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04.13.23

Interiors

Ceramic Fireplaces and Leather Doors: Inside the Paris Atelier and Home of Valentine Schlegel

Once a forgotten name in French post-war decorative arts, the late ceramicist Valentine Schlegel came roaring back to prominence in the contemporary design and art world a few years back, becoming a muse to the likes of Simone Bodmer-Turner, Rogan Gregory, and others who appreciated her sculpted organic forms. And yet in spite of — or more likely because of — her resurgence, her longtime Paris apartment and studio was recently emptied out entirely and sold at auction. Adam Stech was lucky enough to photograph it before that happened.
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03.29.23

Interiors

This Intensely Color-Blocked London Victorian Will Make You Rethink the Possibilities of an Historic Home

When Studio Rhonda was asked to redesign a Victorian terrace house in North London for a friend, “the brief was to go crazy, a celebration of life moving forward,” notes Rhonda Drakeford, director of the studio. With a trusting client, Drakeford completely pulled it off while pushing the limits of what you can do with color. Thick stripes and blocks of saturated primary colors harmonize with earthier tones of terracotta and chalks — over 30 shades of paint, in all. Drakeford kept the period details of the residence but glossed over them, in some cases literally: ignoring moldings and architraves, the dictates of corners and where walls meet ceilings. Instead, she used color and geometric shapes to delineate the space.
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03.20.23

Interiors

The Moody Textures — and Glass Blocks — of This California Restaurant Set the Vibe

Los Angeles-based designer and 2023 American Design Hot List-er Jialun Xiong has a strong background in interiors, architecture, and furniture design, all of which is on full display at her latest project, the new City of Industry restaurant 19 Town. Xiong went for “lavish restraint” in this 4,200-square-foot space, divided into dining and lounge areas that are each subtly well-defined yet work together as a whole.
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02.28.23

Interiors

London’s Daytrip Studio on Mining for References and Why “Pinterest is a Dangerous Place”

The London-based interiors firm Daytrip Studio can do soothing, pared back minimalism; they can do more maximalist drama. Still, whatever it is, it all derives from the same place: a fixation on materials and a layered attention to sensory details. They bring together elements of texture, light, depth, proportion, and color palette and the overall effect is one of deceptive simplicity: the whole looks effortless and inevitable, yet every part is thoroughly researched and considered.
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02.01.23

How to Live With Objects

How These Vintage Dealers Restyle Their Jersey City Home on the Regular

When we first encountered Joey Meyers and Mark Baehser, it was online, via their vintage shop Ball & Claw — since renamed Unnecessary Projects — which had taken a place in the sprawling North Brooklyn vintage empire Dobbin St. Co-op. We assumed the two were old-hat dealers. But, as we discovered when we approached them about shooting their Jersey City Victorian home for our book, How to Live With Objects, it turns out they only entered the game a few years ago, out of love but also out of necessity: Meyers had taken to constantly cycling furniture in and out of their home, and they needed an outlet to offload the amazing finds that didn't quite work with their own space.
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01.05.23

How to Live With Objects

Mark Grattan’s Mexico City Apartment Oozes a Kind of Sensual Charm

Mark Grattan’s work is moody, smoky, sensual, and chic — all qualities that, a few years back, earned him first prize on the erstwhile TV show Ellen’s Next Great Designer (which also featured longtime SU friend Arielle Assouline-Lichten). Grattan's Mexico City apartment, on the fourth floor of a building by famed architect Luis Barragán — which we photographed for How to Live With Objects but which he has since left for New York City — had a similar vibe, filled with black leather, velvet, wall-to-wall carpeting, and sleek, low pieces designed by Grattan himself.
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01.04.23

Interiors

Note Design Studio Returns a Stockholm Apartment to Its Former Glory (With a Contemporary Twist)

On today’s episode of “Why don’t we live here?!”: a 1920s Stockholm apartment reimagined by locally-based Note Design Studio. Situated in a splendorous historic building, the interior had sadly been stripped of its original character and details. But since the 3700 square feet of floor plan required a full functional rethink, everything from the flooring patterns, ceiling stucco profiles, radiator covers, and door and window frames were fair game to be restored or rethought.
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12.16.22

At Home With

In Her Object-Filled Mexico City Home, Su Wu Surrounds Herself With Gifts, Mexican Crafts, and Contemporary Design

Even though Su Wu's home has since become, in our circles, one of the most well-known stops on the Mexico City circuit of cool, it felt inevitable that we should include it in our book, How to Live With Objects — both to commemorate our long professional relationship, and to acknowledge that when you're talking about the beauty and power of objects, hers is a voice that deserves to be part of the conversation. Wu is a staunch champion of the local Mexican design scene, using her home — which she shares with her husband, the artist Alma Allen, and their two children — as a place to co-curate exhibitions and showcase her ever-growing collection of gifts, Mexican crafts, and contemporary art and design.
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12.01.22

How to Live With Objects

A 1920s Brooklyn Brownstone Offers the Perfect Backdrop for Kim Mupangilai’s Collection of Vintage Handmade Objects

Born and raised in Belgium, Kim Mupangilaï is a Belgian-Congolese interior architect, furniture designer, and graphic designer who lives with her boyfriend in a 1920s brownstone in Brooklyn. Its original period details offer the perfect backdrop for her extensive collection of vintage handmade objects, which she also sells through her side project, the online shop En la Mésá.
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11.28.22

How to Live With Objects

Kathryn Bentley Hand-Painted Her Restoration Hardware Sofa, and So Can You

Kathryn Bentley has one of the best contemporary object collections we've seen to date, from Roger Herman ceramics, to a Waka Waka coffee table (designer Shin Okuda is a longtime collaborator), to the BZIPPY urn she jokes she wants for her eternal life. One of our favorite homes from How to Live With Objects, we're excerpting images of her colorful house tour — including the incredible Restoration Hardware sofa the hand-painted with sponges — today.
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11.16.22

How to Live With Objects

This London Townhouse Makes the Case for Painting Your Bedroom — Ceilings Included — Gold

Tatjana von Stein and Gayle Noonan cofounded the full-service creative studio Sella Concept in 2016, with von Stein in charge of interior architecture and furniture design and Noonan handling branding and identity. We had covered several of the pair's projects on the site before — including a gorgeous Mediterranean-hued bar in London, and a Hackney flat with a next-level tortoise-shell headboard — but we'd never gotten a glimpse inside their own home until we reached out during our book research. Boy, were we glad we did.
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