At Home

I've been looking at a lot of photographs of people's homes lately.  Not photos that were staged by stylists and lit by photographers, but everyday photographs in natural light, and I've been loving them.

This afternoon I went around our apartment--the place we're living for a year or two until we can sell our loft in Massachusetts and buy a house up here.  For a temporary house, this place has loads of charm, and we immediately felt at home here.  There's plenty of room for my magpie collections and our books. Oh, and a bed of some sort (red wagon, wicker basket, old suitcase . . .) for Scout in every room.  

I purposely didn't stage anything.  Everything's as-is in these photos, dust and all.  I'm sick of staged home photos.  What I like to see are the everyday traces of lives lived.  We all leave a mark on each day--by the things we wear, the words we say, the objects we use, and the way we move through the world.  That's what I love.  That's what inspires me.  

Everyday bling in the bathroom.

We collect and write with fountain pens, 

so there's always ink in cubbies and drawers.

I buy beat-up old medicine cabinets at flea markets, 

sand them, paint them, and use them 

to store curios, spices, books, etc.

Treasures.

A long hallway runs like a spine through this apartment 

with our kitchen at the head.  

Near the kitchen entrance is an old brick arch,  

and that's another of my medicine cabinets on the wall.  

This one stores spices and essential oils.

Yes, that's Bananagrams on the hutch.

Our kitchen walls are covered floor-to-ceiling 

with the original subway tiles.  

I love the border of black tiles near the ceiling.

Like our kitchen, 

the bathroom is tiled in white with black.  

The bird vase is from my friend Melissa.  

This step in my study leads out to the sunporch.  

It's too cold out there in the winter, 

so the step becomes a book shelf and landing spot 

for random plants and paintings.

These vintage suitcases store CD's 

and double as an end table.

Last but not least, the boots.  

You know we love our boots around here, 

but there's no place to store them, 

so we decided that they are art.

As I type that I realize 

that so much depends upon 

how we choose to see and value things.  

The small stones in the first photo

are some of the heart-shaped stones

I have collected over the past couple of years.

Once I spot them, gather them, 

slip them into my pocket,

they become talismans--

they become what I need them to be.

This "home-for-now" has done the same;

it is just what I need it to be.

More photos soon.  

Can't wait to show you my old pilasters 

and favorite books!  

xo