Home Sewn: At Home With Denyse Schmidt

Schmidt’s light-filled living room is simply furnished with two petite sofas.

A quilt sample from a work in progress titled “Hills ’n’ Hollers” (pattern available at dsquilts.com), in which Schmidt’s new fabric collection “Hope Valley” features heavily.

Schmidt’s cat Boo lounges on a quilt turned table runner in Schmidt’s dining room.

Schmidt’s bedroom is filled with more personal art pieces.

Schmidt standing in front of a large map of Connecticut; the map comes in handy when friends ask, as they often do, for directions to nearby antique and flea-market shopping destinations.

Schmidt's library is tucked away in the vestibule between her bedroom and bathroom.

Schmidt bought her motion-activated singing birds at BDDW, a furniture store in Soho. Designed from Dr. Tsutomu Suzuki's hand-sculpted models, the birds are equipped with motion sensors that make them chirp and twitch at passersby (bddw.com).

Another favorite painting by Schmidt's friend Denise Carbonell.

A bookcase in the living room is reserved for her collected objects and memories, both bespoke and vintage.

After finding this portrait at a flea market, she's taken to calling it, ironically, "the perfect man." Below it is a wooden whale carved by Schmidt's childhood neighbor, Kenny Hjelm.

A close-up look at one of the repaired ventilation holes in the floor with perpendicular patches.

A favorite old wire piece from her collection of vintage cooking racks.

A letterpress "D" from Hammerpress in Kansas City, Missouri (hammerpress.net).

A typical Schmidt decorating vignette includes a drawing by Marie Watt, crocheted butterflies from Oeuf (oeufnyc.com), a stitched drawing by Gail Biederman, a drawing of the George Washington Bridge, and "button" art.

Schmidt holds a piece of artwork by her friend, Denise Carbonell (carbonellnyc.info).

The patina on a letter-writing desk offsets the orange accents throughout the guest bedroom, and a David Weeks desk light and a photograph of Philip Johnson's Glass House by Roni Zimmer round it out.

One of Schmidt's Works Special Edition quilts adorns the bed.

An antique metal and glass medicinal cabinet from Providence, Rhode Island, stores extra dinnerware.