Kendra Rogers celebrated her grand opening of Bluegrass Home on January 24, 2007 exactly one year after Nell’s closed their home furnishings store in Los Angeles.  As manager of Nell’s for almost ten years, Kendra’s hands on experience with running a successful business enabled her to open her own shop.  Areas of expertise range from administrative to creative while she supervises and directs all operations.  She hand selects the inventory which she finds at various furniture and gift shows to estate sales and antique shops in California and her home state of Kentucky. She implements all aspects of custom furniture fabrication from fabric and finish selection down to the style of each nail head. In addition to the custom pieces, she offers interior design consultations and window treatments to clients who are looking for personalization in their homes.  In recent years, Kendra notes, the home furnishings and décor market has been transformed from largely functional to more of a fashion business, thus allowing customers to dress and decorate their homes like they dress and accessorize themselves.

And speaking of fashion, clothing design was Kendra’s focus before she started working at Nell’s.  It was always on a free lance basis, creating attire that ran the gamut from wedding gowns for blushing brides to leather pants for heavy metal musicians.  And in 1979, the year she graduated from college, she designed and made a couple satin and leopard jackets for Rod Stewart.  Her educational background provided the foundation for both her clothing and interior design experience.  As a graduate from the University of Kentucky, she received a B.S. degree in Clothing, Textiles and Merchandising with a minor in Interior Design.  During her last two years in college, she had the privilege to participate in design study tours in Europe and New York.  Two weeks after graduating, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a design career.