Four years ago, Serena Dugan, a decorative painter and textile designer, took her portfolio into Lily Kanter's Northern California children's-furniture store, Mill Valley Baby & Kids Company, hoping to get some customer referrals. But Kanter wasn't there—in fact, the store manager reported, she was in labor with her second child. Dugan left her book, and Kanter called her about it the next day. "I said, 'This is absolutely gorgeous!'" says Kanter. "And Serena asked, 'Didn't you have a baby yesterday?'"

Kanter's ability to get excited about work just 24 hours after giving birth (to Ezekiel, now 4; she also has Max, 6, and Nate, 2) and Dugan's ability to produce designs that inspire such excitement led them to an easy collaboration. On Zeke's first birthday, their children's-linens-and-homewares company, Serena & Lily, shipped its first line of crib bedding to 100 stores nationwide (Kanter sold the store soon after). Since then, the growing enterprise has burst the seams of its offices twice, recently moving into a 4,000-square-foot space in Sausalito, and has expanded its collection to include toys, slings, furniture, organic bedding, and layettes. And now Serena & Lily has published a design book, Nursery Style (Chronicle).

Just in time, too, since Dugan's first child is due in May. "I think my nursery will probably be eclectic," she says, referencing one of the many design sensibilities illustrated in the book. Through a series of ethereal photographs, the 139-page hardcover showcases every type of nursery—modern, classic, vintage—and, while featuring some of Serena & Lily's own goods, demonstrates how the focal point of a baby's room can be anything, such as a pretty bumper or a souvenir from a parent's travels.

The inspirational images are grounded in solid advice, ranging from how to use patterns to how to choose a crib. There are also shopping checklists, though Kanter and Dugan acknowledge that there are many "staples" you can live without—the dresser-and-changing-table combo, say. "You can't use it beyond the nursery, because it's so clearly a changing table," says Kanter.

That sentiment speaks to one of the book's core messages: Invest in furniture that lasts from infancy to childhood, pieces that, as Dugan puts it, "you can get mileage out of."

As for overall style, "it's okay to make the nursery an extension of you," Kanter says. "You have about two years before the kids start to have opinions."