Kagel, the company's founder, designs the furniture in her Willow Glen studio. The furniture, including cribs, changing tables, chairs and toddler beds, convert into other helpful pieces. These items can be found alongside toys and accessories such as diaper bags and bib clips at her boutique in Menlo Park. Her business has also expanded to include furniture for teenagers' rooms.

"I like modern design because of what it does for me," the Israeli-born Kagel says. "I feel most comfortable in a room where there is less in it. I feel nervous in rooms that are cluttered."

Modern furniture is much more common overseas than in the United States, she says.

"It's hard to create a nice environment with less furniture--it's a challenge," Kagel says. "But that is exactly what I like so much about it."

Kagel points out that there is a significant difference between modern and contemporary furniture found in most infant's and children's furniture stores. This furniture has multiple uses and is designed to give a room a more open look, while retaining its practicality. Kagel says her interest in modern art, design and architecture influences the character of each custom-made piece. This attention to artistic detail and fluidity have won her customers throughout San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

"My market is all over the place," she says. "I felt Menlo Park was a nice middle ground from where I live in Willow Glen to where many of my clients live."

Previous to opening her business, Kagel worked as a designer at Tanaka Kapec, a design-consulting firm in New York.

"I did everything from package to furniture design," she says.

She moved to California with her husband, Eric, after he finished his medical residency. Instead of returning to a nine-to-five job, Kagel decided to sell her own line of furniture--Paza Design.

"It's been a long process," Kagel says. "When I became pregnant in 1999, I went looking for modern furniture for my baby's nursery but didn't find any."

She began putting a few sketches together and designed a few pieces. In 2004 she brought her concept pieces to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York.

It turns out that she was the only person at the fair with modern furniture for children. "I got a lot of exposure," Kagel says. "After that, I had people from all over the country wanting to buy my items. Then, retailers carried my items online."

This initial success got Kagel thinking about the future and opening her own store.

"I like that I am on both sides of the business," Kagel says. "I'm a consumer as well as the designer. It's an advantage."

Kagel recently returned from a trade show in Germany where she showed her children's furniture designs.

"There's been a boom in children's design," Kagel says. "I think it's mostly because my generation of designers are at the age where most of us are having children and want to have modern furniture for both the nursery as well as the rest of the house."

Kagel says that in her store, every item has a story behind it. "I use the products that I sell in my home too," she says.

In addition to her own work, Kagel carries other designers, including Offi, Oeuf and Candela.

The movement towards modern furniture in stores such as Design Within Reach and Ikea are due to the exposure this kind of furniture has received recently, Kagel says.

"People never saw anything like this before," she says. "People didn't have access to it like they do now. Now they have more options."

Modern design doesn't just mean clean lines but also means efficiency, both short- and long-term.

Toni Guel, co-owner of Willow Glen's Black Eyed Pete's Baby & Kid, agrees.

"Many of our changing tables are convertible," Guel says. "They change into vanities and dressers and can be moved to other parts of the home and meld in with the décor," she says.

Black Eyed Pete's carries vintage and traditional furniture as well as modern furniture.

"Mothers want to utilize the furniture for a long time," Guel says. "Versatility is key."