Scout Design - NYC

Much ado has been made over this green chair, by Haskell Harris here, and by Courtney here.

Scout partners, Callie and Nicki

In fact, you may have read recently at stylecourt about the NYC satellite office of Charleston event planner, Soiree. The new office, decorated by Scout designers, Callie Jenschke and Nicki Clendening, is fresh, colorful and modern.

Soiree office photos by Liz Banfield

Better yet, this duo was able to do their magic on a modest budget. So, enough about the wonderful green chair! Now it is time to make a fuss about the talent behind it!

Callie is an old friend of mine and I am so excited to feature Scout at Hill Country House. You see, Callie grew up in the hill country, left the small town life for college and has established herself in NYC as a very talented young designer.

Callie was in high school when we first moved to Fredericksburg and it has been such fun to watch her become such a sharp and creative young woman. I interviewed Callie via email to get the story behind the great work shown here. Featured is her partner, Nicki's, apartment, a perfect example of their combined great eye and very good taste. I hope you enjoy the photos while getting the full scoop from Callie!

Tell me a little about your background - how you came to live in NYC and what you have been doing there.

I am, as you know, from Fredericksburg, Texas. (Confession–I babysat for Ann's girls Emma and Hannah from almost the first day they all moved to Fredericksburg until they were young ladies!) I went to the University of Texas at Austin and received my degree in journalism and minored in visual design. I have always been a design magazine junkie. I cut my teeth working at Austin Monthly and interning at Texas Monthly during school. I had always dreamed about working for a magazine in NYC so, I moved here right out of school. For almost 4 years, I have worked on and off at Metropolitan Home magazine as well as a short stint at Martha Stewart's Blueprint magazine. I covered the home market as well as produced and styled photo shoot for both magazines and others like Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Everyday with Rachel Ray, O at Home and many more.

Have you always wanted to be in interior design or is this a fairly new interest?

I have always had an interest in design. With a father and a grandfather that are builders, I grew up on job sites and was influenced by my mother who loves to renovate old homes. After cultivating my design eye at Met Home, where I was also mentored by the venerable Linda O'Keeffe, I realized that interior design was definitely a field I wanted to be in.

How did you and Nicki meet and how did you decide to go into business together?

Nicki and I met last year while working on the Greenwich Hotel, a new boutique hotel in Tribeca. I was hired to help buy for all of the rooms, and Nicki was supplying books. It was design kismet! We instantly became fast friends and realized that we loved working on interior spaces together. Our shared sense of aesthetics got us talking about starting a company. After the New Year, we dove right in and just went for it.

When did you form Scout?

Scout was formed right after the New Year. And, we officially began work on our first project–the Soirée office in New York City in late March.



What makes Scout unique?

We're interested in helping people create their ideal environment, be it at their home or their office. We want to create spaces that people walk into and immediately feel at ease, inspired, happy, comfortable, welcome, and inspired. We offer a total soup to nuts approach to design. From the sheets you sleep in, to the glass you drink your juice out of every morning, to the art on your walls, every detail is important to creating a lifestyle for each client. Our ultimate goal is to create spaces that feel like they can grow and evolve with a person's life.

What are your favorite sources?

We are flea market devotees! You can find us every Saturday and sometimes even Sunday mornings scouring the fleas in the city and in Brooklyn searching for the next one of a kind piece.

Is there anything in particular that is your inspiration?

NIcki and I both love traveling and experiencing other cultures and art. Countless museum visits and culture club outings inspire us on a daily basis.

What are your favorite jobs and do you have a typical client?

We love working with individuals, and love developing the creative collaboration between us and the client. Each one has been so different but, the majority of our clients are very successful people who know what they want...when we show it to them.

Nicki's apartment photos by Imogen Brown.

Thanks so much to Callie for sharing Scout's story with us. She and Nicki have a refreshing approach and great design talent.

Scout is definitely a design team to watch and I hope to feature more of their exciting projects in the future!