Pixabay/Getty Baby's crib, Tarek and Heather El Moussa
After planning for many months to achieve their ideal design, Heather and Tarek El Moussa have given fans a first look at their baby boy’s “luxe” nursery ahead of his impending arrival. The couple, whose new HGTV show “The Flipping El Moussas” premieres in March, unveiled the black and white nursery during an “Access Hollywood” segment on January 3, 2023, and in a separate video tour hours later on Instagram. While most of their fans loved the overall design, many experienced moms urged the couple to think twice about several design elements.
Heather El Moussa Calls Nursery Theme ‘Blacks and Whites and Elephants’
During the “Access Hollywood” segment, the El Moussas shared their excitement about welcoming their baby boy, confirming his due date is this month. Though Heather treasures her role as a “bonus mom” to Tarek’s children with ex-wife Christina Hall, 12-year-old Taylor and seven-year-old Brayden, the new baby will be her first.
While planning the nursery, Heather has asked her fans for design input along the way in her Instagram Stories, but has not shared the results until now. In the TV tour, they revealed the nursery centers around her favorite animals: elephants. After Tarek pointed out that his wife has an elephant tattoo on her wrist, she opened up about the inspiration for the design.
“Yeah, I love elephants,” she said, “so as soon as we found out we were having a baby, I was like ‘The room has to be elephants.’ We wanted it to be, like, a very calming room. So…blacks and whites and elephants!”
The black and white wallpapered room includes three framed elephant art prints hanging on one wall, a rocking elephant (instead of a rocking horse), felt elephants hanging from a mobile, floating shelves displaying elephant art and stuffed animals, and a gray blanket with a white elephant design hung over the side of the crib.
Heather’s Instagram video tour was part of a paid partnership with nursery furnishings retailer Babyletto, which the mom-to-be said had everything they needed to achieve the look they wanted after “months and months and months” of design planning. They wound up choosing a three-in-one convertible crib Heather said she’s “obsessed with” because it’s black with light wood slats. She said it inspired the rest of her furniture choices, including a white dresser with a black changing table on top of it, another black dresser, and a low-back, black velvet swivel chair.
Fans Urge El Moussas to ‘Reconsider’ Chair & Other Nursery Design Elements
While many of Heather’s Instagram followers swooned over her design choices, many fans urged the first-time mom to alter several things in the room before the baby arrives. The main point of contention from experienced moms was Heather’s chair choice — Babyletto’s “Madison” black velvet glider with a rounded, low back.
In her Instagram video, Heather explained, “I’m obsessed with velvet, so when I saw this chair at Babyletto, I was so excited. I’m like, ‘Yay! Velvet chair!'”
Parents flooded her post with warnings, recommending that the El Moussas get a high-back rocker or glider that will support their backs and allow them to rest their heads during late-night feedings.
“You’re going to want another chair I’m sorry Heather,” one fan wrote, adding a laughing emoji. “Definitely going to want something you can take a lil nappy nap in while bonding”
Another commented, “4th time mom here! That chair will be your worst nightmare. You should get something with a high back, that rocks, with tall sides for elbow support and an easy to clean material. Obviously it’s your nursery but I’m just warning you, this will be very uncomfortable and hard to keep clean.”
Though the chair was the most-talked-about item in the room, Heather also received suggestions from fans, including several who pointed out safety concerns like having a window above the crib or not carrying in germs by wearing shoes in the room, like she was in the video.
Some fans defended Heather, including one who wrote, “Why do people feel the urge to put down new moms? The room is adorable; maybe it’ll need adjustments, maybe it’ll be perfect. And if you got it right the first time, bite your tongue because the rest of us didn’t. Being kind costs zero.”