Close Quarters
NICK OZEMBA • In Common With, Quarters
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
NICK OZEMBA • co-founder • In Common With, Quarters
Neighborhood you work in: Tribeca
Neighborhood you live in: Park Slope
It’s Friday afternoon. How are you rolling into the weekend?
I like to end the week cleanly: clear my inbox, reset my space, and make sure the team has what they need going into Monday. Running two interconnected worlds, In Common With and Quarters, can be a handful; creating some breathing room is crucial.
Currently, we’re deep in development for five (!) collections and will be expanding beyond lighting, into furniture and home accessories. It’s been exciting to shape the brand’s language and strategize its growth. In Common With is now seven and a half years old, and Quarters is one and a half. We’ve taken such intentional steps to grow the studio to this point, and are moving into a new stage for the next five years of both businesses.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
This weekend, my husband and I are having an old-New York date: Monkey Bar for drinks and dinner at Le Veau D’Or. For our team holiday dinner, we booked Cove to celebrate.
How about a little leisure or culture?
If I need to decompress fully, I cook — something slow, preferably with too many steps. When I’m not at home, I look for spaces that have a quiet hospitality. You feel taken care of without being swaddled, and things naturally fall into place. Your glass doesn’t sit empty, and before you can think about what you need, it’s already taken care of.
The holidays can get loud, so we’re offering a softer way to be together at Quarters. The first weekend of December, we’ll be welcoming Ghia for a pop-up and bringing our bar back for the weekend. We’ve missed it. Then, the following weekend, we’re hosting Comme Si with their limited-edition gift boxes.
Any weekend getaways?
We purchased land in West Cornwall, CT, two years ago, and have been developing plans to build a house. My background is in interior design, so I’ve been drawing the plans by hand; it will be a long labor of love. Whenever possible, we enjoy spending long weekends exploring nearby towns around there. The area sits at the intersection of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, so there’s plenty to do and see. This past weekend, we were near Great Barrington; a few months ago, we spent time in Litchfield. Sometimes we drive up for the day, and recently went on a garden tour in the area. If you venture up on that side of the Hudson River, Stissing House is a must for dinner.
What was your last great vacation?
This summer, we spent some time in Costa Brava, Spain; there’s an ease there that’s hard to replicate. We went hiking along the coastline to small coves, ate paella on the beach, and drank delicious Catalan wine. I accidentally bought a ton of ceramics, too. It was a perfect trip and easy to get to from Barcelona. I could spend an entire summer there.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I just bought a new everyday bag from Lemaire. It’s small enough to bring with me everywhere and big enough to hold my laptop.
What store or service do you always recommend?
My facialist Rachel at Carrie Lindsey Beauty.
Where are you donating your time or money?
We’ve been partnering with the Ali Forney Center in a few meaningful ways. We donated lighting to all of the bedrooms in their new Harlem residence, and this past week we hosted a benefit at Quarters with Dasha Zhukova (Ray’s, Harlem), where artist Dylan Rose Rheingold painted a series of our fixtures, with proceeds going to the center.
Photo Credit: William Jess Laird