Mariah Carey shows off twins' lavish L.A. nursery

Apr 19, 2011

Mariah Carey shows off twins' lavish L.A. nursery

01:30 PM

';sclListTop +='';sclListTop +='

';document.write(sclListTop);

';document.write(sclListBottom);

Print

Mariah Carey was so shy about her pregnancy in the beginning.

Now she has bared her belly - twice - and is opening her home to Life & Stylemagazine (on newsstands Friday) for a first peek at the nurseries that she and husband Nick Cannon have created at their Bel-Air, Calif. estate and in their New York apartment.

"I wanted to create a beautiful, tranquil, cozy environment for the babies," Mariah tells Life & Style. "Everything matches, but pieces are individualized to celebrate the twins as separate entities."

Separate, but equally glam, was the goal.

Carey worked on the L.A. nursery with veteran decorator Mario Buatta and Gail Sedigh of AFK Furniture. It was "challenging," she says, "because I had such specific ideas I wanted implemented. I feel like I'm bringing two individuals into the world, so I wanted to do more than cookie-cutter styles in blue and pink."

Nick, in fact, wanted pink and green bedding.

Mariah's favorite part of the twins' LA nursery? The cloudscape, star-speckled ceiling. "The ceiling has orangey-pink clouds in a blue sky with golden stars twinkling. It's based on two songs I wrote that are fan favorites: Underneath the Stars and Close My Eyes," Mariah tells Life & Style. "Sometimes I just sit in the nursery and stare at the ceiling because I love it so much. To me, it symbolizes wanting my children to dream as big as possible and to let their imaginations be unbridled."

Mariah also incorporated her favorite winged insects, butterflies, into the nursery and stuffed-animal lambs, which is what the singer calls her fans.

"Being a mother is probably the hardest job in the world. I feel like, in a lot of ways, children come into the world to teach us," Mariah says. "It's going to be a delicate balance between raising them around glitz and glamour and keeping them grounded. One thing I'm sure of is that I'll be grateful for the twins every day, no matter what."

See photos of: Mariah Carey

Janet Jackson Giuliana DePandi Whitney Port Pamela Anderson Vanessa Simmons