Paul Miller
Interior Designer Through millwork and masonry, furnishings and finishes, lighting and leaps of faith, MakeNest Interiors transforms spaces with thoughtful decisions based on core design principles. In our ‘Why We Did That’ series, we take you behind our recommendations.
Our client at Nest #601 is all about good stories. So much so, that in her profession she works with public libraries. Want to talk books, films and TV with her? She has a list of good stories you should check out. For her home office, we wanted to fashion a space right out of a cozy novel. The kind where no matter what goes awry, by the end a clever detective is pulling all the loose threads together in a memorable denouement.
Her short list of must-haves included hardwood floors, bookcases, a warm fire and a place for the (would-be) mistress of the house (an adorable Boston terrier named Sasha) to sit and look out the window. After all, Sasha would say she was born to witness something suspicious in the garden.
For this design, I decided to lean into the dark academia aesthetic. This design trend has been growing in resonance for a few years now and there are a lot of write-ups out there about the style. For quick reference, dark academia takes stylistic and cultural cues from old university libraries and the environs in which one might find the scholars who haunt them. Key elements of the aesthetic include moody tones, books and bookcases, quirky art and vintage furnishings. There is typically polish and elegance to the look, although it is not necessarily formal.
For this project, the look found its footing with the wallpaper, a William Morris-inspired floral with a rich green field, white flowers and slithering vines. I chose an embroidered linen weave for the roman shades to add a maximalist dimension and make the windows an airy contrast. The sumptuous sofa in gold chenille offers another visual highlight and that pup perch that was in the mandate.
Our carpenter used millwork to add character to the room and to help blend architectural styles among two contemporary bookcases and a decidedly Edwardian mantel. We styled the mantel shelf with an assortment of accents from our collection and local antique stores to create the kind of storied layers that really suit this design. The flowers in the pair of vintage green urns are fabricated from dried and dyed wood shavings and represent what I think of as the best kind of artificial greenery: intentional, earnest, and arty. Felt flowers or paper ones are also better choices than silk.
Antique brass accents in desk lighting and the connecting bathroom hardware provide the perfect rich, warm finish. New tile in the bathroom features dramatic marbling in shades of sable, rust and ivory. The furniture-like vanity adds yet another hue of green, while elegant brass sconces create shadow play that would be perfectly at home in a grand film noir.
The leafy print on the custom, pleated shower curtain in the bathroom is repeated on a sofa pillow, ensuring that the office suit feels luxurious and well-knitted together from space to space.
In this rich, inviting suite, our client can celebrate one aspect of her own story, that of a woman who brings a detective’s alertness to her work, while ensuring that a host of public libraries are served so that they can serve their communities in turn. The only mystery left to solve now is how one is supposed to put aside work with a home office this gorgeous.
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After Photos: Matthew Lofton
Before
A designer’s every choice is intentional, mindful of scale and proportion, rhythm and harmony, contrast and texture. Our ‘Why We Did That’ series is a bite-sized dive into one-off changes, big and small, that are part of our home transformations.
Interested in learning how we can bring change to your nest? Give our studio a call at 540-336-3385 or hit the button below to tell us more about your project.
