Introducing Che Bella Nido...Nesting has Never Looked so Good

Carla and Jim Bassi have just opened Che Bella Nido doors down from the Little Italy-location of their lushly romantic flower shop, Che Bella Fiori.

They say that if you dream of a dragonfly resting upon an object, you will soon be having guests that may be hard to get rid of; a curiously layered metaphor for a new business endeavor designed to re-envision your home-lifestyle. But for Carla, Jim and daughter Thea, it wasn't just a dream, but a real dragonfly that came to rest upon the window sill inside their new store, Che Bella Nido. And once inside, even the dragonfly realized it didn't want to leave.

The Bassis have just opened Che Bella Nido doors down from the Little Italy-location of their lushly romantic flower shop, Che Bella Fiori. “Nido”, which means nest in Italian, is a home and lifestyle store that sets its credo in stone, or nearly, as guests step over “House of Love” in hand-drawn script on the sidewalk entrance. Bordered by a petite garden of kale and cabbage, the warm hazelnut-brown patio of the converted craftsman home that is Che Bella Nido will feature stylish outdoor furniture when the warmer months return. The Bassis, like they did with their flower shop, have focused on presenting a collection of distinct pieces with style, class, romance—and even a touch of irreverence.    

The store, which has pieces laid out by room—bird's eye maple cutting boards and Heath ceramics in the “kitchen”—provides a glimpse into the cultivated life, where aesthetic, modern and organic sensibilities beautifully coexist. Che Bella Nido features fine Portuguese bed and table linens from Housman, Christian Tortu glass, hand-carved French Laguiole en Aubrac knives and sommelier sets, and is the first retailer in the United States to carry Lino Codato Italian lighting, made of delicate natural fibers, such as silk cocoons, mulberry bark and, fittingly, spun rattan bird's nests. The Bassis have also brought in a line from Millefiori, which includes candles and delicate, luminescent diffusers that drape the room in rich wafts of scents like amber and fig. For those looking for coffee-table camp or class, there is an eclectic selection of books, from a tribute to the “Seven Sins that Make Life Worth Living”, by Roger Housden, to “Extraordinary Chickens”, a glossy-paged tribute by renowned photographer Stephen Green-Armytage that portrays the majestic of one of the most domestic of birds.

Che Bella Nido is open Monday through Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.