Home Annual Guide 2016

Bespoke Abode

Cape Cod Home  /  Annual Home 2016 / ,

Writer: Susan Dewey

Bespoke Abode

Home Annual Guide 2016

Cape Cod Home  /  Annual Home 2016 / ,

Writer: Susan Dewey

Home Furnishings

MVID Edgartown 10 15_016

Courtesy of Bespoke Abode

Liz Stiving-Nichols never dreamt that one day she would own a shop full of beautiful things on Martha’s Vineyard. The interior designer is also the owner of Martha’s Vineyard Interior Design, a full-service studio offering custom furniture, window treatments, floor coverings, and accessories.

“Bespoke Abode was never part of our plan,” says Stiving-Nichols. “We opened Martha’s Vineyard Interior Design in 2010 and I wanted a small studio space. In just a few months, we outgrew that space. So we rented a new space and came up with a name, and I went to the gift show . . . I did not have a big budget, the shop was minimal, but it worked! So we said to ourselves, ‘Wow! We really have something here!’ ”

Since then, the store on Vineyard Haven’s Main Street has expanded and Stiving-Nichols and her designers have gotten quite a few leads from people who come in and appreciate the store’s aesthetic. The shop is filled with carefully collected furnishings and collectibles that reflect Stiving-Nichols’ love of things that are simply beautiful, yet also superbly functional.

MVID Edgartown 10 15_031

Courtesy of Bespoke Abode

Sophisticated furnishings, hand-woven rugs, luminous glass collectibles, unusual gifts, whimsical pillows, and unique window treatments have made this shop a haven for decorators and homeowners. “We want our shop to be a showroom experience,” says Stiving-Nichols. “Our designers can sit with you and share the perfect item from the floor.”

Bespoke Abode visitors may find a vintage mid-century piece of furniture next to a sofa upholstered in a high-end Belgian linen. There is intriguing variety here. “We also carry things for someone who just stops in,” says Stiving-Nichols.“They can purchase a candle, a lovely frame, or a beautiful tray.”

Stiving-Nichols says her favorite thing about running a business on the island is that there is so much to be inspired by. “Each town on the Vineyard is so different. There is so much inspiration, which I believe is reflected in our store,” she says.

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Susan Dewey

Susan Dewey, former associate publisher and editor at Cape Cod Life Publications, lives in Centerville where she grows vegetables and flowers for Cape farmers' markets, designs perennial gardens for her son’s company, Dewey Gardens, and enjoys living on beautiful Cape Cod year round.