Sisters build a nest of their own

Sarah Sheldon, Jennifer Carrillo offer furnishings

at Winslow Green.

Beach glass-colored walls of pale blue and celery green evoke a “Great Gatsby”-esque atmosphere, with low bowls of peonies and roses.

Petals run across a sculpted rug set before a cupboard where sunlight from the windows illuminates rows of French-milled soaps molded into palm-size rabbits, pigs and blue robins’ eggs.

Aiming for a niche that is “classy and elegant with beautiful fabrics and linens,” Sarah Sheldon said the items the Island Nest home furnishings store carries are “not really found on the island. There are other beautiful stores, but we bring a ‘fresh’ atmosphere and look.”

Sheldon teamed with her older sister Jennifer Carrillo to open Island Nest last weekend in the former La De Da space on Winslow Green.

Islander Carrillo enters the venture with eight years of experience selling home furnishings at Bad Blanche, while Sheldon brings business expertise and strategy to the enterprise.

When the space became available, Carrillo and Sheldon decided quickly – in just two weeks – to fulfill a longtime dream and open a store together. Sheldon still lives and works in Seattle in human resources during the week, but joins Carrillo in the store on weekends.

“It’s something we’d mentioned along the years as a dream,” Sheldon said. “The timing was right for both of us.”

The shop showcases home furnishings, bedding and bath and vintage items like pewter-rimmed white dinner plate sets, old-fashioned pharmacy jars and framed recipes with a 1940s or ’50s look.

The bedroom display in back is full of soft quilts and natural linens that use no chemical dyes or bleaches and laundry soaps that are plant-derived.

European linens in natural colors include waffle weave towel sets and Italian towels and pillowcases with the silky feel of lyocell, a fiber created from wood pulp.

Over the course of about two months, the sisters put the space together with the help of friends, family and designer friend Kim McCall.

“It’s been fun putting together the textural elements,” said Carrillo, who enjoys working with fabrics. “(I like) seeing the different combinations that can be put together (and) helping people spark their imagination and creativity.”

For all the nice things in the store though, what Carrillo has come to enjoy in the retail business is “providing customers with service that carries on (after the sale),” she said, “just making sure the transaction is complete with a happy ending.”

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Cozy corner

Island Nest is located at 100 Winslow Way West. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Call 780-3449 for more information.

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