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At the Nikki Chasin storefront in Hudson, New York, shoppers browse luxurious, nostalgic garments crafted in an array of day-brightening colors and patterns. “Her whole ethos is creating fashion as a moment of self-expression, not taking yourself too seriously, and just having fun with the things that you’re wearing,” explains Daniela Araya, Chasin’s friend and an interior designer who practices in the area. This vivacious spirit also permeates Chasin’s personal studio, just around the corner, which Araya helped transform from its humble beginning as a blank white box. “For Nikki,” Araya says, “the studio was about finally having a space that was just for the work—collections, vendor meetings, brainstorming, shooting content.”
Located upstairs from a sound engineer in a quiet backyard garage, the room didn’t even have finished floors when Chasin got a hold of it. But as a renter, she didn’t want to overdo an expensive transformation. Araya proposed a middle ground: a DIY’d custom runner for the staircase, painted floors, colorful wall-hangings and rugs, and collected furnishings that reflected the playful attitude that has become synonymous with Chasin’s brand. It’s a place where she can actually meet with and welcome guests, as well as friends, without disrupting shoppers.
“The studio feels like this creative hub for people in Hudson, which I love,” says Araya. Here’s how the pair transformed it on a dime.
Paint the Wood Floors
The room’s gray plywood floors didn’t set the right mood, so Araya worked with the team at Backdrop to come up with a not-too-permanent solution. They settled on a few coats of Blue is the Coolest Color, a bright and saturated cobalt, which turned the floor into the surface of a sunny little lake. The Backdrop team also recommended their Clear Top Coat for durability, but since there was a chance its slightly yellow tint would change the hue of the paint, Chasin and Araya decided to hold off. Instead, they brought in bright area rugs to mitigate wear on the paint job. Will it chip at some point? It’s already scuffing in places. But that’s very much the vibe. “Nikki is so relaxed, she doesn’t want to be too precious about anything,” Araya says.
Delineate With Colorful Rugs
Two simple runners from Rugs.com help to demarcate spaces in the studio: a chartreuse one is rolled out under some inventory shelves on the landing, while a pink one is under Chasin’s desk in the big room. (“Rugs can be so expensive, and these hold up pretty well for the cost,” Araya says.) Anchoring the sitting area is a larger leopard print rug, part of the Schoolhouse x Clare V. collection, that the design team was able to procure by bartering. “We completely fell for the rug and coffee table, and we sent some cardigans to their lovely staff in exchange for some pieces,” the designer explains.
Hack a Custom Runner
Guests enter the space through a garage door, and then head straight up two flights of stairs to reach Chasin’s studio. To make the stairs a bit more welcoming, Araya procured a few inexpensive IKEA runners and set to work connecting them where the stairs turn at a landing. Sourcing ideas from her group chat with a crew of Hudson Valley interior designers, she decided to cut two runners on a 45-degree angle and stitch them together. “It broke my brain a little bit but we powered through,” she laughs.
After many careful measurements, she was able to lay down a simple rug pad, followed by the runner, and use a staple gun to affix them to the stairs without much fuss. The pink-and-red pattern connects the warm unfinished wood of the stairs with red accents that are in the studio upstairs.
Add Texture to the Walls
That staple gun also came in handy near Chasin’s desk, where one whole wall of the studio is now covered in corkboard (a gift from the sound engineer downstairs, who had some left over from creating better acoustics in his space). It’s thick enough for pushpins, and acts as a place for the designer to test colors and fabrics together as well as mood board. “She has samples everywhere. It really is her own little workstation,” says Araya.
When they originally sketched out ideas, both designers wanted to include some kind of theatrical curtain, so they decided to install one along the studio’s long interior wall in order to hide a set of doors that lead to the homeowner’s off-limit storage unit. A brown-and-white polka dot fabric was ordered from one of Chasin’s vendors and dramatically draped using hooks. The curtains pool slightly on the ground for added effect.
Hang a Statement Light
Furnishings are mostly collected from antique vendors in the area, with a plush dog bed and floral loveseat making up the seating area where Chasin holds meetings. “We worked with local shops in Hudson, because it was important that we found things that were secondhand and that came from the town that we love living in,” Araya explains. Overhead, a large rice-paper lantern from IKEA casts a warm glow over everything, its red cord slipping down the slanted wood ceiling to a plug on the wall.
With all the color and energy and light, it’s hard to believe this sparkling space is literally hiding above a neighbor’s garage. Says Araya: “It really feels like such a good representation of the inside of her brain, the way color and pattern works together.”