#ProjectNurseryFabulous Makeover Reveal: The Finished Nursery

HGTV: We’ve all been waiting for the big reveal since the interview in Part 1 and the inspiration ideas in Part 2 so let’s get to it…(drum roll) from baby boy blue to baby girl pink, it’s Project Nursery Fabulous!

All photos by Russ Mezikofsky

Gretchen, Gretchen Aubuchon Design, Worcester, MA:   I told Meredith from the beginning… all pink was not going to work. Turquoise was the key to making pink work. HA HA. I know you know from Parts 1 and 2 that turquoise was Meredith’s idea. Fine. BUT I liked it, though, and ultimately approved it — so doesn’t that count for anything?

Meredith, Principal Meredith Heron Design, Toronto: I always tell a client that their most brilliant design decision was hiring me. Gretchen just proved that one.

Gretchen: How much do we love the turquoise with the bright honeysuckle Phillip Jeffries grasscloth walls? I knew there was a reason I was sold at “Honeysuckle Grasscloth” — it just has a ring to it, right? These walls pop so beautifully and the texture of them is just fantastic. The pop of bright pink could not be a better match to the Mally Skok fabrics if it tried. The two play off each other beautifully as I think these pictures will show…

Meredith: Hindsight is 20/20 right. I’m thrilled that Gretchen trusted my vision. There was a fabric impasse. She wanted preppy insanity and I had to hold the vision (and my own experience as a Mom) and say, “The room is for sleeping Gretchy…it shouldn’t look like a three-ring circus.” Mally’s fabrics have the right mix of whimsy and soothing and they will absolutely age with ‘lil Miss L down the road. The grasscloth adds a total twist. It gives texture which makes the pink less Hello Kitty and has a subtle sophistication.

Gretchen: Meredith can take all the credit in the world for “Honeysuckle Grasscloth” and she deserves it. (It’s the last post folks and I am writing this 16 hours before a scheduled C-section, so going to end some of the banter and give credit where credit is clearly due.) But, I will take some credit for working with Mally to finalize this fabric story. Our choices of stripes in oranges, pinks and turquoise are so crazy perfect I could SCREAM. Just did actually…sorry kids. And mixed in with the prints in orange and pinks — yup — its perfection.

Meredith: Gretchen and Mally did a bang up job on the fabric selection. I, too, am thrilled. Of course, given our time line and the fact that Gretchen is (as I’m writing this) popping, I didn’t throw in some of my preferred twists and turns with the fabric combos, but a happy Momma is ultimately the best result!

Gretchen: Meredith drew up the idea of a canopy and I adore it, especially in Mally’s fabric on the grasscloth walls. Adore. J’adore. However you want to say it. Another win for Meredith.

Meredith: Here’s the sketch I sent Gretchen. She did a pretty snazzy job interpreting this — it first went out over Skype and email. Pretty insane, right? We’re working on actually getting the canopy over the bed extended out a little bit further on the returns, but hey, every design project has a little hiccup here and there. No use pretending otherwise. Still, beyond thrilling to see how it all has come together.

Gretchen: Anyone notice a light anywhere in the room? Anyone? If you didn’t notice the light of all lights… I don’t know what to say except maybe I feel a little bad for you. Missing out on something as beautiful as this chandelier from Layla Grayce is a very sad story indeed. Credit for this gorgeous fixture has to go to… wait for it… wait for it… Wendy Estes. Who you ask? Wendy Estes, founder of Layla Grayce. She saw this light at a show, immediately thought of Project Nursery Fabulous and sent it right over. And Meredith and I are still weak in the knees because of it. This light makes all things right and OK EVERYWHERE.

Meredith: Hiccups aside, the chandelier literally made me scream much like Gretchen did at the fabrics. I got a sneak peak of the pics as it went up and I may have inadvertently started to hit the passenger sitting next to me in the airport lounge at the gorgeosity. The trick to working in this business is to align yourself with fabulous people like Wendy who, like you, have a vested interest in the end result. Such a pleasure. I can’t wait to work with her again on future projects.

Gretchen: Bungalow 5 bookcases, my reminder to my childhood in Hong Kong. Will use the word adore again here. Love that reminders of my childhood in Asia will sit next to my baby girl every night. It just makes me so happy. And almost every shelf of these bookcases have items on them from Hong Kong or somewhere I have traveled to in Southeast Asia. Again, heart warming. These Bungalow 5 gems really warm my heart.

Meredith: I’m so glad that Gretchen loved my bookcase idea. The Bungalow 5 finds are the right mix of modern that this room needed to keep it from looking too matchy-matchy. The white keeps it all working together. Of course, I want Gretchen to put MORE blue porcelain on it. I really want these bookcases to look stuffed. We are currently in negotiations over this. Will let you know how it pans out. TEAM MEREDITH!

Gretchen: The side table, a Pottery Barn piece from the boys nursery, was painted in the most wonderful turquoise by whom other then Benjamin Moore. Color is Amelia Island Blue, everyone needs to find something in their home to paint in this color. It is as brilliant as colors can be.

Meredith: I insisted that Gretchen use a turquoise that DID NOT match any one hue specifically in the room. This is really a great trick if you want to establish a more eclectic or lived-in feel in a room. Don’t carry your fabrics in a Ziploc baggie a la my Mom to make sure that each and every hue matches to the nth degree. It just needs to be sorta in the same family. Often I go a bit richer and even a slightly more dirty just to make it more pleasing to the eye. Grounds the space. I love the pop of this colour — keeps the eye moving around the room and repeats that gorgeous chandy greatness.

Gretchen: Doesn’t Meredith’s choice of the rug also just work so well? I know I need to have this baby already or else compliments to Meredith will overflow… eliminating the fun entertaining banter that is Project Nursery Fabulous… but another win for Meredith. This Layla Grayce find is really a find. A rug that will be in my daughters room for years to come. I love it.

Meredith: Gretchen really was leaning toward a floral explosion on the floor. Again, I wanted a pattern but it needed to be subtle. Are you sensing that Gretchy resists subtle in, well, a not so subtle way? Makes me look positively shy and retiring at times, non?? Okay, pink leopard isn’t exactly shy and retiring — point taken. Totally see this as something that can grow with ‘lil Miss L. It will mix and match with so many different colours and styles. A total win for me.

Gretchen: The crib bedding was also from our friends at Layla Grayce. Bedding was my choice… and I think I did a pretty good job with it don’t you? I mean the bedding needed to send a less is more statement as we didn’t want it competing with the fabrics, walls or the rug. Nice clean baby bedding in pink and white. A comfy little nook for baby.

Meredith: Sometimes, you just have to assign the client a task to keep them busy so that you can make the rest of the space fabulous without a lot of, um, (interference) input. I’m a big fan of white bedding though. Simple, easy to bleach if necessary. Also a huge sucker for GOOD quality bedding. No itchy, scratchy, cardboard bedding thanks! Also makes a GREAT gift if you want to get a little investment gifty for a mother-to-be or new baby. Just sayin….

Gretchen: About the kids in these pictures… please meet my two crazy (like me) boys, Liam, age 3 1/2 and Burke, age 20 months. They had to be a part of the photo shoot as they think they earned it. By right of; climbing all over me every time I emailed Meredith, screaming every time I called Meredith and all in all just being very helpful in the actual set up of their sisters nursery. All this being said they bring a smile to my face daily and I love that they love their sisters room!

Meredith: Gorgeous family, gorgeous room. Can’t wait to meet the new addition. Oh wait, I haven’t met any of the previous additions yet either. If they are anything like their Momma though, I will eat them up!

Gretchen: And me, didn’t really want to be in these pics as I look like you could tap my shoulder and I might fall straight over. Pregnancy and balance don’t exist in my world. But hence, here I am happy happy happy about a project born on twitter, a nursery completed for a princess (with no actual princess items) and a friendship with a Canadian redhead whom not only entertains me, but designed a nursery one could only dream about… Thank you Meredith and thank you to all involved in creating this FABULOUS room for my little girl. I am thankful forever to you all.

Meredith: Despite attempts to get Donald Trump and his fleet of helicopters to fly me from NYC to Boston, I sadly did not make this photo shoot. However, I was there in spirit and I can’t wait to see the newest Aubuchon enjoying her brand new room almost as much as her brothers have been. My thanks to all who helped make such a beautiful space to welcome home this blessing for Gretchen and her family.

I’m thinking we are going to need to start working on a sanctuary for Gretchen and Will in the immediate future just to recover from all of these kids…. any takers??

What an amazing makeover! Congratulations to Gretchen and her family on ‘lil Miss L and to Meredith and Gretchen (and their helpers) for pulling this off :)