FOR A BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN NURSERY

Caldrea’s highly effective yet gentle Sweet Pea collection, made of essential oils, will keep baby’s room clean and fresh. These earth-friendly products are specially formulated for the care of baby’s favorite clothes, linens and surroundings.

Create early spring freshness throughout your child’s room. Caldrea has blended essential oils of Geranium, Orange, Jasmine, Coriander, Rose and Bergamot to recreate the subtle fragrance of the sweet pea, one of the lovliest and earliest flowering spring vegetables.

NURSERY ROOM TREASURES

The task of furnishing and decorating your baby’s room can be overwhelming, to put it mildly. If you’re a first-time parent-to-be, you’ll soon discover that there are dozens of websites devoted to crib bumpers, wallpaper borders, color schemes and themes. But most moms who have already “been there, done that” will tell you that the secret to a lovely nursery is simple: decorate to please yourself — because, as long as you’re there, your baby won’t care.

Instead of going all out on a teddy bear picnic, or a shrine to choo-choo trains, modern moms and dads are keeping it simple, using neutral colors and simple, low-maintenance furnishings that will last until their kids are old enough to declare their own favorite colors and interests. Here are a few tips for personal touches that will add warmth, cheer, and personality to your nursery:

• Reduce and reuse. Rather than paying retail for a whole suite of furniture that you’ll be hauling out to a yard sale in two years, ask family and friends if you can buy or borrow an outgrown crib or changing tables.

• Use non-toxic paints for walls and furniture. Some “green” paints are milk-based; others are made with plant-derived ingredients like linseed oil.

• Fill a bookshelf with the books and toys you loved as a child.

• Load an MP3 player with music that you find soothing. If you’ll be comforted by lullabies and string quartets, great. If you’d rather listen to Rufus Wainwright or the Decemberists, there’s no rule that says your musical tastes have to change now that you have a baby.

• Get a really comfortable chair, preferably one that’s comfortable enough to doze in. One new mom Caldrea knows says that she always thought recliners were ugly — until she had a colicky newborn on her hands. Now a rocking recliner is the best seat in the house.

• Frame artwork made by your baby’s older siblings and cousins to decorate the room.

Our most valuable piece of advice might be this: Don’t procrastinate! If you’re planning to paint the walls or refinish a crib, do it sooner rather than later. If you’re thinking about buying items from Internet or catalog merchants, order early. The last weeks of pregnancy are stressful enough without worrying whether your baby will arrive before the changing table does!