Interviews
Studio Hour with Curated Nest
Curated Nest, a boutique residential design studio based in Fairfield County, Connecticut, believes that your home should enhance your authentic everyday life.
Co-founders Lina Galvão and Erin Coren design spaces that are rooted in functionality and family living. There’s no better example of that than Creative Director Erin’s home - an effortlessly layered 1930s Storybook Tudor. Full of charm and personal touches, it became the backdrop for Hudson Valley Lighting’s newest collection, French Farmstead. While getting an intimate home tour, HVLG sat down with Lina and Erin to talk about their creative process, design obsessions, and balancing beauty and function.
Q: What’s igniting your creative spark these days?
Lina: Travel experiences have been a huge source of inspiration over the past couple of years. Beyond attending design shows, we've been diving into artisan workshops and meeting the talented people behind the products. It’s led to a greater appreciation for artistry, manufacturing, and the craft itself. On a recent trip to Deco Off / Maison & Objet in Paris, we discovered several small production fabric houses, which we’re excited to feature in upcoming projects. We even toured a lighting studio featuring traditional handmade bronze lighting, in operation since the 1800s! The internet goes a long way, but experiencing design in person is endlessly invigorating.
Q: Walk us through your studio and desk setup. What's always within arm’s reach when you're deep in a project?
Lina: Our studio has a couple of private offices and an open-concept desk setup for our team, with big screens, a must at each workspace! Our main creative area is our conference room, where the design magic happens. Erin is the queen of this space, holding working meetings with our designers throughout the day and taking Zooms with clients and trades. It’s a very energetic work environment – we’re all passionate about what we do, and we often share inspirational photos in the group chat throughout the week. Everyone’s desk has cute notebooks filled with site visit notes, and a slew of fabric and tile samples we’re considering. No such thing as pristine desks here when we’re deep in projects, but that’s what makes each day different and interesting.
Q: What’s a small design detail you obsess over that others might overlook?
Erin: In a residential home, we are always balancing function versus aesthetics. One detail that clients rarely think about is outlets and switches. Meanwhile, we obsess! We love using decorative switches in metallic finishes. They can be pricier, but they are the jewelry of the space, along with hardware and lighting. Beautiful switches add an extra layer of polish to a space. As for outlets, we love using the most minimally intrusive style, which gets inset directly into the wall, especially in kitchen backsplashes, and creating hidden charging stations or drawers to minimize cord clutter.
Q: Is there a project that taught you something surprising about how light can shape space or feeling?
Erin: In every project, our goal is to add multiple layers of lighting. We find that while a statement chandelier is beautiful, it may fall short in fulfilling all the lighting needs in the space, whether it’s for function or mood. So, the idea is to always incorporate layers of lighting, such as under-counter lights for tasks, recessed lights for general illumination, a statement light for beauty, and lower, smaller lights like sconces and lamps for mood or spotlighting. Dimmers and the proper bulb temperature (2700k please!) are non-negotiables in our projects, and smart home features that allow you to create lighting pre-sets are optional but wonderful to have if the budget allows.
Q: Looking back, what do you hope people feel when they walk into a space you’ve designed?
Erin: It depends on the space and what it’s for, but it should always feel intentional. Some spaces should feel energizing, while others might be more of a soothing embrace. We always want our clients to feel supremely at ease in their homes, no matter what space they’re in. The feeling should be of both physical and mental comfort, a space that speaks to them in their own way and feels like “home”. If we’ve designed it right, a home should be deeply personal and an expression of our clients' taste and personality.
Issa Wall Sconce by Mitzi
Q: What part of the design process do you find most rewarding?
Lina: It’s easy to say the final reveal is the most rewarding part when you see the joy in your client’s eyes. But the end result isn’t everything. For me, one of the most rewarding parts is when all the drawings and construction documentation are completed. That’s the moment where the project transitions from theory to reality. At this point, we take a moment to marvel at all the long hours, hard work, collaboration, and years of education and expertise that went into our design. It’s a feel-good moment when we pause to breathe and gear up for the next stage of construction and installation.
Kipps Rechargeable Table Lamp and Omi Chandelier by Hudson Valley Lighting
Q: How do you strike a balance between visual impact and everyday functionality?
Erin: Striking this balance is always a fun challenge that we love to tackle, and it may look a little different for each client depending on their functional needs. Some functions are easy to make beautiful. For example, storage can be beautiful and functional through gorgeous case pieces such as sideboards, cabinets, and custom millwork or closets.
Other functions are harder to improve upon or require creative solutions. For example, cooking and appliances. We love designing custom appliance garages and sculleries as a solution to this. The opportunity to integrate function also allows for adding beautiful details such as hardware, lighting, or other decorative materials.
We love creating multifunctional moments with furniture or built-ins, where the use of materials and architectural elements can enhance the overall visual and tactile experience. We find that lighting is critical for creating intentional focal points that ground a space and add balance. The light fixtures in a room provide a visual cue that the area's function is different or special. Lighting can, of course, contribute to a space's mood, adding both beauty and function in one go!
Onda Wall Sconce by Mitzi
Rooted in rustic elegance and quiet refinement, the French Farmstead collection blends sculptural forms, timeworn textures, and an effortlessly lived-in softness that shines in Erin’s storybook home. Explore the full French Farmstead collection here!