Butter That Biscuit
Blogger Bailey Quin McCarthy is barging into bedrooms to test your fluff withBiscuit Homegoods
Upper Kirby is about to get fluffed. Biscuit Homegoods, a bedding and homegoods store helmed by Houston native and popular design blogger Bailey Quin McCarthy, is set to hit the old Little Patootie's space at 2608 Westheimer in October.
McCarthy is the voice behind Peppermint Bliss, a blog that encompasses both McCarthy's personal life — including her breathless moves from Chicago to Austin and Austin to Houston and the total home overhauls that accompanied them — as well as her burgeoning design business.
After beginning to take e-design clients nearly a year ago and one year after welcoming new baby Grace, McCarthy is ready to take her dream offline with a new storefront and online shop that hopes to fill a void in the market for affordable, luxurious, design-forward bedding.
"Your bed is a delicious biscuit. If you need to fluff up your biscuit — get a better sheet situation — you need to 'Butter Your Biscuit.'"
Devoted PB readers know that "biscuit" is McCarthy's affectionate term for a bed, and as she explains on the blog:
"Your bed is a delicious biscuit. If you need to fluff up your biscuit — get a better sheet situation — you need to 'Butter Your Biscuit.' And while a biscuit should always be fluffy, it should be crisp as well.
"An essential balance of crispy sheets and a fluffy overall situation makes for a most buttery, and ideal, Biscuit."
Joining McCarthy in this endeavor are two partners, longtime friends and fellow Houstonians: Isabel Reed Wilson, a Rhode Island School of Design-educated textile designer who will execute the brand's designs, and Christina Ducruet, a former college roommate who will handle marketing and branding.
Wilson and McCarthy had always shared a fascination for design that set them apart from other childhood friends, and began talking seriously in December about launching a line of bedding together.
"I realized that all my clients had similar budgets that just don't fit the current nice, luxurious bedding options," McCarthy says. Clients often ended up using $500 of precious budget money on bedding that just wasn't as fluffy as $500 bedding should be.
To rectify this, Biscuit will offer two lines of affordable, high-quality bedding per year — one of crisp white linens and another collection of patterned bedding inspired by McCarthy's favorite design bloggers.
Bloggers with namesake patterns this season include Jamie Meares of I Suwannee and Raleigh-based shop Furbish; Jenny Andrews of My Favorite and My Best, whose pattern is named for her daughter, Fiona; Katie Armour of the Neo-traditionalist and Matchbook Magazine; and Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo.
The white bedding will feature bands of color that coordinate with seasonal patterns and encourage patrons to mix and match. There are 13 patterns with corresponding colorways planned for the first season, with another eight to 10 to follow in the spring. McCarthy hopes to keep drawing inspiration from and naming patterns for her favorite bloggers and friends, and says that as Biscuit builds its catalog, those designs that prove especially popular may enjoy extended runs.
"The ultimate dream is to create something like Jonathan Adler," McCarthy says of the store.
The 100-percent cotton, high thread-count bedding is all manufactured in the United States, and McCarthy, ever hands-on, plans to take an RV to the South Carolina factory this fall to spend four 24-hour days supervising the first prints to come off the line.
"I knew what The Katie looked like, I knew what The Fiona looked like, and to see my — but also Isabel's and Christina's — visions come to life is incredible," she says.
Wilson and Ducruet will remain on the East Coast, where they're both based, leaving McCarthy to steer the overall vision and manage the shop, which will double as an office space to host design clients.
"The ultimate dream is to create something like Jonathan Adler," McCarthy says of the store, which will also carry furniture she designs and refinishes herself, designer fabric remnants and refreshed pieces she's collected over years of scouring flea markets.
McCarthy is also designing the store's interiors, which will maintain four vignettes staged throughout. The large front window will feature a bedroom fully styled with Biscuit-brand bedding, with another, more complete bedroom vignette, living area and dining area set up throughout the depth of the store. On the walls, McCarthy envisions a rotating gallery space for local artists, with new work on display and up for sale every six weeks or so. For the opening, she's opted to feature Texas artist Gray Malin.
Eventually McCarthy hopes to extend the Biscuit line to other shops, while always maintaining a dedicated storefront where customers can get a tangible feel for the quality of the fabric and also shop home furnishings — both in-store and via an iPad that will be available to browse Biscuit's nearby warehouse inventory — as well as order custom pieces. And beginning in October, the line will be available for pre-order at Biscuit-Home.com, with orders fillable by 2013.
To keep up-to-date on when and how to get your biscuit buttered, follow the crew on Twitter and Facebook.
MAI newcomer Joseph Collins shops east coast estate sales for items like this rare, hand-signed humidor by Arthur Court.Photo by Emily Cotton
