World’s Proudest Gran gets room wallpapered with family pictures

Carmen models her unique clothing against her grandchildren wallpaper backdrop!

PEOPLE often think of Great Britain as a land of rather endearing eccentrics.

But now, North Carolina can stake a claim to that boast thanks to Carmen Baugh, who found a unique way to show she’s the world’s proudest gran.

Her wallpaper, tablecloth, curtains, cushions and even her clothes are covered with custom-printed photos of her two grandchildren.

The highlight is a 150-square-foot wall papered with nothing but pictures of them.

“When I stand against the wallpaper, my husband says I disappear!” laughs Carmen (66) in a sensational Southern accent straight out of Gone With The Wind.

“When my daughter Kristin’s kids first saw it, my grandaughter who’s six just said: ‘Oh my!’

“Then the little one, he’s three, rushed into the living-room and they were soon both pointing to all their pictures.

“They loved it!”

Carmen discovered she could achieve this quirky look because her other daughter Kelly is office manager at Spoonflower, an online firm that lets customers design, print and sell their own fabric and wallpaper.

“We moved in a year ago and it was just an idea that came: ‘Let’s do it, and make it fun,’” she adds.

“We moved to Raleigh to be closer to our grandchildren after my husband and I both retired.

“It worked out great, as our grandkids live only a mile and a half from us.

“Somebody asked me what we’d do if our other daughter Kelly has children and I just said: ‘That’s no problem, we have other rooms!’”

Does Carmen realise she’ll have to keep the room like that until the kids are old enough to go to their school prom?

And how about if they insist their dates pick them up from her house for maximum embarrassment?

“What a wonderful idea! I love that, it would be pretty cool — or pretty cruel!” she laughs.

As we Brits are meant to be the eccentric ones, does Carmen have any British blood in her veins?

“Actually my great-grandfather was from Newport, England, but I was born in Colombia, South America, and grew up in New Orleans,” she says.

A talented seamstress, Carmen now has another outlet for her artistic side, a children’s clothing design company she runs with her two sisters.

As she explains: “I taught home economics in junior high, sixth and seventh grade before I had my children.

“And for years my sisters and I talked about doing something because we’re all very creative in sewing, so two years ago, we decided to just do it and now we have an online store selling the children’s clothing we make.

“It’s been a lot of fun and we’re very, very busy sewing.

“The store’s called Three Marias Designs because all our first names are Maria!

“It can be fun saying to people: ‘I’m Maria, this is my sister Maria and my other sister Maria!’ — but we all go by our second names.

“Actually, my mother’s name was also Maria and her five sisters were all named Maria, too.”

Eccentricity runs in the family!