The following is the first in a monthly series of spotlights on Nest Studio’s showroom partners. In this edition, we meet Michele Bagby and Morgan Henzlik of the Matthew Quinn Collection, a premier showroom partner dating back nearly to Nest Studio’s launch in 2012. The showroom is located in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) and was founded in 2008 by Mathew Quinn, one of the world’s leading experts in kitchen, bath and product design.

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Nest Studio celebrates 10 years in 2022. When you think of how the company has innovated over the years, what do you anticipate from them over the next 10? 

Morgan: In keeping with who Nest Studio is, we expect truly unique pieces that each have their own story. The hardware is not mass-produced and there will not be a constant stream of ordinary collections released. There’s always going to be a lot of thought put into it. 

Michele: They’re not popping things out every month, every six months. Their hardware is carefully curated and carefully thought out with an artisanal quality to it. We think that’s what’s so special about Nest Studio and what we look forward to seeing.

Our Latest Collection: The Tubular Series 

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How are the Nest Studio collections displayed in your showroom? How is the showroom laid out overall?

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Michele: Our elegant showroom is designed differently from most hardware showrooms. In most showrooms the hardware is displayed on boards hanging on the walls, and you can’t really touch it or feel the individual pieces. Our showroom is set up like a jewelry showroom or boutique with hardware displayed in elegant cases. It allows people to move things around, and for us to showcase them in different lights, and play with them. It is a very tactile experience.

Morgan: Hardware, with many available choices, styles, and finishes can be super intimidating, however our showroom makes the selection process very approachable. Each client becomes part of the process rather than being told what’s going to go where.                                                    I                                    I             

Is there a difference in how people react once the Nest Studio hardware is in their hands? 

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Michele: Absolutely, because of the quality. You can feel quality. You can tell the difference between the Nest Studio hardware and an ordinary brass pull from somebody else. The detail that you can see and feel when you hold it is completely different.

Morgan: It’s no secret that Nest Studio has a higher price point, but it warrants the higher price point. Once you’re able to feel it and see what’s gone into it, it speaks for itself. Whether it’s the size, the weight, the craftsmanship, there’s a difference between Nest Studio and most others both stylistically and aesthetically. It sells itself.

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What have been your most popular / best-selling Nest Studio collections? Why do you think they do very well? 

Michele: The Classic series. It’s the one that’s been there the longest, it’s user friendly in multiple spaces and scale-wise it works well. Facet is another series that we love. One of Matthew’s favorite pulls of all time is the Facet pull. In fact, we have it in our kitchen here in the showroom.

A legacy collection, The Classic Series, displays its versatility

(Design: Laura Weaver Designs. Photo: Julie Soefer Photogrpahy)

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What is your showroom’s point of difference for your clients? Why visit the Matthew Quinn Collection?

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Michele: Us, of course! The bread and butter.

Morgan: Yes, we joke that we’re the bread and butter of this operation. On the surface, we’re not just selling hardware. We do placement drawings, we get brought in for a lot of the design elements and the sizing. I feel like there’s not as much emphasis on how much customization we create and design and are able to facilitate. With us, you get hardware specialists, designers and problem solvers.

Michele: Most interior designers don’t have a grasp on hardware and that part of the process. Architects will do door hardware, but they don’t really tend to get into it. And if they do, they’re picking the same piece for the whole space, which is not effective. So we’re definitely that bridge between architecture and design.

Morgan: People think of the cabinet hardware, but we do whole doors, hinges, bathroom accessories, towel bars. You don’t realize everywhere hardware is until you start to do it. 

Michele Bagby of the Matthew Quinn Collection 

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Where do you see kitchen and bath hardware design heading stylistically in 2023? Finishes? Materials? 

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Morgan: We don’t want to know. We see more and more rules being broken. It’s fun. It’s not fun to sell the same thing every single day, so we like a challenge.

The Atlanta region has a reputation for being more inclined to take risks and embrace variety on the design side. Do you find that to be true?

Michele: In the 20 years since I’ve been in Atlanta, the design aesthetic has definitely moved from a predominately traditional Southern style to all sorts of different design aesthetics. It’s one reason why I think the Matthew Quinn Collection has been so successful and now gets to do so many fun things. People are now willing to do different things and take risks; they don’t want to put the same pull in the same house over and over again.

Morgan: We have a huge interior designer community in Atlanta. The Atlanta Decorative Art Center is something you don’t get everywhere. As Atlanta grows, and we become more of a melting pot, we’re starting to see it translate in the design – old school mixed with new school, the groundedness of the South with some freshness and new influences. I’m never bored.

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What’s one design trend you wish would disappear?

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Morgan: One thing that drives me crazy is when people use the same style of hardware throughout the whole house. Even if every wall in the house was white, if you varied the hardware, it would create a totally different atmosphere. There’s a lack of awareness about what can go into the hardware part, often people treat it as an afterthought and say, ‘Here, let me just slap this on.’ Hardware can make inexpensive cabinets look really nice, but it can also make them look underwhelming. Hardware, like jewelry, should not be an afterthought.

Michele: Even in the most high-end cabinet job, if you put the same knob and same pull in all six of your bathrooms, it makes them look plain and redundant. And it’s easy to avoid, it’s not hard. It takes a couple of extra minutes to select different hardware selections for each individual bathroom.

We hope you enjoyed this month’s Studio Spotlight on the Matthew Quinn Collection. Nest Studio is thankful for the valued partnerships that have helped us to get where we are today. 

If you would like to be considered for an upcoming Showroom Spotlight, please contact Lauren Bristow at marketing@neststudiocollection.com we would be honored.