The Graceful Nest: Embracing the warmth of heart and home

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

December 30, 2024

WAUPUN – The Graceful Nest boutique has brought cozy farmhouse home decor to Waupun’s downtown and the surrounding area.

The new home decor shop, located at 11 N. Madison St. in Waupun, features an assortment of handmade treasures, which Angelica Grebel – who co-owns the shop with her sister, Rebecca Pickart – said will add warmth and coziness to any home.

Though The Graceful Nest venture is new for the duo, this isn’t their first foray into home design and decor.

In August 2022, the pair started Lavender Valley Designs, LLC, which focuses primarily on crafting and selling mostly wooden home decor at craft fairs, shows and later, on Etsy.

But as the sisters toured the craft show circuit, they said visitors who took their business cards repeatedly asked, “Where can I find your store?” 

“I thought, ‘well, it’s at my kitchen table’ – but eventually, we started looking around for a location,” Grebel said.

When the time was right, the sisters said they canvassed shop options in the area (Grebel lives in Beaver Dam and Pickart in Randall) with the initial idea of renting a storefront.

But when available properties’ rents proved to be too expensive, Grebel said she and her husband, Jay Kroneman, decided to purchase the property on Madison Street in May 2024. 

“We liked the building and Waupun is a cute little destination area with its downtown,” she said. “There are so many cute little shops and boutiques, and it’s exploded (in growth) over the past few years.”

Grebel said Kroneman, who owns Timeless Remodeling & Design, was able to work to update the one-bedroom apartment above the store right away.

However, she said they had to wait for the business then occupying the main level to finish its lease before they could remodel the storefront.

Then, Grebel said, the time crunch was on.

“The tenant left at the end of October, and I needed to be ready to set up for opening the week before our grand opening Nov. 23, so that left two weeks for my husband to completely redo the place,” she said. 

Grebel said he made it happen – from leveling the angled floor, adding new flooring and renovating the bathroom, to painting all the walls, installing updated electrical, adding new light fixtures and creating a new focal point.

The sisters said their father, a former cabinet maker, built a custom checkout counter for them in a herringbone pattern, while Kroneman replaced a niche wall with an entirely new fireplace that Grebel said showcases many of the store’s wares.

Though a mad dash to the finish, Grebel said they pulled together the storefront just in time for the grand opening.

“Everyone who walks in says, ‘Oh, it’s so beautiful and homey in here,’” she said. “It’s warm and cozy, and everything is decorated. That’s where the name came from –  the desire to create a nest of sorts with a cozy home.”

Grebel said walls and displays throughout the many rooms of the 1,000-square-foot store feature not only their wood creations – which include wooden, hand-painted snowmen, handmade winter signs and nativity scenes – but also a variety of greenery, garland and wreaths reflective of the season.

In addition, she said the store features wall art and an assortment of carefully curated home decor.

She said they have been pleasantly surprised by how well-received the store was upon opening.

“We don’t have anything that hasn’t sold,” she said.

A long history

Grebel said the welcoming and warm environment is quite a contrast to the building’s original use when it was built in 1855 – as a women’s prison.

Through the years, the property has been used for several other purposes, including as a post office and two photography businesses, but the sisters said it is their intention to honor its history.

“There is a ton of character here, and we brought a lot of that back with the remodel instead of covering it and making it modern,” Grebel said. “The front area is open, but then there are rooms to the back that are kind of chopped up, like old buildings tend to be.”

Grebel said they’ve seized an opportunity with that setup to highlight different design features in each space.

New items come in weekly, the sisters said, and they are intentional about redesigning displays several times a week to keep things fresh.

Grebel said the storefront features two large picture windows, one of which features a Christmas tree for the holidays – with the other showcasing a variety of gift ideas, which set the tone before customers even enter the store.

“I just redid one display over the weekend, and will be changing that up on a regular basis because that’s something that will draw people in,” she said.

The decorating duo said the display features tap into their creative and interior design sides.

In addition to creating mostly handmade wood items, Grebel said Lavender Valley Designs offers interior design services including holiday decorating as well as fully decorating newly built homes.

Powered by family, community support

Though Grebel said she and Pickart are not newcomers to juggling a business alongside full-time jobs, setting up the boutique did have its surprises.

“There’s a lot of work when you open a store,” she said. “Unpacking and pricing everything, figuring out the POS (point of sale) – it’s all way more than you would think. But we’re doing better than I had hoped for in terms of the store’s performance.”

Grebel and Pickart said they are grateful for not only their families’ support but also the support of the Waupun business community.

“We’re right off Main Street, and most of the businesses on Main Street have stopped in, handed out flyers for our open houses in their businesses and sent people our way,” Grebel said. “And city hall has some wonderful people who have answered all our questions and offered ideas to make our business successful.”

The sisters said they’re looking forward to participating in some of the many downtown business events in the future, from wine walks to beer and cider walks.

Grebel said she is currently in conversation with several other business owners about hosting a Valentine’s Day Girls’ Night that takes attendees from business to business to enjoy hors d’oeuvres, for example. 

“There’s always something going on downtown,” she said. 

Grebel said The Graceful Nest has capitalized on both aligning itself with fellow businesses, as well as using social media and its craft fairs to spread the word about the store.

Pickart and Grebel said they have found the farmhouse decor at the heart of both their businesses appeals to many people.

“Farmhouse resonates with a lot of people,” Grebel said. “Growing up, our mom decorated for every season and holiday as a tradition, and we grew up to do the same in our own houses and (what we offer in the store) is very similar.”

The store is currently open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Grebel said her full-time job offers some flexibility that allows her to help staff the store – with Pickart picking up other hours to make things work.

The sisters said they may expand their hours in the future, but only if it syncs with fellow businesses’ hours to ensure there is more than one storefront open to draw people downtown.

Grebel said she believes the store’s location is an advantage, being just 15 minutes from Fond du Lac, half an hour from Oshkosh, less than an hour from the Fox Valley and an easy jaunt off Hwy 151 for customers from Madison.

“It’s a great location that’s not too far from anywhere,” Grebel said.