Local LBI Boutique Meets
High Demand for Their
Interior Design Services
Although the practice of interior design harkens back to the days of ancient Egyptians, it’s hard to believe that the actual profession of interior design is just over 100 years old. What began as the art of decorating, embracing form and function, has evolved leaps and bounds into the present-day’s artform of interior design. For Between the Sheets, a local interior design boutique specializing in the niche of luxury linens, a new season marks an important milestone in their nearly three-decade existence on the island: a fresh façade, debuting the exciting 2020 linen collections, and—due to popular demand—the expansion of the interior design division within the firm.
Pennsylvania natives and Philadelphia College of Textiles roommates Kristin A. Nissen and Maryann Schmid began their Interior Design career at [what used to be known as] Whalon’s Furniture & Design store, located on the Boulevard at 23rd Street in Ship Bottom. It wasn’t long before the talented home furnishings duo, making a name for themselves with local clientele, decided to open a luxury boutique of their own by the summer of 1992. After a mere six months, the interior design service followed suit, and their brand was booming like never before. Between the Sheets, offering the finest quality linens Long Beach Island and South Jersey had to offer, would not only sell superior textiles, linens, window treatments and upholstery, but also would provide luxury concierge interior design services to guide homeowners whilst incorporating charm, expressiveness, and impeccable attention to detail within every facet of their home décor undertaking.
“Too often in interior design, textiles are seen as an afterthought. People view them as a finishing touch rather than a crucial component of the design as a whole,” says Kristin co-founder of Between the Sheets. “In reality, however, you can’t design a room without them,” adds Maryann, partnering co-founder, “and this is how our retail boutique very organically integrated the professional design services.” The two facets of the business most certainly go hand-in-hand, and Between the Sheets offers their design expertise for everything from a simple room refresh, a partial renovation, to a complete home or new construction project.
The full-service interior design service is quite unique as the women have found that partnering with clients early on during the architectural and construction phase of their home ensures a smooth journey throughout the design process. The designers pride themselves on working in partnership with builders and architects, as it is of utmost importance in order to achieve the ultimate goal: provide the client with their dream home. Contrary to popular belief, involving one’s interior designer from the onset of the architecture and building phase of a new home helps to plan for components that may otherwise go overlooked, such as optimal room size, functionality, traffic flow and lighting. “While working within the parameters set by the builders and architects, we meet with clients where each phase of the project dictates. Sometimes that is in our beautiful showroom; sometimes that is at the client’s home, perhaps it might be at the architect’s office,” shares Maryann. Having your designer involved in finish selections throughout the process leads skillfully into selecting the right furnishings for each space.
Another focus for Between the Sheets clientele is that of a refresh project. This could be interpreted as something along the lines of new, beautifully coordinated linens and wallpaper, or a piece of art and a few carefully selected pieces of upholstery. “Each and every client brings a fresh opportunity to conceive and deliver a truly unique interior design experience. We enjoy and explore many various styles, including coastal chic, modern, contemporary and traditional classic,” notes Kristin.
The Between the Sheets showroom clearly reflects the firm’s passion for good design and proficiency of the fine linen industry. They partner with industry classics including Yves Delorme, Matouk, SDH and Bella Notte Linens. “It’s a joy each season to have our comfort basics, those classic percales and sateens woven into beautiful sheeting, duvet covers and coverlets, and yet have the opportunity to showcase the fashion-forward trends for the year. Pantone’s Color of the Year is Classic Blue, one of our favorites! It’s exciting to see how this color is woven into and throughout the 2020 collections,” says Maryann.
A very special trademark the design team is known for happens to be involving a client’s linens in the design process when creating bedrooms. A client would never be shown just a bed, dressers, mirrors and stunning lighting in their design presentation without the finishing touch of the perfect linens. The team completes the visual of clients’ bedroom right down to the last boudoir pillow. Unquestionably, they apply that level of detail to their dining room designs as well; gorgeous table linens are always selected to complete dining room presentations in the same manner.
It is important to note that their 2,000-square-foot storefront, located just upon one’s entry to Long Beach Island, on Central Avenue and 10th Street in Ship Bottom, only represents a fraction of the boutique’s resources. “We always have a challenge when limiting what we buy for our showroom each season. When you thrive in a design environment, it’s hard to buy only one or two new display beds when you really want four or five. Then, of course, we want more upholstery and case goods, more wallpaper and more chandeliers, the list goes on and on,” notes Maryann.
As a design firm, the company strives to hand-pick manufacturers that specifically work with designers rather than furniture stores, which gives them the opportunity to truly meet a client’s needs. Their success can undoubtedly be attributed to focusing on good, quality design and selecting manufacturers that surpass their stringent standards. “Our long relationships with trusted suppliers are instrumental in delivering beautifully-made home furnishings to our clients,” adds Kristin. Their indoor and outdoor dining room tables, as an example, are selected for each client individually, and are often bench-made in the USA, therefore offering a plethora of customizations for the sizing and finish. The same applies to their luxe upholstery and textile collections.
For more than a decade, Between the Sheets, exclusively on LBI, is the go-to retailer for prestigious Matouk Fine Linens, a national textile brand that has handcrafted luxury linens from the world’s finest materials for almost a century. Crafted completely in the USA, the brand calls Fall River, Massachusetts their home to a tight-knit family of artists, craftspeople, and business professionals who are uniquely attuned to the needs of American consumers looking for an old-world, trusted mark at the cutting-edge of the textile industry with fresh and relevant products and designs. The new 2020 Matouk Schumacher Collaboration, which will also be available at Between the Sheets beginning in March 2020, combines Matouk’s impeccably crafted linens with Schumacher’s extraordinary prints, for beautiful bedding and beach styles that capture the very best of both brands. The Matouk Schumacher Collection consists of 6 bedding styles, 3 terry beach towel styles, and 3 shower curtain styles (using 3 of the bedding patterns), a national collaborative expansion that Between the Sheets is proud to be a part of.
As one can easily observe, the modus operandi of this LBI interior design destination seems to be working, and Between the Sheets shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. For more information or to inquire about your next home design project, visit www.betweenthesheetsnj.com.