Loving Every Corner
It is February, the month of LOVE and it is time to love ever corner of your space. I love fine-tuning nooks to optimize the level of cozy. In some spaces it’s a challenge to make said corner cute or cozy while in other spaces it’s impossible to NOT fall in love with every single inch. So what is the secret? Let me share what I’ve learned over the past five years from my weirdly shaped NYC apartment to a tiny bunker of a space in Nashville to finally, our townhome in Franklin.
In our New York City apartment I had two favorite nooks that I instantly gravitated towards. They both happened to be by windows; one in our kitchen and one in our bedroom. In the kitchen there was a perfect amount of space adjacent to the oven to put in a cozy reading nook. I invested in a three cube window-seat with space for storage underneath. I dressed it with cozy farmhouse pillows and we later repurposed the cushion with heirloom gingham fabric. This window wasn’t particularly special… it was quite the opposite actually. It literally looked into another apartment. But it became a portal and spying stoop into other New Yorker’s kitchens and lives. I felt like a character in Rear Window. I got a lot of writing and online shopping and post audition tears done in this little outpost.
My other corner nook in this apartment was in our bedroom overlooking the park. I placed my France chair directly underneath our beautiful hanging pathos and right next to the window. I lived for the scents of flowers and distant cookouts the window wafted in. Just beyond this window was our fire escape which we playfully called our “deck.” In these instances, plants and pillows turned these nooks into cozy havens. Each instantly went from just a place by a window to a space capable of transporting one somewhere else.
With our move from New York to Nashville came the opportunity to evolve our design aesthetic. I went for western farmhouse vibes whereas our NYC apartment was much more Nautical Chic. Our apartment felt like a cozy basement. It was literally built into a hill and a staircase led you down into it. We jokingly called it “the bunker.” To be transparent, this apartment needed serious help. We both agreed some big bulb lights and mirrors on the darkest wall could make its uninviting corners into warm alluring ones. It’s amazing what light can do for a space. The lights created a magical aesthetic. The twinkle reflected in the strategically placed mirrors and created bright warm tones. My husband also happened to find a gorgeous bohemian ottoman on the streets of New York City right before our move. This tucked perfectly into a corner and immediately became yet another whimsical nook complete with Morrocan pillow and cozy throw.
When we first laid eyes on our Franklin townhouse the room and project that jumped out right away was the room right off of the entryway. Previous tenants had made it the dining room but I knew it would be our library. We have thousands of books after all. It’s a small room but we’ve turned it into our largest and coziest nook to date. It’s a multipurpose space where we invite people to read, work, drink, and gather. The pieces that brought the space together included two circular mirrors above two secondhand navy accent chairs, and our beloved cowhide rug on diagonal stretching towards our the entry hallway. The space resembles that of a captain’s quarters, complete with a vintage flask a top our DIY bar cart. I love that it houses most of our books in a creative and aesthetically pleasing way. My favorite kind of evening is a bourbon night cap in my chair, design magazine in lap, and tobacco candle lit in the library. If I’ve learned anything from this pandemic… it is to love every corner of your home. Curate a space that feels like an escape. Think of your favorite restaurant or cafe and bring those alluring qualities to your own home. Make your corners overflowing with cozy and fun. Love it all. Embrace the process of nesting one nook at a time.
Pressing Pause to Recreate.
We are so programmed to think busy = success. Looking back on my regular New York City regimes, it is clear that I was surviving on this mentality. A typical day in New York City as a working actress looked like an early wake up, two heavy packed bags, a crowded subway ride to midtown, an audition or two (or THREE!), another crowded subway ride to work which usually involved rushing to get to babysitting, or an admin role, or rehearsal on time, and then a long crowded subway ride home to then turn right back around to head downtown to meet friends, or perform in a cabaret, or produce a concert. Exhilarating, right? It was. And I didn’t know any different. That is what the city was to me and I loved it and thrived on the hustle.
When the pandemic hit, I had no choice but to pause and finally sit with my thoughts and other passions. I had just come off of one of the most successful chapters of my career. From Summer 2019 to the shutdown on March 12th, 2020, I performed at one of the premiere regional theatres in the northeast, originated roles in two plays in NYC, performed in a new work trilogy, produced and performed in a concert, performed in a new works concert, and performed Off Broadway in a revival of a musical. I remember thinking, “I am so tired I just want a second to breathe!” Little did I know a year (and even more!) of no theatre would ensue and I’d be questioning my identity and purpose.
I had no choice but to refine and shift my perspective. Without theatre; my life’s dream, I had to dig deep and discover what else makes me tick. I finally had time and space to ponder on this. I had time to dream up new things. I had the time and I embraced it.
I enjoy performing because I enjoy connecting with an audience. With this in mind I considered other careers that engage with people on the regular. I dabbled in wedding styling, barista techniques, and other varying customer service roles but while pursuing these new roles, I realized I was finding the most joy when I retreated home to redesign and decorate our new home. We moved from NYC to Nashville, Tennessee, our old college stomping grounds and the city we always said we’d come back to. The pandemic was the catalyst for our move and the creator in me hungered to turn our home space into a haven of opportunity.
While decorating and sharing ideas and repurposed projects on social media platforms, friends and family, and especially my husband pushed me to seek out opportunities to turn this hobby into a career. If I’ve learned anything from this pause, it’s that you don’t have to be busy to rethink. It’s the moments we take a second for ourself and our soul we recognize what our heart really wants.
I want to help people turn their space into their own havens. I want to encourage people to take their lives and careers into their own hands. You can be the boss of our own destiny. Stop letting people dictate what your dreams can or cannot be. While theatre may be paused, it will be back. And in the mean time, I’m taking this pause to recreate and re-find. I’ve found much of myself in this parallel career and I’m excited to keep uncovering her.