For 12 years, Bets Miller co-owned Nest Inspired Home on the southeast side of Purchase Street. When her partner decided to move south earlier this year, Bets decided to make a move, too — to an iconic building on the northwest side of the street. She was excited to shed some unneeded space and enliven a different storefront.
On September 21, she held a grand opening for Finch & Co., which like its successful predecessor sells furniture and home furnishings, original art, and gifts, and offers design services, The new name is a nod to her Native American heritage. Finches symbolize good fortune, she explained.
Bets noted her good fortune in having Ellen Tuttle, manager, and Jen Sfreddo, designer, working alongside her. The other designing woman at Finch is Dina Treacy, who Bets calls her “floater” because she is also a busy home stager and realtor.
While the new space was being readied for its close-up by Facelifts Renovation, a Rye-based firm, she had time to ponder what practical changes she could make in the business. “Finding vendors who could turn around custom orders faster was one of my priorities,” she said in a post-party interview. “Another was finding quality furniture at an intermediate price point. There are a lot of new, young families in Rye.”
She brings a music and performance background and a love of the arts to the business. Growing up in Michigan, she attended Interlochen Arts Academy, where her father was president. She embraces color and looks forward to a time when gray is supplanted by bolder hues.
When we asked Bets and Jen for their secret design sauce, they offered: Helping clients to give their homes color and life. “Wallpaper is a good start,” said Bets, who is keen on the new temporary wallpapers, because kids grow up and tastes change.
After graduating from Boston College, Jen worked in retail fashion, at Ann Taylor and Liz Claiborne, for years. The mother of four inherited a talent for design from her mother, Cindy Mardis, with whom she worked on many projects.
Customers love working with Ellen because no sooner have they asked how long the wait is for an ottoman, coffee table, or desk just like the one on the floor than she’s helping them move the floor model to their SUV. She is capable and ebullient, and instinctively knows what shoppers are looking for when they walk in the door.
Having happily settled into her new 77 Purchase Street storefront, Bets Miller is already busy with another nesting project, a house on the Westchester Country Club grounds that needs more than a coat of paint.
