A Jewelry Designer’s Pretty Nest in Vermont

Name: Tamar Frenkel-Schechner of Nest Pretty Things, husband, two of my adult sons (temporarily), and our cat
Location: Shelburne, Vermont
Size: 1200 square feet
Years lived in: 13 years, owned

I’m a New Yorker originally but lived in Israel for most of my life, and in NYC for years when I attended Parsons School of Design in the early ’80s; my husband and I moved to Vermont from Tel Aviv in 2005. Jewelry designing is my second career; I worked as fashion editor and creative director for 20 years before we came here. I really wanted to get into interior design but ended up designing jewelry while building my interior design business, which was very slow and not as lucrative as I hoped. Jewelry designing quickly became my full-time job!

My husband and I are co-partners in the business; he is a cinematographer but jumped into the business when it grew beyond my ability to do everything on my own. We have three sons, all in the arts: a 27 year old about to go to grad school for photography and teaching, a 25 year old who is a professional photographer, and a 23 year old who is about to graduate from Pratt Institute in Architecture. Two of my sons are living at home with us at the moment, and I love this! It feels like a little community, very different from when they were kids.

Our home is very eclectic. I am attracted to textiles, colors, art, but I also love a white palette and Scandinavian style. I come from a family of artists and all of our art pieces are by family members.

What is your favorite room and why? My favorite room is the living room. It’s cozy and comfortable with big cushy couches and chairs, lots of pillows and textiles, and a big bay window overlooking the garden and my favorite lilac tree.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I would open up the kitchen wall and take down the ceiling to create more height. Also I would magically renovate the upstairs bathroom. We just finished redoing the downstairs bath two years ago and the upstairs bath is next.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Just keep it simple. We never spend too much money on anything since we love to change things around a lot. I get very bored with just one style for too long. I love a home that’s cozy and full of character, mix and match colors. And always have fresh flowers in the house.

Thanks, Tamar!

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