.

Name: Liem (14 months)
Location: Houston, TX

Liem's room was inspired by the outdoors, mainly a camp room. My husband and I are avid outdoorsy people so we wanted to instill that sense of adventure in our son's room.

Name: Brigsby (1)
Location: Riverview, FL

I'm not a fan of kid's parties. I don't like the prepackaged themes, the awkward sitting, the awkward small talk, or staring uncomfortably at the kid while they cry and open presents and the like. I don't like kid's parties. So we didn't have one.

Pythagorean Theorem Swaddling Blanket
• $38
• Uncommon Goods

I've long been a fan of Tiffany Ard's non-cutesy and decidedly nerdy Nerdy Baby line and was glad to see it expanding to some soft goods. This Pythagorean Theorem blanket might not be for everyone, but for someone it will be perfect. (Or go for the Microscope version.)

• A $4 Cardboard Princess Castle
• Gabe: The Tiny British Gentleman
• Before & After: Dresser Goes From College Party to Pretty
• Install a Pulley Inside the House

Name: Evangeline (14 months)
Location: Tulsa, OK

I started putting Evie's nursery together while I was pregnant. I knew I wanted to do stripes on the walls and have lots of white, linen and neutral with fun pops of color- whether we had a girl or a boy. Once we knew she was a girl, I went with coral pinks and blue hues for the doses of color.

ZigZag Strapping Baskets
• $49/set of 3
• Land of Nod

If you're not chevron-ed out, the pattern du jour adorns these storage baskets in a range of vibrant colors. They're handwoven and the tops are deep enough to become their own baskets should you choose. The large ones (13.25 x 7.5"h) are best suited to toy storage so it's a shame they only come as a set of small, medium and large instead of ala carte.

Maybe it is more fun to give than to receive. Cheryl and her 5-year-old daughter Eleanor made Valentines for her pre-K classmates that turned into both an arts and a crafts project.