February 26-March 3, 2004

cover story

And Baby Makes Three

It's a boy's room: A nursery awaits Larry Mendte and Dawn Stensland's baby. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Like the proud, expectant parents they are, a media power couple readies a nursery.

by Brian Hickey

Dawn Stensland and Larry Mendte lead a charmed life. They each anchor a nightly news show, on channels 29 and 3, respectively, and when they head home in the early mornings, they stroll into a charming, two-story Chestnut Hill pad. Out front, wrought-iron gates mark their semicircle driveway. Out back, a creek winds past an ample back yard that doubles as a playground for Buddy, their playful yet protective 4-year-old white German shepherd.

Well, things are about to get even better. Come April 16 -- or sometime thereabout -- their nearly four years of marriage will take a new turn. For it's on that date that Michael Lawrence Mendte is expected to be born.

Though Larry has two college-aged children from a previous marriage, Michael will be their first -- and, they say, hopefully not last -- child together. Not only will he be entering a world where two photogenic, financially secure lovebirds await, but there'll be a cozy, custom-designed bedroom waiting as well.

A few months back, Dawn announced on air that she and Larry are expecting. Away from the public glare, in-house planning soon started. In other words, bye-bye spare bedroom and the extra storage space therein. Sure, it was kind of a pain to box up a room full of various stuff and jam it into available closet space, but celebrity has its perks. Designing said nursery was just a little bit easier than what most parents experience.

At last month's Philadelphia Home Show, dream rooms were designed for local-television figures and were displayed at the Convention Center. Dawn got together with Bonnie Richman of Karl's Furniture and dreamt up a room fit for her son. (We'd say Dawn and Larry did the dreaming, except hadn't the latter admitted the other day that "Dawn's been doing everything.")

There was a crib, toy box and dresser with a changing table custom-painted with boys and puppies to match the light, pastel upholstery of the glider and ottoman. On the back wall there were seven hand-painted letters that spelled out Michael's name.

It was, in a word, cute.

But all along, Dawn and Larry had been planning on a Winnie the Pooh theme -- "Pastel Pooh, or something like that," she says. After all, Dawn's sister had gone that direction; the anchor verified her plans by showing off a Pooh quilt. But that just wasn't to be.

"Larry just looked at it and said, "Why don't we just get all of this? It's perfect,'" Dawn recalled of the Home Show display, moments after a worker sporting measuring tape left with dimensions for the soon-to-arrive carpet that will match the "afternoon delight" yellow paint on the walls. "So, that's what we did."

Today, much of the furniture from the display is set up in a bedroom right next door to Dawn and Larry's. Family pictures line the windowsills near the trundle bed. Teddy bears -- "they're gifts from Larry. I love teddy bears!" Dawn explained -- occupy a corner by the walk-in closet. Baby outfits sit atop the changing table just waiting to be worn. A custom-painted border will soon be added to the walls.

Granted, setting up a nursery is not this easy, or financially feasible, for everybody, but Philadelphians with babies on board should take heart in knowing it's not all that difficult a process. Adam Richman, whose family has operated Karl's for the past eight decades, says a little planning can go a long way.

"A lot of times, as soon as they find out they're pregnant, they'll come in [to the store] to get even more excited about it," Richman said recently in the store near Eighth and Chestnut. "But they really need to get serious about purchasing about four to six months into the pregnancy."

A quick look at the Karl's showroom -- not to mention countless catalogs and parenting checklists -- drives that point home.

Furniture? Well, there are bassinets, cribs, changing tables, dressers and armoires, gliders and ottomans, hampers, mattresses and toy chests to worry about. (One company offers more than a dozen crib varieties, available in seven different hues. The French-Canadian outfit that produced the trundle bed at the Home Show boasts of 40 different colors, including at least seven that eerily resemble white.)

What'll go on the furniture? Try bedding for the bassinet, cradle and crib. Accessories? For starters, there are diaper pails, mobiles, night lights and pillows. (And that's without even mentioning safety concerns to prevent the child from, as Larry put it, "drinking a bunch of Clorox" like in those stories aired during the television-ratings sweeps.)

Looking for a theme that'll hold it all together? Well, a Web site for Babies "R" Us has 10, and each has a slew of sub-themes. (Like the "cars, planes and trains" motif? Well, then decide if Beep Beep, Little City or Locomotion is the perfect fit.)

Yes, there are countless choices when it comes to designing -- and organizing -- a new nursery, but there are two issues that normally arise: Price and adaptability. When it comes to the former, Richman says the cost can range. "Everybody's budget is different," he says. The cost "can go from $5,000 to $15,000, and even higher."

Cribs run from $399, with some in the $3,500 range. (And that's without a mattress, which goes for an additional $119 at least.) Dressers start from $450 and can reach several thousand dollars. Dressing tables? Oh, at least $300.

With all that money going into it, no wonder most folks lean toward the furniture that can stick around for years: Cribs that become small beds, diaper-changing stations that become dressers, and other pieces that "grow with the child."

"It's a very exciting time for parents and grandparents. Besides the wedding, it's the most exciting time of their life, and they get very into it. They want something unique, different and fun," Richman says, nothing that procrastinators -- even without planning -- can call the store and have a nursery set up in the matter of 24 hours. "It's like buying a car, but with a specialty store like ours, you can get any nursery your heart desires."

Kinda just like Dawn and Larry did.

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