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Text by Tony DiMartino •
Styling by Kathy Curotto •
Photography by Gridley & Graves
“Fortune favors the brave.” The Roman poet
Terrence said it first. More recently, it served as a motto for Shelly
Kennedy and her husband, Marc Strang, during their quest to turn a ramshackle
farmhouse in upstate New York into a space for Shelly’s design business, Drooz
Studios.
“ When we first saw it, it was a smelly, flea-infested wreck,”
Shelly recalls. But the price, which included three acres of bucolic farmland,
was right. “We needed the space—my business had definitely outgrown our home
basement.”
After a yearlong struggle to obtain building permits, the couple
began an extensive renovation on a tight budget, with help from an architect and
a contractor. “We did the demolition ourselves, but we needed new wiring, new
plumbing—you name it. The house was so crooked it had to be jacked up eight
inches, with all new supports. At times, I had to ask Marc to remind me why we’d
gotten into this mess.”
Blooming CREATIVITY
“To spot trends, I follow the lead of my kids.” (a) A beaming Shelly,
husband Marc Strang, and kids Clark, 6, and Chloe, 7, enjoy a cool drink outside
Drooz Studio. (b) Her grandmother’s vase now sits on Shelly’s desk. “Flowers
are a must-have!”
(c) Shelly insisted on having a kitchen. “It’s nice to gather
around the table and take a break.” The cabinets were original to the house,
“but we moved and repainted them.” (d) Shelly’s second-floor
office. Her desk, a former dining room table, was a thrift-store find. “I had to
paint it so many times to cover the dark wood, I lost count.”
“Having your
favorite stuff around is the best stress-buster.”
GRACE NOTES
(e) “I asked Amy, one
of our artists, to Drooz up this old bench.” Now it’s in the main office.
(f) Faux
flowers brighten the way. (g) Chloe’s outgrown slippers occupy shadow boxes in Shelly’s
office. (h) A
heart-shaped wreath from a friend. (i)
Sharing a laugh with sister-in-law Jennifer
Kennedy, Drooz’s lithograph framer.
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