In case you missed it the first time,
Nightwood is an awesome new
furniture and design company based in Brooklyn that works with
salvaged wood,
fabric scraps, and other rough-but-pretty materials. The founders of the company, Myriah Scruggs and Nadia Yaron, also have a pretty sweet house, of which they've graciously let us have a
photo tour (and for which they've given commentary). Prepare to swoon.
From Myriah: "[This] was our first apartment after moving back from Los
Angeles last June (2007). It is in Clinton Hill [Brooklyn] and we both love this
neighborhood so much. We have been in this neighborhood (aside from
the brief and terrible stint in Los Angeles) for four years. The
apartment itself was a large source of inspiration to do many of the
things we've begun. It basically started here. We were on a budget
and needed furniture fast. We left everything in LA, so we got
creative. The apartment was a godsend and I will never stop being
grateful to my landlord for picking us out the hundreds of willing and
qualified applicants."
"The dresser and turquoise wooden armchair in the bedroom were the first pieces we found from the local "junk" guy called crazy Eddie," she says. "We knew about him from living a block away from his garage stash before. Cheap stuff. When we found the dresser it was painted this lilac color, so right off the bat, we had to do some reworking. A lot of
spray paint later it was the jumping-off point for everything else. The house has already had many faces. It gets a rearrangement and refresh every three months or so."
"My first wood-building outings were the benches from the bathroom [not shown] and bedroom shots. One is made entirely from twigs found at the park [see left] and the other from a beautiful and pre-cut bunch of perfectly stained 2 x 4s found on my way home," Myriah says.
[Ed. note: If you are not in love yet, you're crazy, people!]
"AND we built the bed. Couldn't find one, so we built it. It is a simple platform but we actually had to purchase the wood from Home Depot without a car. We used this homemade cart I made to wheel it home. On Labor Day. It was very hot that day, but the bed is great, we love it and it's still standing, works great."
Bedside table detail shot. Simple and soothing.
A pulled-back view of the bedroom. "Nadia's first experiment with rag rugging is in this photo. She is still experimenting with
rugs (on chairs)," Myriah says. I love how these really old-fashioned techniques can turn out the most modern, avant-garde-looking pieces.
A clean, white
bathroom shot.
The coffee table in the living room is
their own design, as are the pillows on the sofa. (And look at that great historic Clinton Hill wall/archway detailing!)
Have I mentioned yet that I'm obsessed with
big, round mirrors? I went nuts for one in
Domino several months back (which was, naturally, sold out immediately and out of my price range anyway), and I'm very jealous that they have two. The wood art to the left of the mirror is by the duo as well. Myriah says, "I wanted art for the walls, but with limited funds I just got creative with the extra wood, and the wood flag wall hanging in the office/dining area was the result. It is basically a smaller scale version of a headboard idea I was working on."
Myriah and Nadia painted an antique floor lamp they found on the street bright blue, making it feel completely contemporary and fun. They also turned a nearby bench (also their work) into a cozy dog bed nook.
If you haven't heard,
mismatched chairs might be The Design Trend of 2008. And we still like it anyway. "We found that this neighborhood was a gold mine of cast-out furniture and supplies. People were always putting beautiful hardwood items on the street and there are some secret treasure troves around the neighborhood," Myriah says. Their chairs are an assortment on these sidewalk finds, inherited pieces, and flea market purchases, and make a lovely
Three Bears sort of statement gathered around the table.
Related links on Shine:
More personal style in action on Lucky magazine's Cute Outfit of the Day blog
More Brooklyn style at the city's newest flea market
More easy, cheap ways to add arty coolness to your place
