MAKING IT PERSONAL
Early this year I participated in Apartment Therapy’s January Cure—essentially, it’s a daily task that helps you get back on top of the clutter that slowly invades your life throughout the year. I can’t say I was super committed to everything on the calendar, but I really dug into one particular purge: removing all the tchotchkes from my living room, including art books on the coffee table, candles on the fireplace, throws and pillows on the sofa, even some of the art on the wall. You’re only meant to box it up for a couple of weeks, but that absence of personal items helps you realize what you’re actually still using in your space. (A friend came to visit in the interim and was a little horrified by the uber austere state it was in. Minimalism, without the style.).
I did, in fact, learn that there were candles and pillows that I was happier without. But I also found that I really do love being surrounded by books and magazines in that room (surprise surprise, given what I do every day), and my favourites came back to the coffee table. The rethink also had me readjusting the artwork on the walls, including adding a new oversized shot of surfers in Biarritz—a sweet memory from a great summer vacation. I may never be a minimalist, but I’m also not wed to things for the sake of decor. It’s the personal that makes a space yours.
This issue we spotlight gorgeous kitchens, and throughout the year I’m lucky to see so many beautiful spaces come across my desk for consideration. And the ones that percolate to the top and into these pages are those spaces where you can see what’s made the space personal and true to the owners. Whether it’s an island that’s a few inches lower so the homeowner can bake up a storm with ease (page 38) or a room with chevron-patterned flooring and an abstract tile pattern on the wall—memories of the architect and homeowner’s recent trip to Copenhagen (page 34)—each detail is designed to be a true reflection of those who live in the space. May these pages inspire you to embrace what you love, and liberate what you don’t, in your own home.