When it came to designing the perfect room for their newborn daughter, Athena, Maria Menounos I knew it had to include a lot of special touches.
Menounos, 45, gave us weekly An exclusive tour of their baby girl’s nursery, during which she showed off her “favourite” and “most important” part of the room.
“I [told my designer]”I have these cross-stitch pieces from my mom and my grandmother, and I really want you to incorporate them into the room,” she shares. “And those were the last pieces I have.”
Above Athena’s changing table hangs a cross-stitch picture of a little girl praying created by Maria’s late mother, Litsa Menounos, while a trio of floral and vintage cross-stitch designs surround Athena’s cradle .
“I got very excited when I saw it. I was like, I didn’t even know what to do and how to do it and of course they do it because they’re professionals,” Maria — who shares Athena with her husband, keven undergaro – tells We, “And so, for me, it’s not that I don’t want an Architectural Digest house. I want something that means something.
There is also a “little pink elephant” among Athena’s many toys, with Maria saying she hopes it will one day have great significance for her daughter. “I still have my first stuffed animal that my father got me at the hospital [I know] That’s how much it means to me,” she explains. “So, I wanted to be able to bring her the first toy or stuffed animal. And so that’s it.”
In addition to a well-stocked bookshelf, rocking chair, and a large pillow for “tummy time,” Athena has plenty of adorable outfits for her parents to dress her in. “She has a little butterfly dress on,” explains the “Heal Squad” podcast host We, “I call her my Petlauda, which is butterfly in Greek. That’s why I’m only talking to her in Greek, [as is] my father. And then, Abuelita Violeta speaks to him in Spanish. And so, we want it to be multilingual.”
Of all Athena’s clothing items, Mariah loves a pair of baby Nike sneakers gifted to her by a fan. “This is one of my favorite little pieces. It was given to me by a listener of my show whose brain tumor I helped,” she says. “And so, she custom designed these shoes with the lemon logo from my show, ‘Heel Squad.'”
A unique feature of Athena’s nursery is a full-size bed for the baby’s nanny – or her parents – on which Athena can rest while she sleeps. “If [Athena’s] “Sleeping for a while can make the baby nurse faint,” Maria explains. “We all have a little space to rest, so we have beds right here.”
For room design, Maria suggests We She wanted it to be “awesome” and “really nice and simple”. In fact, most of the nursery decor is from Target and Wayfair. She shared, “You know, I didn’t want to worry about creating the perfect nursery and we should have this and we should have that.”
She adds: “I also want her to grow up to be as normal as possible, even though she is still in unusual circumstances. I want her to grow up to be somewhat like me. So, I found out at the last minute, my designers had set up my studio – ‘Heal Squad’ – I said, ‘Can you help me out with the room?’ And, of course, they made it beautiful, but on a budget, so it was really cool.
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