Michael and Ellen Diamant, the founders of NYC-based baby product company Skip Hop, might just be the personification of synergy. In creating a family, a business and a home together, the couple works seamlessly, their respective talents weaving together to create a sum larger than the parts.

Native New Yorkers, Michael and Ellen met through friends and have now been married for over 15 years. In a classic case of creativity meets enterprise, the marriage has brought forth not only a son and a business, but an intriguing sense of design that infuses the products they create, the home they live in, and even the way their business is run. It’s a design philosophy based on aesthetic and simplicity, but powered by acute functionality.

Perhaps this is most evident in the products Skip Hop has become so renowned for. Today’s new parents may not realize this, but not too long ago the baby gear market was dominated by banal licensed cartoon characters, anemic pastels, gingham, ducks and bunnies. If you were lucky you could maybe, just maybe, find a plain black diaper bag.

These were the choices that Ellen faced when outfitting her home and life for the arrival of the couple’s now 10-year-old son, Spencer. Her search left her with baby products that were aesthetically unappealing and lacking in functionality. “In New York City, your stroller is like your car, you’re pushing it around and around,” she says. “I wanted a nice diaper bag that I could hang on a stroller and then take inside with me if I wanted to.” She even considered having a custom bag made. But here’s where creativity-meets-enterprise enters the picture: while other parents settled for inferior designs or struggled with their own adaptations, Ellen and Michael sketched out designs, found a manufacturer and brought the beautiful, functional Duo stroller bag to market. Fast-forward seven years and the Skip Hop line includes everything from backpacks and toys to essential gear and bedding. The products are sold worldwide, and show up on the arms of Madonna, Jennifer Garner and other high-profile parents.

It’s really no surprise that this was the course of events. Prior to founding Skip Hop, Ellen had worked as an art director and had her own graphic design studio; Michael had started two Internet businesses. The timing seemed perfect, even if neither of them knew the first thing about making products. “We came into the business knowing nothing about manufacturing,” Michael says. “Sometimes knowing nothing lets you believe you can do anything.” Today, terms like supply chain and injection molding roll off his tongue like nursery rhymes.

After the success of the Duo diaper bag, Skip Hop’s focus became evaluating tried-and-true baby gear essentials and reinventing them by eliminating the extraneous, increasing functionality and making everything lovely to look at. As these themes began to shape their company, the couple decided it was time to bring this design philosophy home, right into their living environment.

“Our company is geared to the urban parent, to make things beautiful, to work with the urban environment, to save space, to minimize and simplify,” Ellen explains. “It was time to bring that home.” So they made a rather startling move. They bought a brand-new apartment, packed every last bit of furnishings in their old apartment into storage, and started over from scratch.

Seeking out a “more minimalist, Zen environment than their antique-y” Upper West Side prewar apartment, they decided on a 1600-square foot apartment downtown. After looking at brownstones and fixer-upper lofts, they purchased their current space, sight-unseen. The building boasted a developer with a sterling reputation and a renowned architect, and the space offered Ellen and Michael a blank canvas in which to realize their new vision.

Working with mid-century loving twin-sister designers Joan and Jayne Michaels of 2Michaels Interior Design, Ellen sought out a balance of simple contemporary design, but with vintage pieces. Mid-century furniture dealer Larry Weinberg was also consulted, and the result of the combined efforts is a space that is at once elegant and peaceful, but oozes comfort. And (no surprise here), it’s exquisitely functional.

Upon entering the space, the first thing a parent might wonder is: where is all of the stuff? Well, much of it is squirreled away in the storage space (which they have yet to visit after two years) but what is left is tucked away through clever design. All media has been digitized to alleviate the endless shelves of books, CDs and DVDs. Beautiful custom heater covers were designed to hide the heaters, as well as cords, plugs and wires. Everything has a place, and it’s mostly hidden. “We wanted to make things go away,” Ellen says.

The living room plays host to an elegant side console—a stunning, marble-topped, mid-century, horizontal filing cabinet by Knoll. The couch, from Dune, is a stealth number which converts to become an ersatz chaise or daybed, like the sexiest La-Z-Boy in town. It’s as if everything has a secret identity: slick beauty on one hand, purposeful practicality on the other.

The den, for lack of a better word, is a dreamy chocolate brown that you just want to melt into. It’s where the television lives, and where son Spencer likes to hang out with his friends. It is as comfortable a room as one can imagine, without sacrificing an iota of elegance.

So how does the Diamants’ design aesthetic translate into a kid’s room? The answer is Argentine furniture designer Roberto Gil. After consulting with Spencer, Gil built a wall unit perfectly suited to his needs. Properly scaled and supremely functional, it makes an exuberant collection of plastic toys look like a museum installation, and is intended to grow with Spencer through the years.

As Ellen explains, Skip Hop “really thinks about how parents and kids live; we don’t just spit out products,” and the same can be said for the Diamants’ home. They’re like a mom and pop shop gone gracefully big time, continuing to run their now international-scale business with particular attention to detail, thoughtfulness and focus. What’s more, their work and home lives flow into one another, and their love for both design and family life is everywhere, from each new Skip Hop product to the sofa in their living room. “We are all-in-one,” Michael says. “You don’t find a lot of that anymore.”


Photos: Large photo: Courtney Grant Winston. Smaller photos: Dylan Chandler.
Photo credit: Michael and Ellen Diamant with their son Spencer (and dog Charlie) at home.

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5 Skip Hop Faves

Ellen and Michael Diamant share five of their favorite Skip Hop staples:

Duo Diaper Bag. The original product that started it all.

Splash Baby Bottle Drier. IDEA Award-winning, functional and beautiful.

Treetop Bedding Set. A whimsical new addition to our bedding collection, with luxe details like linen and hand embroidery.

Moby Bath Spout Cover. A soft rubber spout cover that looks great and protects heads in the tub. PVC-free, too!

ZOO Packs. Toddlers are going wild for these adorable packs. Lots of friends to choose from!