What makes a purchase “worth it”? The answer is different for everybody, so we’re asking some of the coolest, most shopping-savvy people we know—from small-business owners to designers, artists, and actors—to tell us the story behind one of their most prized possessions.
Who?
At Dyphor New York, a riff off “to die for,” Francesca Messina-DeShae and her husband Ahmad do it all. The couple’s Williamsburg, Brooklyn, custom build and interior design showroom is filled with high-quality bohemian, midcentury, and Art Deco–inspired treasures, including curvy teak chairs and cane desks, velvet knot poufs, and marble and travertine tables. Handmade Moroccan rugs, colorful Dapper Lou prints, and travel photography books featuring faraway places are a visual vacation from wintry New York.
Francesca Messina-DeShae of Dyphor New York.
“Seventy percent of the furniture is designed by us,” Francesca says. She and Ahmad have manufactured and imported their own collection for more than 20 years. The two first started a wholesale business together out of Bali after meeting at a trade show, and expanded from there. Francesca, who studied textile design and once owned a custom bedding and luxury linens company, works with a rug family in Marrakech and travels throughout the year to source, collaborate with artisans, and visit Dyphor’s factory in Java, Indonesia. Ahmad, who has a background in fine art and design, oversees operations at their Brooklyn warehouse (unloading 40-foot containers is no small feat!). Their other specialty is interior design, and they manage a range of projects, from apartments to gut renovations to real estate staging. Before relocating to the East Coast with their two daughters in 2016, they operated out of several Los Angeles outposts and built up a devoted celebrity clientele.
Now focusing on their core services at Dyphor, Francesca says, “it’s just popped off.” The family splits their time between New York, Bali, and, more…