Renovating, a step at a time

Call it the HGTV effect. After years of watching home-renovation shows overhaul hot messes in an hour or less, viewers can’t be faulted for wanting their renos done Dominic Toretto-style — that is, fast and furious. But, says Australian interior designer Natalie Walton, slow and steady ultimately wins the race.

In her new book Still: The Slow Home, Walton spotlights owners who have crafted their dream houses with intention, resulting in sustainable materials, layouts that support each family’s needs, and objects that spark joy.

Kasia Bilinski and Matthew Murphy, for example, left their New York City apartment when they had their first child and moved to Callicoon, N.Y., where they found a three-bedroom house that was built from two Pennsylvania barns.

“The couple lived in the place for a month before starting any remodelling. That adjustment time gave them the idea to relocate the master bedroom from the top floor, which they turned into a loft-like office and guest room, to the ground level, a former wood workshop,” Walton writes in Still.

A decade ago, Tanya Jonsson and husband Kris Isacsson swapped their Brooklyn apartment for a 1974 ranch-style house in Pound Ridge, N.Y. Jonsson, the interior design director for New York City firm Roman and Williams, knows the thrill of a faster-paced reno but takes joy in seeing the art and furniture she’s been collecting for 20 years find just the right spot in her own home.

“When I look around this place, I see my life,” she tells Walton in Still. “My life isn’t slow, but the way I approach my home is. It isn’t designed. It’s a reflection of my tastes and loves, for better or worse.”