August is Kids' Month and we're kicking off a fun three-part makeover series: Project Nursery Fabulous! Now, if you're on Twitter and you follow certain interior designers and design bloggers, you may have heard of #ProjectNurseryFabulous already.
Toronto-based designer Meredith Heron and Worcester, MA-based designer Gretchen Aubuchon met via Twitter and decided to collaborate on Gretchen's much-needed makeover project: redecorating the nursery that served both of her young boys to suit her soon-to-arrive baby girl. Project Nursery Fabulous was born. So let's get to it! Meet Meredith and Gretchen, two sarcastic, social-media-loving redheads with a passion for interior design...
Meredith Heron -- Principal, Meredith Heron Design Inc.
Toronto, ON
Meredith’s innate ability to combine colour, interesting fabrics and texture while maintaining a sense of balance between masculine and feminine is her trademark. She constantly challenges both herself and her clients to produce a fresh, yet timeless quality to each design that is commissioned by her firm. Meredith was a regular host/ designer on Restaurant Makeover, Love by Design and Design Match. With a moxie and style that is inherently Meredith, she blends, creates, discovers, and designs that which can only be best described as personally yours.
Gretchen Aubuchon -- Gretchen Aubuchon Design
Worcester, MA
An
interior decorator and former marketing/PR director, Gretchen focuses on bringing home decor inspiration to her readers in a unique way. Taking inspiration from home decor, Gretchen pairs that
inspiration to its match in the fashion world to
inspire readers to dress their home as they would dress themselves.
HGTV: The two of you met via Twitter, can you explain how that happened?
Meredith: Gretchen was stalking me. I kid, I kid. We both found each other in the early morning tweeting that takes place among creative types. Our inability to sleep in was the first bond of many that we shared.
Gretchen: Meredith hunted me down until I finally befriended her. Just kidding.
Actually, it may have been the opposite of what I just said. Truth
is, we were both tweeting in a similar circle of interior decorators,
and I found Meredith funny and I think she found me to be funny as well.
This led to us chatting (or shall I say bantering) daily. We both have
quite sarcastic points of view on Twitter, so in no time a friendship
sparked by crazy humor and a love for design developed. This public friendship is now the Meredith and Gretchen design show. And the premiere is being featured on HGTV Canada!
HGTV: When did you meet for the first time?
Gretchen: We met for the first time IRL (in real life) at Kravet's New York City
Blogfest this past May. We actually ran into each other in the lobby of
the Ace Hotel. It was fantastic to finally meet after much time talking
on Twitter... but within minutes the excitement faded and we were both
talking like we had seen each other yesterday.
Meredith: As Gretchen said, we spotted each other literally across an absolutely pitch black room at the Ace Hotel. It's almost impossible to see two feet in front of you there but we zeroed in on each other and the rest is history.
Clearly, this isn't the pitch black lobby of the Ace Hotel...
HGTV: Gretchen, what was it about Meredith's style and aesthetic that made you choose her for a designer?
Gretchen: Honestly, I really wanted to work with Meredith because she gets colour.
Colour is number one to me in designing any space so I really wanted to
work with a designer who saw past beige and neutrals. Meredith uses
colour brilliantly in all her work. I also knew Meredith would understand
my vision and that we would be able to work together on making this
vision a reality.
HGTV: Meredith, do you do a lot of nurseries and kids' rooms usually? Was this an unusual project for you?
Meredith: I've done a handful of nurseries, ironically several of them have been long distance. I've never worked with someone who has a decorating background though. My moms are usually like putty in my hands... Gretch not so much. What was great though is that she is hardly shy and retiring and she doesn't want her daughter's nursery to be predictable either. Except of course for the pink part.
HGTV: Gretchen, this room is changing from a boy's room into a nursery for your new baby girl. What kind of mood did you want to evoke for your daughter and how is it different that what was there for your sons?
Gretchen: This room has actually been the nursery for both my boys, now ages 3
1/2 years old and 20 months old. For the boys, the room was a mix of
light blue, navy blue and yellows.
The nursery before
Once we found out this room
was going to become a nursery for a little girl all I could think was
PINK. I really wanted the room to be as girly as possible without
incorporating princesses and butterflies. I wanted colour to describe
those girly things and not the actual items. Colour (big surprise here)
was all I could think of when brainstorming about the design of this
nursery.
HGTV: How did you begin the project and how is it working via phone and Internet?
Gretchen: The kick off meeting went like this:
- Gretchen sits three rows in front of Meredith in the Hearst Theatre at the Hearst Building.
- Gretchen and Meredith watch pictures of House Beautiful rooms flash by on the big screen behind the editor-in-chief, Newell Turner, who was speaking at the time.
- Gretchen politely and quietly turns back to scream at Meredith every time one bedroom flashed by. The images went by quick and Meredith was ignoring gestures, so it took four go arounds to actually get Meredith to understand what was going on.
- What was going on was I had found the inspiration room!
Meredith: I was of course too busy eating the
cookies I'd smuggled into the US from the Porter Airlines Lounge in
Toronto to catch it the first time. I also seemed to miss an obviously
pregnant redhead waving her arms above her head like a mad woman
practically jumping up and down. Those were really great cookies. Did I
mention that?
Gretchen: So that was how we kicked off the project. Which was then quickly named Project Nursery Fabulous, as I was so fabulous in our kick off meeting. In regards to working on this room together, this was actually pretty easy. Since we met on Twitter, staying in touch via email and social media channels proved not to be a challenge to us. We communicated mostly on email (as to keep the details of the project quiet) and then had a bunch of fun on Twitter with fans of the project providing input, too. I feel like it went quite well! But everyone can be the judge of that when they see the finished product!
There you have it! Are you excited to see the final product? Well, you'll have to wait two weeks because next Thursday, August 11 we'll reveal the plans, inspiration and mood board for the nursery. The big reveal will come Thursday, August 18, so keep reading!
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