Inside Interior Designer Becky Shea's Upstate Oasis

Rip & Tan: Tell us a bit about yourself and the ethos behind BS/D.

Becky Shea: I’m a lover of nature and believe Earth is our communal home, so taking good care of her is very important to me. Being in nature is one of the most soothing and creatively inspiring drivers of my ethos. I really enjoy horseback riding, sitting by a body of water, and aimlessly staring off into the distance, and I absolutely love to dance. Some would say I’ve been known to cut a rug or two!

I believe cultivating the moments that life brings you and making the most of every moment, good or bad, is paramount to a happy and fulfilling life. I weave that philosophy into my process and the homes we design.

When clients and I first start “dating,” as I like to call the pre-design phase, I challenge clients to reflect on moments and places that fill them with overwhelmingly happy emotions, and my job is to channel that emotion into the design so they continually get those special “feels.”

Our homes are a reflection of who we are and that’s why we make the design process fun and encourage reflection on what truly makes you happy. Our ethos is rooted in designing homes that are inviting, functional and sophisticated with an overarching value that our clients will live on for generations to come enjoying their home as it is. We believe the secret to a timeless home is happiness, but on the design front, it’s layers, textures, neutral and earthy tones, as well as utilitarian materiality that can transition with you year after year.

Rip & Tan: What do you love most about working with your husband?

Becky Shea: On a personal level, it’s really nice to work with Jake because I know that someone always has my back. Whether it’s an issue on a job site or a new product idea, we’re a team and can have constructive conversations to achieve a mutual goal. We love one another and want to see each other thrive and succeed.

It’s also really nice that early in the process we delineated our respective roles so that there would be no overlap (this has certainly helped mitigate bickering!) Jake has brought a very modern and unique approach to our work-life balance. When we’re Upstate, one day he’ll work at his desk and the next he’s sitting out on the lawn or the side of a mountain. I attribute it to his prior work at Google and how their offices have various themes/environments as a way to subliminally stimulate you. He gets things done in a very unconventional way, and I’ve been trying to incorporate his ethos into my everyday. It’s nice working with a partner that guides you to see things outside of your comfort zone.

Rip & Tan: What led you to Upstate New York and, more specifically, this space?

Becky Shea: Oh my! This was such a random, but fun, adventure. One early autumn evening I was perusing through Zillow (as one does in their 30s), and I decided to expand the radius outside the city and into the Catskills where we’ve spent long weekends with friends for over a decade and Jake spent time with his family growing up. He was watching one of the biggest college football games of the season (picture him literally standing in front of our living room TV for hours, pacing), so this gave me time to curate a list of options and present it to him in a way that would grab his attention.

I waited ’til halftime to share my lineup of Upstate finds and he was blown away by how much bang your buck had, agreeing a mountainside escape would be a dream. So that night, we contacted a broker and were off to the races. We searched for about two months and the market was insane. You’d see a new listing on Friday and by Monday there were 27 offers. We bid over ask on two places before this one, losing both… And, funny enough, we lost this place too!

We knew what is now Good Times at Upper Pine was going to be our home away from home, so Jake tracked down the seller and wrote him a letter about who we are, what we do, and what our plans would be for this space. The next thing we knew, they reneged on the offer they had originally accepted to give our offer a little more thought. A few days later, we found out we got the house and the rest is history!

Rip & Tan: From texture and color to the layout of each room, how did your surroundings influence the design of this home?

Becky Shea: There’s a level of authenticity in the process when you channel the environment surrounding you, and the bounty of nature around our home absolutely helped inform material and color selections.

When it came down to texture and colors, I’ve always been drawn to earthy materials like linen, cashmere, wool, boucle, and rich walnut woods.  I’m a little nutty and went out into the forest on our property with my Benjamin Moore paint fan and started honing in on the tones that were most prevalent. We wanted to highlight the outdoors since our home is nestled on a mountainside with no neighbors in sight and a cozy “tucked away” vibe. I gave careful consideration to furniture placement in each room, ensuring there would be vantage points with optimal views, especially for all the animals!

Rip & Tan: What are some of your go-to sources for inspired yet inviting décor?

Becky Shea: Jenni Kayne, obviously! But, other brands I love are Cisco Home & SixPenny for comfortable shabby chic sofas. Fern, Andrew Finnigan, Lawson and Fenning, Crump and Kwash, Apparatus Studio, The Arc Shop, Danny Kaplan, Farmhouse Pottery, Espasso, Carma Ferrier, Gardeshop, and Allied Maker are a few of my favorite makers and markets.

This list of folks curates their selections with thoughtful consideration. Every piece has a story, every maker has an interesting background and the whole process is just filled with lots of love. I do believe that energy transfers into a space, and there’s just better energy when you buy from a small business that truly cares. Everyone does a happy dance and when you believe design and life should be fun, that’s an important ingredient in the sourcing process for me!

Rip & Tan: Do you have any tips for those eager to design with sustainability in mind?

Becky Shea: Sourcing vintage or second-hand is one of the easiest ways to be sustainable in your design choices, and the character that comes with it is unique to its history. Win-win!

Another approach is working with local artisans and makers vs. big-box retailers. When you work with those local to your home, your carbon footprint will be a heck of a lot smaller than if your piece was shipped from overseas, plus you’re supporting a small business that means added economic sustainability to your community. Most makers and artisans are unbelievably clever in their design ethos and practice sustainable approaches in their manufacturing process. Many actually use materials already in circulation, which means less waste. If you want to take it further, look to innovators in the market like Danielle Trofe whose homonymous Brooklyn-based business has an emphasis on biofabrication and biomimicry (our pendant above the dining table is from her line). Everything she does is made from mushrooms(!), which means those shades you see are all biodegradable.

Rip & Tan: What’s important to consider when thinking about bringing custom furniture into your home?

Becky Shea: The top of the list for me is always practicality and functionality. When you’re considering custom furniture for your home, it’s typically because you can’t find the right piece in the market that hits the mark and fits the space.

Whether it’s size or color, something isn’t right. You should invest in pieces that serve a purpose and are highly utilitarian. This piece should be used!

In our case, we designed our dining table, dining hutch, and main bedroom nightstands. I knew I wanted a large dining table but there was nothing that was between 7-8 feet and also wider than standard, so I made my 7′ 6″ x 46″ table a reality.

We love to host and haven’t had a dining table since living in the city for 11 years. It was really important to us to have a place where we could commune with friends and family over a home-cooked meal.  The dining bar hutch’s top is vintage (found on Etsy!), so it needed a base and I wanted to make sure it tied back to the table. The perfect opportunity to go custom! I had also been dreaming about our nightstands for a while. I personally love a drawer for storing bedside accouterments as well as the open feeling of a shelf underneath. There are definitely cool options out there but nothing compares to our custom smokey walnut finish. It brought everything together in the space, from the paint colors to the linens and beams.

Rip & Tan: What makes a home truly timeless?

Becky Shea: To me, a timeless home is a depiction of who you are as an individual and an expression of the senses that make you feel like your most authentic self. For me, earthy and brutalist materials that are simple and practical, remaining relevant through the revolution and cycles of design, are what make a space feel transitional with each passing year.

Homes should be designed for longevity and to evoke positive emotions in its occupants, not designed for the latest trend.

Rip & Tan: What does living well mean to you?

Becky Shea: It means slowing down and being consciously present, investing in yourself each day, and ultimately being grateful for what you have and those who treat you kindly. Life is precious and every moment you’re given is an opportunity.