Nightwood

By Chris Frey
June 24, 2010

Nightwood image

If you're committed to being environmentally responsible, freshening up your home can pack on a whole lot of guilt. How do you justify buying a brand new sofa when your old one is still in relatively decent shape? Enter Nightwood, a décor and interior business focused on creating one-of-a-kind, reconstructed furniture and textiles, based in Brooklyn, New York. Myriah Scruggs and Nadia Yaron, together since 1998, started Nightwood three years ago and have saved many a conscience ever since.

Scruggs, the self described “gatherer of all lost but found wood and furniture” along with Yaron, who “rescues old and abandoned chairs and recovers their bones” run every aspect of the business from hauling materials to marketing and press. Nightwood began, Yaron says, “out of necessity,” as a means to furnish their Brooklyn apartment when they moved back to New York after a brief period in Los Angeles. Armed with an intense DIY spirit but little money, they began repurposing neighborhood cast-offs and thrift store pieces that were being overlooked. Yaron recalls, “Nightwood started out building small pieces with a handsaw and a drill in our living room. We began with a harder ‘Mad Max’ like edge, building contraptions from apocalyptic rubble to survive.” Scruggs and Yaron are still in Fort Greene, Brooklyn where, according to Yaron, they "live and work in a ten block radius and are devoted and loyal to our neighborhood.” She claims that they venture out to find new pieces in areas of the region as varied as the Hamptons, Queens and upstate New York, scoring lots of materials and all of their wood from Build it Green in Astoria, Queens.

Since those humble beginnings Nightwood has evolved into a flourishing business (they quit
their day jobs!) with a wait list and a devoted cult following that includes actress and Brooklyn resident Michelle Williams, among others. Yaron reflects, “In the three years since we have
been in business we have grown out of two studio spaces, designed and decorated restaurants and private residences and completed commercial renovations and installations. We’ve made things we never thought possible. We've grown in our ideas, methods, body of work and accomplishments, but we're still a two person owned and operated business that hasn't grown in numbers.” Impressive, in particular because Scruggs and Yaron are completely self taught in every respect, with no formal training in business, design or fabrication.

Aesthetically, Nightwood’s collection, which spans virtually all essential furniture items as well as linens, pillows and paintings, is a perfect fusion of Primitive farmhouse rustic and Danish Modern simplicity with nods to the Industrial/Machine Age, early Art Deco and as Yaron says, “a lot of old.” She continues, “Nightwood has softened a bit. Now it's more mystical, urban woodland with some Native American magic. Our style and work changes in an autobiographical way.”

What’s so appealing about Nightwood’s deconstructed and reconstructed pieces are that none of these influences are immediately apparent. The result is original design that reflects the imaginations of Yaron and Scruggs: the incorporation of natural imperfections and a sense of playfulness meld with elegant lines and thoughtful details, sophisticated but never fussy. And the collection constantly evolves with the introduction of new silhouettes and materials. Yaron recently introduced a series of muslin and linen pillows with portraits that include Picasso and Simone de Beauvoir. Scruggs is broadening the collection to include large-scale furniture such as dining tables, platform beds and sofas overstuffed with Yaron’s upholstery.

Owning Nightwood (I have a chair and a cabinet that I cherish) can become an obsessive hobby, in part because the work is so visually special, but also because you can feel the process: the time, energy and care devoted to each piece.

Meet the makers in New York each weekend at The Brooklyn Flea.