Social Spotlight: Nell Diamond Opens a Dreamy Store for Hill House Home

At the end of last year, Hill House Home opened its first brick and mortar space at 395 Bleecker Street in New York. Nell Diamond is behind the bedding company that launched in early 2016 with an e-commerce site, aiming to bring luxe linens to contemporary customers. She streamlined fabric and collection options so that shoppers don’t have to worry about confusing thread counts or materials, creating a chic brand in the vein of fashion lines like Rag & Bone and Acne.

And with the new store, she’s created a place for consumers to dream. Finding inspiration in Old World prints mixed with shiny lacquered accents, Diamond collaborated with designer Martin Brûlé to transform the space. She sees it as a living, breathing mood board.

And while fans of Hill House Home will certainly find inspiration at the boutique, they’ll also find inspiration in Diamond’s Instagram account @nelliediamond—a delightful mix of her life as a CEO, mother (of one very adorable son, affectionately called “the Tiny Businessman”), wife, and friend to successful and creative pals like Prabal Gurung (@prabalgurung). There are selfies, gowns, embroidered pillows, lots of hair, and stories that have us actually LOLing.

As a preview to Whitewall’s spring 2018 issue interview with Diamond, we’re sharing our conversation with her about social media for this week’s Social Spotlight.

WHITEWALL: Who do you love to follow?

NELL DIAMOND: It is dark and twisted. I follow so many people so vehemently.

Daphne Oz (@daphneoz) is one of my best friends from college. She has three babies. She’s incredibly honest about what motherhood is like and she works really hard. She’s written three books, she’s on TV all the time. She’s one of my favorite people to follow.

Erin Foster (@erinfoster)—love her stories, very funny.

My friend Jamie Mizrahi (@sweetbabyjamie) has the most beautiful clothing ever.

Leandra Medine (@leandramcohen) is one of my friend’s, too. I love her take on the world.

Sarah Hoover (@sarahhoov)—she’s very funny and she just had a baby, Guy Sachs, who is such a sweet, adorable little man!

My friend Molly Howard (@mollyihoward) has a hilarious caption game, too.

I think I gravitate towards two things: one is pretty things, I’m a magpie, I want to see the sparkles; and the other one is people who are funny and open and honest on Instagram. All of those people follow those rules.

WW: What is your top tip for social?

ND: Be honest and be yourself and don’t try so hard. I think that’s a really important thing for people to remember. My one big thing in interpersonal relationships is you truly never know what’s going on in people’s lives behind closed doors. You never know who you could be helping by being honest. Tiny things that I was honest about, related to motherhood, some of the responses I got were heartbreaking in how that was the exact thing that someone needed to hear at that moment. I’ve had that reaction to other people’s honesty, too. You never know who you could be helping by your honesty and you never know who you could be hurting by being the opposite.

WW: What’s a meaningful follower interaction you’ve had?

ND: The support has been so incredible. I think so much of both motherhood and entrepreneurship can be incredibly isolating and you can feel like you’re in in this bubble and everyone is going on and living a normal life, but why are you so stuck? When I say that social media has been crucial to me this year, I truly mean it. Motherhood is incredibly intense as is what I do for a living. I needed support, love, and affirmation, and I was able to get that from my family but also from strangers who were just kind on the internet. There is a lot of focus on negative things that can happen, but there is a lot of good there, too, and a lot of people with big hearts who want to reach out through the web.

WW: One rule you live by on Instagram?

ND: The Kurt Vonnegut quote, “There’s only one rule I know, babies…you’ve got to be kind.” That’s it. Leading with kindness will never do you wrong. I try and remind myself that every day. I think that means be kind to yourself, too. Be kind to yourself and you’ll want to be kind to others. It will seep out of you.