from Time Out Kids. Winter 2004

When you ponder modernist design, the first vision to enter your mind is probably not set in a child's room. But a spacious new store in the West Village aims to change that. Architect and mother Lisa Mahar opened Kid O because she couldn't find furniture or accessories she liked for her son's room. So two years ago, she started going to European trade shows and collecting vintage children's pieces (her most treasured item is a $1,500 hobbyhorse by Philip Johnson). She's pulled ttogether a stunning collection that includes rare art books, Bilibo plastic spinners ($30), Bauhaus blocks ($175) and abstract toy cars from Sweden ($45). Want your kid to play with the toys that inspired Frank Lloyd Wright? Buy a set of Friedrich Froebel's Gifts ($25-$225), created in 1837 by the man who invented kindergarten. Mahar's ultimate goal is to produce her own line of products: Her first effort, a series of Donald Judd-inspired bibs ($24), sold out during her first week (more bibs are on order). The bibs' colors are sumptuous; the design and fabric, utilitarian--but when splattered with pureed vegetables, the effect is more Pollock than Judd. 123 W 10th St between Sixth and greenwich Aves (212-366-5436).