NEST

For the birds, bees, and beetles?

NEST is nestled in Chelsea, just off the main thoroughfare on 9th Avenue. I first spotted it on a nighttime stroll past the lit window. I drooled.

Graphic pillows, creatively bright furniture, and yes... beetles frozen in blocks of resin. The strangest paperweight I'd ever seen. I was intrigued. I had to go back. Window shopping is a gateway drug.

Stopped in on a dull afternoon to take a look around. The layout of the place reads like the attic of an eccentric professor. Whimsy is the word of the day, not kitsch. In Chelsea, that's a hard distinction to come by.

Sitting in the back far corner behind a well stocked bookshelf of unexpected knickknacks was Lana Sexton, who runs the shop with her husband Henry Stozek. It was clear from our conversation that she takes pride in what she puts out, and told me that many of the diverse pieces come from local artists, including furniture from Brooklyn craftspeople.

Good design, in my humble (somewhat informed) (slightly entitled) opinion tells a story. Every single piece in NEST has that essence in it. It's the Natural History Museum exploded into a closet, or a pre-picked flea-market with only the best, being sold out of a deliciously adorned trunk.

What's more is that if you like the vibe as much as I do (and something tells me you will) Lana also offers services as a design consultant. From the beautiful to the bizzare, NEST is a must for any New Yorker in need of inspiration.

Come on, you'd have never thought to make that cockroach under your fridge into fine art.

INFO:

NEST
172A 9TH Ave. (btw 20 + 21ST)
212-337-3441