About Nino Meekma
New York Table Stylist
Founder of MyHomeShelf
Sixteen years ago, I arrived in New York with a journalism degree and a very blank page. I traded the newsroom for the dining room, learning the quiet art of white-glove service, table styling, and private entertaining in some of the city's most detail-driven homes.
Why the Table?
Interior design is about the shell we live in, but tablescaping is about the moments that happen inside it. A room can stay finished for years, but a table is a temporary architecture for a single evening.
I realized this was my specialty when I stopped looking at the furniture in a room and started looking at where the wine was being poured. The table is where the life of the house actually happens.
The Sign of a Real Table
I know a table is right when it looks like it's waiting for a guest, not a camera. A well-set table has permission built into it. It's the slight wrinkle in the linen, the bread placed directly on the board, the way the glasses are arranged to be grabbed, not just looked at.
If a setting doesn't invite you to lean in and get comfortable, it's not design. It's decoration. I'm here to kill the Museum Effect.
The Supra Meets the City
My hosting DNA is Georgian. In our culture, the Supra is sacred, and the Tamada ensures the table is a place of poetry and connection. There is a specific kind of generosity in a Georgian soul. We don't just feed guests. We host them with everything we have.
But living and working in New York added a layer of restraint and visual editing to that tradition. I mix that "more is more" Georgian warmth with a modern, intentional aesthetic. A big heart, but a curated eye.
My Mantra
"A perfect table leaves too little room for the imperfect people sitting around it."
My goal is to help you set a table that feels like an exhale, not a performance. I want you to have the professional map to do it right, so you can have the confidence to do it your own way.
My Professional Story
I arrived in New York sixteen years ago with a journalism degree and a very blank page. Back in Georgia, my life was built around words. In Manhattan, I was starting over in a language I hadn't yet mastered.
My real education didn't happen in a design studio. It happened inside the private homes of New York, first in household support, then gradually moving into white-glove service, event preparation, and the invisible rhythm of how a home functions when guests arrive.
From the summer estates of the Hamptons and Westchester to the waterfront terrace of River Café under the Brooklyn Bridge, and the sun-drenched villas of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, I spent years mastering the fine details that guests never see but always feel. I learned that a truly great event isn't just about how it looks. It's about how it functions.
In 2012, I joined the team at Edelweiss Floral Atelier in Cobble Hill, just as they opened their doors. I worked part-time with them for years while managing private clients, finally stepping in as a full-time stylist in 2022.
Beyond the Table
I live in Brooklyn, and while my workdays are spent in the polished lofts of Tribeca or the refined brownstones of Cobble Hill, my heart is in the real side of the borough.
The Curator's Eye
Whether I'm sourcing vintage brass in a flea market or finding the perfect crusty loaf of Italian bread in my neighborhood, I am always looking for things that have soul. The best objects on any table carry a small story with them, and I believe a table without stories is just a set of plates.
The Georgian Spirit
I still believe the best nights end with a long toast and a table that looks a little messy, because that means people were actually enjoying themselves. The goal of every meal I style is not to be remembered for its perfection, but for the conversation it made possible.
Why MyHomeShelf Exists
MyHomeShelf is where I bring fifteen years of private, high-end event experience home. The resources that inspired me as a young stylist in New York were either walled behind expensive design schools or lost in the noise of performative lifestyle content. I wanted a place that offered the real professional rules, translated for the actual dinner party at your own table.
My readers are hosts who want to welcome people well without the pressure to perform. If you've ever wondered whether to mix and match your dinnerware, how to host a dinner party with confidence, or what belongs on a proper dinner party checklist, you're in the right place.
Everything on this site comes from real events. Real tables. Real details that guests felt but could not name.
Photography and Content Policy
Original event photography on MyHomeShelf is taken by me or used with permission where applicable. I do not show identifiable clients, guests, or private interiors.
When illustrative or AI-assisted imagery is used, it is used only for styling concepts and not to represent real private clients or venues.
Named venues (Plaza Hotel, Baccarat Hotel, River Café, and others) are referenced only in the context of my own documented professional experience working these rooms through Edelweiss Floral Atelier or as a private contractor.
Let's Connect
Thank you for being here. Pull up a chair. The table is waiting.
