Ready for the big reveal?! Inspection passed and we officially closed our building permit. that doesn’t mean the space is totally done to my vision but it’s a big step!

There is still a lot left to do, our punchlist for the next year or two

• Final patch and paint touch ups for trim (there are a few spots on doors frames and trim)
• Finish painting stairs and add runner
• Hang press and gallery wall in entryway
• Finish wall of built ins to hold samples, production supplies, & inventory
• Organize massive amounts of materials and design archives that have been in storage
• Add a few more pieces of equipment including a pressing table and roller for cutting table
• Backsplash and lighting for coffee bar

In the meantime there are collections to be worked on and orders to ship. Thank you for following our journey on here!

In total this build started in May 2023 and we were able to close our building permit by January 2024. Pretty proud of us for going out of our comfort zone and tackling so many things for the first time with this project.

Ultimately taking the time off from designing/producing collections to build a home and find balance has brought me renewed joy in my work and helped me recover from burnout.

Gardening has taught me that seeds germinate in darkness – so it makes sense that creativity is born and can be recovered in isolation. Trees lose their leaves and hibernate every winter, so it makes sense if we need periods of rest to produce creatively. And I’ve also learned that we can travel even though we stay in one place – as the world and landscape has changed around me I have been grounded and grown at the same time.

So stay tuned as we post updates on other projects as we ready the space. We still need a few more things to get up and running before we can begin proper in house production but we’re well on our way there. I can’t wait to begin to bring new collections and restocks to life once it’s all done.

Want to see all the stages of building our new BTS HQ in the Hudson Valley? Find the whole series here BTS Studio Build

Getting this studio space off the ground means a big piece of equipment that I’ve never had before – a cutting table. Part of the reason for a space this big was to be able to house this exact thing so the floor plan was designed to ensure we had room for it.

Bringing fabric from factory partners/storage

Over the years I have stored the many bolts of fabric needed to produce BTS collections at our manufacturing partners’ factories and in storage units first in NYC and then in the Hudson Valley. Building the studio space for Between the Sheets and purchasing the cutting table, finally created an area to store fabric in our own space, and not have to rely on rental units or factory temporary storage.

Assembling cutting table

The cutting table came in modular sets consisting of legs, side pieces, and braces that could be assembled into 4 foot long sections of table. I decided that a 16 foot long table would allow for cutting robes and other large items. Because the table has to be sturdy enough to hold hundreds of pounds of fabric, the frame and table top are extremely heavy (the weight on the shipping confirmation was over 1000 lbs). Getting the pieces upstairs was no small feat. The metal frame pieces came packed in boxes. They were heavy, but manageable. The heavy table tops were another story and required me and Josh to use a lifting strap and move very slowly up the stairs.

Josh assembled the frame piece, by piece, bolting the legs, sides, braces, and a rail for a fabric spreader together. The table, 16 feet in total length, was built of four interconnecting sections of 4 feet each. After the frame was assembled we brought up the sections of laminated table top and placed them into the frame.

Loading with fabric underneath

After the table was fully assembled, with the top securely fastened, we started carrying all of the rolls of fabric to the studio from where they had been temporarily staged in the garage. Fabric rolls were organized and stacked under the table.

Want to see all the stages of building our new BTS HQ in the Hudson Valley? Find the whole series here BTS Studio Build