I hit 5 years at Dwell last week, and during that time, I’ve seen a lot of homes. This one stuck with me.

In our July/August issue of 2024, we published a story about the home of architect David Ross and his husband, artist Mark Dutcher. I remember flipping through Justin Chung’s photos before the issue went out, and feeling a really saturated feeling of pride. On a communal level, I felt honored that our team gets to tell the stories of amazing people. On a more personal one, I remember the sensation of being on the right track. Like many people in their 20s, I can’t say it’s an emotion I feel consistently enough.

While recently in the Bay Area, I had the opportunity to drive up to Sea Ranch, an unincorporated community that’s been defined by the concept of living lightly on the land. Visiting the 10-mile strip of housing has been on my bucket list for quite a while, as has stepping inside David and Mark’s house since that 2024 issue. Thankfully, they’re two of the most generous people I’ve met, and agreed to let a few of us wander around their home off-leash for a couple of hours before we ended up around their baby blue dining table (more on that below).

The floorplan is comprised of four equally sized rooms that radiate around a central core. The circular nature is a great narrative guide, so I figured I’d take you room by room, just as we’d experienced it:

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it Shelf Life. The shorter the better.

A pair of postcards with photos by Bill Cunningham, longtime fashion photographer for The New York Times. Found them at Black Cat Books on Shelter Island; A permission slip to use the Sea Ranch Association’s facilities, including three pools, two tennis courts, a horse stable, church, and airplane hangar. A perfect little keepsake; Matches from the Sea Ranch Lodge general store; The Eames Houses book, which launched a couple of months ago, flipped open to pages 52 & 53.

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In my first send, I wrote about the concept of self ownership and my current valuation of it. Perhaps it can provide some context on why I do this and how it might be useful for you, too. The TLDR: The things that move us—and taking the time to dissect them—matter.

Here are nine things that caught my eye in March, and a closer look at each.

1- These ceramic frames by Gothenburg-based Paula Atelier are so good, they seem obvious, which applies to many of the best designs out there !

2- I hadn’t heard of Italian sculptor Mauro Staccioli until I saw this photo of his Triangolo, put into place in 1979. The intention behind much of his work is to disrupt habitual life to propose new perspectives. Baller

3- Sorry to pull an Amazon link in here, but this Anchor Rope Bag is simultaneously ridiculous and genius. Genius in that the dock cleat allows it to easily connect to fishing gear; Ridiculous in that I have no reason to want one, yet I still do.

4- For Behind the Blinds, actor Julien de Saint Jean was photographed by Sasha Munaev at Maison Louis Carré, the Aaltos’ only building in France. Beautiful setting, beautiful furnishings, and an especially beautiful A201 Pendant light overhead.

5- These split stone door pulls are great.

6- Architect Georg Heinrichs’s bedroom, which was photographed by Todd Selby for his properly 2008 blog, The Selby. Heinrich seems to have shared my appetite for Swiss frames, with their fragile fronts held in place by metal clips. I love his use of larger panes that run across an entire wall.

7- A chair from the Shaker Museum’s permanent collection. Their caption is better context than any I could provide, and the overlap between furniture and religion really is fascinating. God Bless Mother.

8- First saw this bedroom in a 2023/24 Apartamento. Bought the issue because the homeowner, Marianna Rothen, was on the cover, laying in a subterranean bathtub. I hadn’t realized the sunkenness would extend to her bed frame (?) and nearby seating area. The crazy part is that it’s currently a rental (for ~$1700/month).

9- My most recent fascination: captive ring cups. I found one in Austin back in January, and while it didn’t come home with me, the concept of it did. After digging around, here’s what I’ve learned: The design is part of 17th-century Celtic marriage traditions, and the rings around the cup’s stem represent union, commitment, and souls. Perhaps a case of hindsight bias, but I like to think the spiritual weight of the design is what grabbed me.

And if you want a little more.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it Shelf Life. The shorter the better.

Photo from Enrique Escandell’s book, published by Pomegranate Press a few months back; Isamu Noguchi’s Slide Mantra (you kinda need to click that link….. really amazing photos); A postcard that shows Noguchi’s Sunken Garden (1961-1964) which still exists at 28 Liberty Street. Got both of these cards from the Noguchi Museum, where an exhibition currently highlights the artist’s never-built public playgrounds; A Valentine’s Day card from Trent :); A piece of moiré ribbon I found in Austin. Might use it as a tie for a summer wedding. I’ll keep you posted!

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Back in October, a particularly generous week offered up the chance to step into two historic properties. And I, the lucky thing I am, gladly accepted.

On the 18th, Design Within Reach brought a group of writers up to New Canaan to celebrate the relaunch of BassamFellows’s Johnson/Kelly Floor Lamp, which was designed back in 1953 specifically for Philip Johnson’s hard-to-illuminate Glass House. To better understand the fixture’s necessity, just imagine all of the reflections a bare bulb would create on those omnipresent windows. Exploring the house-museum and its surrounding structures after dark was illuminating in terms of both the lamp’s ingenuity and what it was really like for Johnson and his partner to live there, quite publicly. My first few photos here are from Johnson’s Glass House, the nearby Brick House, and the Hodgson House, which stands across the road (and is the private residence of the BassamFellows owners). I’ve added some captions for context, though I trust that the stylistic contrast between the homes will keep you on track.

The second batch of photos are from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Toy Hill house up in Pleasantville, NY. On the 26th, I got back on the road, this time for the first installation of Field Studies, an in-person extension of Emma Chozick’s YouTube series, Surroundings. Our group of 15 was granted access to the Usonian home thanks to designer Jeffrey Renz of ReadyToHang and his parents, Brian and Jane, who live there. It was my first time experiencing FLW’s work in person, and I left moved by the architect’s obsession with geometry and detail. Captions below for context – I’ll try to remember all of the delightful anecdotes Brian provided.

Left: The Brick House, in contrast to its glossy neighbor, only features three windows. One of them peeks into the library, where a Gaetano Pesce Feltri chair waits; Right: The sleeping area in the Glass House is separated from the rest of the residence by a free-standing storage structure. I highly recommend this NYT piece, which dives into both houses, as well as Johnson’s dark history and how it shades in his work.

Left: The home office at the Hodgson House; Right: Spilt Milk put together a monochromatic spread in the owners’ dining room.

Left: One of the first iterations of the Johnson/Kelly Floor Lamp was designed to be embedded in a side table in the Hodgson House’s living room; Right: A favorite detail of the evening took the form of an umbrella stand just inside the front door.

Above: Exterior of the Glass House, in all its glazed glamour; Below: Brian Renz, who owns Frank Lloyd Wright’s Toy Hill house along with his partner, Jane.

Before approaching the front door of FLW’s Toy Hill house, we passed under a pretty wild carport, which not only protects drivers from falling rain, but also collects the rainwater. Cool to imagine looking out one of the home’s upper windows and seeing the floating pool just outside.

Left: A corner of the Toy Hill house’s living room; Right: Brian describing the radius carved into the red floor, which provided the framework for every angle of the home.

Left: Brian is quite a gestural speaker. It’s awesome to see someone so enthusiastic about their home and its place in architectural history; Right: An exterior of the Toy Hill house last fall.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it Shelf Life. The shorter the better.

A postcard from Dia:Beacon that shows German artist Charlotte Posenenske’s Vierkantrohre Serie DW (Square Tubes Series DW). Here’s an interesting site with her backstory – Very cool chica; A sample of one of Nordic Knots’s new colors, Sakura Pink. They launched the collection through a collaboration with one of my all-time favs, Marie-Anne Derville. Bubblegum has been on my mind for a few months and while I don’t think it’ll be taking hold for me in rug-form, I am considering this bedding… or perhaps more realistically this bedding; A red dot from my ceramicist-friend Kelsey, who runs her own brilliant substack all about color; I thought Posenenske’s postcard might like the company of Tony Smith’s work.

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1- Photographer Sara Sahores has been doing objectively cool things, including collaborating with Facility Studio, a frame shop I happened upon a couple years ago via the web. These stainless steel polaroid frames are pretty genius.

2- Pillows, despite their physical intent, are hard. Klay, an Auckland-based, family-run business offers some really great options for a big sitter. The globe cushions—”dense and reassuring”—are particularly appealing, but the entire store feels like a gold mine of small-batch home goods.

3- A photo of Maison du Jeune Homme (House for a Young Man), a concept apartment designed by Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret for the 1935 Exposition Universelle et Internationale in Brussels. Despite a large portion of the space being dedicated to exercise, the intent was not to cater to a macho sensibility but rather illustrates a popular-at-the-time perspective on the importance of physical movement. I highly recommend Nile Greenberg and Matthew Kennedy’s The Advanced School of Collective Feeling, which explores that mindset and its integration with modernist design.

4- The Financial Times published one of my favorite home tours of the year: Sculptor Adam Barker-Mill’s Southampton home. Keeping my eye on photographer Peter Flude.

5- Diane Arbus’s ‘Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I.’. The perfect dose of nostalgia for late December.

6- Anna Reivilä’s ‘Bond’, 2016. Reminds me of these palm stones.

7- Craig McDean for Jil Sander, SS 2001. (Catalog available here if you’re really about it).

8- There’s no good place to rest toothpaste. Painter Em Aull offers a delightful solution. “Shaped like my dog $40 shaped like your dog $60”.

9- Beckham by Julian Broad for GQ in 1999… Winter can and should be glam!

10- Best follow of the year: Pebbleoftheday.

11- Currently and inconsolably obsessed with Swiss Frames – more on that below. Perfect use-case shown here with a young Matt Dillon.

12- You might be familiar with Iko Iko’s Cord Covers, which were popular a few years ago, but they’ve also been actualizing some really great pillow designs, like their Together Forever Pillow. Until writing this, I didn’t realize the company was associated with Waka Waka – Makes sense!

And if you want a little more.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it Shelf Life. The shorter the better.

My favorite photo of my Nana, which I finally printed after years of saying I would. Now on the search for a frame that does it justice; A postcard from the Chinati Foundation, Donald Judd’s anti-gallery gallery out in Marfa, Texas; My Christmas gift to Trent: a framed and signed postcard from Joseph Beuys. It’s in a Swiss frame, which I love and just ordered three of; A copy of DWR Originals

Objectively Speaking may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of the links included above.

From left to right, top to bottom:

1- A thrilling and hopeful upgrade-to-be: Louis Poulsen’s PH 3-2½ Outdoor Wall Lamp would look lovely on my parents' deck. Someday!

2- My dad (like many, I presume) loves a low effort shoe, and I still think these Blundstone slip-on clogs could be a perfect addition to his rotation. Shoutout to Liz for test-driving and recommending.

3- This Schoolhouse x Pendleton blanket makes such beautiful use of color and pattern. Had my brother not just inherited my grandpa’s old Pendleton, this one would have been perfect for him.

4- My boyfriend, like the smart young man he is, uses a Swiss Army Knife for many a task in the kitchen. I love gradually upgrading his utensils—he got this Alessi cheese grater for his birthday last month—and these stone bottle openers are so handsome.

5- I’ve also been hoping to find him a porcupine quil lampshade. But after learning more about how they’re made, I think I’ll have to find something second-hand…

6- Over Thanksgiving, I caught my brother admiring my aunt’s Sabre Pie Slicer. I think the yellow and tortoise shell strike a nice balance specific to him.

7- My mom went grey a few years ago, and is always looking to bring a little more color into her wardrobe. I think this vest from Merci would do numbers with the Seattle moms.

8- I’m currently drafting this newsletter from within the grey hoodie shown here. I have conflicting feelings about Los Angeles Apparel, but I do appreciate that their clothing is made (by adults) in the US, and I think that’s worth at least $79.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it Shelf Life. The shorter the better.

My favorite spread from Sierra Breeze Petrocelli’s Beneath the Late Sun; A photo I took in SoHo in the Spring of 2023, probably; A postcard from a collection called A Love Letter To by Robin Broadbent

Objectively Speaking may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of the links included above.

I’ve come to the conclusion that what resonates with us is fundamentally valuable (more on that in my first send). So here’s to collecting—and sharing with others—what moves us, all in the name of self-ownership.

From left to right, top to bottom:

1- Lurv these colors and textures from a Gucci Fall/Winter campaign, shot by Mario Testino in 1995. The bigger the horse bit the better, within reason.

2- The bedroom at House FB by Fritz Barth. It’s a spectacular home, from that stunning skylight/beam situation to the furnishings. The bed frame in particular moves me (similar energy from this Hay version). First spotted this house via TheQueerArchitect - I recommend a follow.

3- William Cooper is a new name to me. As demonstrated by his storefront on Canal and these photos from July, he clearly has a great eye.

4- Friend & designer William Kammler from Ash Hotels posted this brilliant candle holder the other day, and I had to go into my screenshots to retrieve it for you. I’m not sure the exact provenance, but it might be from a series of candle holders called “Avant” - Similar versions here and here.

5- Beautiful family photo from Milk Magazine shot by Melanie Rodriguez. I love how Jeremy Young & Sara Blomqvist put their kid up on a Rey Chair (which is currently—and uncommonly—on sale). I just bought two of the matching stools last week, though at an even better deal via FB marketplace.

6- I hope to someday work with Pepe Lobez. Such perfect compositions.

7- Perfect chairs do exist, and the LC3 is one of them. Particularly this one. Lichen is currently selling one in black leather at approx 1/7th of the original price.

8- I originally thought these were powder coated, but it turns out they’re reusable plastic. Still pretty cool.

9- One of many beautiful photos by Rob Tennent this summer.

And if you want a little more.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it shelf life. The shorter the better.

A postcard with Picasso’s Femme aux Cheveux Jaunes (Woman with Yellow Hair). I grew up with a print of this in my parents’ dining room, so when I saw the postcard version at the Guggenheim, I bought two and sent one back to Seattle; A building near my apartment has these bright yellow panels around their locks to prevent tampering. They add such an unexpected color and texture to the street; I found the inaugural copy of Field Mag at Windthrow last month. I was particularly moved by a few of its pages that focus on Women in the Wind, a project by three women to document plastic pollution across the Atlantic, shot by Lærke Heilmann and Alizé Jireh.

Objectively Speaking may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of the links included above.

Every August, my brother and I decamp to Seattle for two weeks, a common high-summer tradition for anyone who knows how delightful the PNW is once the months of rain pay off. While stretching my duffel bag to its absolute limits, a very exciting email slid into my inbox for a trip to Louis Poulsen’s headquarters two weeks later. A gag and a half for a Nordic boy with a thing for modernism.

A quick & funky history: The Louis Poulsen team likes to remind people that the company preexisted electricity, which is mostly true. The company—though not yet called Louis Poulsen—was originally founded in 1874 as a wine importer. But as electricity was introduced to Denmark just after 1892, Louis Poulsen’s founder, Ludvig R. Poulsen, saw a market for lighting and electrical supplies. Shortly after, his nephew, Louis Poulsen himself, joined the family business. And while the younger Poulsen never designed any lighting, he did enlist the expertise of designer Poul Henningsen in 1924, who earned the brand high acclaim at an international competition in Paris the next year, planting LP firmly in the world of design. In 2025, it’s hard to miss LP’s impact on Copenhagen. I liken it to the George Nelson pendants that hang in the windows of countless Fort Greene/Clinton Hill brownstones – Look up from any street in the Danish capital, and you’re bound to spot one of their designs.

I thought it might be fun to walk us through the trip’s itinerary, partly so I can look back on a special week with special people, and partly to highlight just how brilliant of a brand Louis Poulsen is.

8:40am. Madelyn, Laura (the brilliant mind behind substack Magasin), and I land in Københavns Lufthavn, pass through customs with minor issues, and track down Gabby, our brave leader from the Camron team, along with a driver.

10:00am. Check in at the 25 Hours Hotel, which sits on Paper Island (named after a preexisting paper and coal warehouse). It’s all part of a sparkling redevelopment plan led by CoBe Architecture.

10:30am. Our only definitively unscheduled time of the trip (I say with gratitude for a substantial itinerary), we set off into the streets to shop and visit some friends. Highlights are led by Rhya’s tour of the Frama building (Forever addicted to their shelving systems, which I faun over in this send), followed by the bespoke cabinetry at Louise Roe and the minimalist precision of the Tekla store.

3:00pm. Madelyn finally gave in to Laura’s and my begging to stop by La Banchina, a wine bar on a pier in Holmen. With an hour and a half until our first scheduled outing of the day, we split a bottle over the oyster shells that populate the bottom of the swimming area. Seattle could use some of this energy.

4:30pm. Outside Klassik, a pretty fantastic vintage furniture store, we folded in Carly, Austin, and Monique from the LP team. Delightful people, gorgeous store, and an impressive collection of vintage LP lights that date back to the 1930s. A highlight was the PH Tennis Lamp, which Poul Henningsen designed to hang above a tennis court long ago. You’ll notice similarities between the pendant and Henningsen’s most famous design, the PH5. More on that later.

6:00pm. Turning the glam level up a notch, we all walked over to Soho House Copenhagen (giggle) for another glass of wine and a cruise through the city’s canals. It was the perfect way to get familiar with the city’s topography (and to provoke a heckling by a boatful of local teenagers).

8:00pm. Per Austin’s recommendation, we got a table at Cleo. At this point—and please do remember that the time difference between Seattle and Denmark is 9 hours—I was fighting to stay awake, which made each course feel like a delicious little apparition. Highly recommend! But maybe go when you’re more well-adjusted to the time zone.

10:15pm. L8r winners. Big day ahead.

8:30am. After the deepest sleep of all time, the six of us (and two vans) met outside the hotel to start the three-hour drive to the LP factory in Vejen.

11:30am. Quick & delish lunch in a conference room. Forgot how popular hotdogs are with Scandinavians.

12:30pm. After dawning steel-toe shoes, reflective vests, and protective eyewear, we stepped out onto the factory floor behind Oona, one of the brand’s on-staff historians. Killer job for the fastest walker I’ve ever met. We wrapped around the various states of production, from the powdercoating of the aforementioned PH5s to the polishing of the Artichoke leaves, to the single robot on the floor. It was pretty spectacular BTS.

2:30pm. To my delight, we had the chance to get hands-on with the materials ourselves, assembling PH5s with a pro named Michelle. An additional thrill came in the form of US-bound shipping labels. A souvenir I can’t say I deserved (Michelle had to get quite involved with my lamp), but am thrilled to have.

3:30pm. Back to the vans.

6:30pm. 30 minutes of horizontality at the hotel before convincing Gabby and Madelyn to get a quick spritz around the corner at Cafe Niko.

8:00pm. Dinner at Tigerlily, which also had my LP favorites, PH outdoor wall sconces, on display.

10:00pm. With the extra energy provided by jet lag, we took a car to the mainland to see a few more spots.

1:00am. The cocktails were eventually replaced by tea, which was for the best.

10:40am. After some hotel breakfast, we walked across the bridge to the LP headquarters, where we had a brief tour of the current suite of lighting. I also won a keychain from the claw machine they put together for 3 Days of Design in June.

11:30am. Monique, who joined us for the cruise + dinner on our first evening, is LP’s Chief Design Officer, and it shows. We climbed up to her office (complete with a wall of upcoming releases that transform the attic space into a personal showroom), where she walked us through LP’s history and gave us a peek into the brand’s near future. Her team has a lot of exciting projects in the works – here are a few they’re launching this Fall: LP has reworked the cutest of their icons, Verner Panton’s Panthella 250. It comes in new colorways and a cordless nature. They’ve also reissued Finn Juhl’s FJ Elements Pendant and Table Lamp. They’re both pretty special.

1:00pm. Once again, Austin led us to a delightful meal, this time at Auren’s Deli, an increasingly popular lunch spot in Frederiksburg (apparently the least touristy part of the larger Copenhagen area).

3:00pm. Our third day centered around a tour of Radiohuset, the former headquarters of national Danish broadcaster DR. The Royal Danish Academy of Music and Museum of Music now call the 1945 structure home, which was originally designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects. The building is a luminous example of functionalist architecture in the region, and the use of materials—from the leather ceilings in the lobby to the marble doorframes—is jaw-dropping. And as you might have guessed by now, all of the original lighting was—and is—manufactured by Denmark’s sweetheart Louis Poulsen. A true treat to explore.

4:30pm. By this time, I hadn’t been alone for 72 hours, so with our allotted free time before dinner, I packed up my room and stepped out into the street for a little walk over to Hay House. Unfortunately, I arrived 8 minutes too late, but that’s probably for the best, budget-wise. To add sprinkles to ice cream, it then started raining, but you’ll have to understand that rain only makes things more romantic for this Seattleite. Suddenly I was surrounded by blonde hair and wet concrete, and started my walk back to the hotel. A special moment.

8:00pm. Our final food-related stop of the trip was at Mangia for one last coursed-out meal as a team :’) We climbed out of our six-seater van, stepping through the rain into a doorway with great art placement. We were met by pink marble counters, uneven walls (dressed up with faux wainscoting), and whispers of Danish. A perfect meal nestled into a perfect last evening.

10:30pm. Back in the six-seater, full & giggly, we went back to Paper Island for the last time.

5:45am. Met Madelyn and Gabby out front to head to the airport.

9:00am. Back to New York <3

Thank you again, Carly, Austin, and Monique, for having me. And thank you Gabby, Kim, and Olivia, for the invitation. Finally, thank you to my team at Dwell for allowing me to spend a week learning and exploring. Luckiest boy in the world!

At the beginning of July, though, I hit purchase on the rest of the components to get my situation vertical. What moved me from admirer to customer was an exhibit at MoMA: The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower. At risk of regurgitating the press release for you, the exhibit focuses on a now-demolished apartment complex in Tokyo built during an architectural era called Metabolism. (Not relevant to this send but interesting nonetheless: Metabolist architecture, which takes inspiration from natural processes like the development of organic cells, developed in the east as a reaction to post-war industrialization in the west. That rocks in my book.) Anyway, the structure was an accumulation of 140 individual, separable units that could be positioned around a central core. Inside each unit, architect Kisho Kurokawa employed extensive and perfectly executed storage spaces. Tenants had free rein to manipulate their spaces as they saw fit, which led to beautiful, personal spaces that are balanced by structure. Seeing it in person—the exhibit centers around one of the units—reinforced my commitment to shelving as an opportunity for self expression. A way to own one’s walls. It all felt extremely architectural and applicable to even rented spaces.

So here I am, down $700, and still saying the shelves were worth it.

I want to be clear that I don’t think self expression, in this case through shelving, should be an expensive endeavor. Vitsoe won me over because of the company’s design history and philosophy (and their shelves’ resale value). But I know that’s not for everyone, so I also highly recommend Rakks, String shelving, Frama systems, or even Home Depot’s options, which I have hanging over my desk space at the other end of my apartment.

Next time you feel the weight of empty rental walls, consider the shelf, in all its glorious capacity.

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it shelf life. The shorter the better.

Back in May, furniture company Gubi rereleased an icon from Pierre Paulin’s archive: the F300 chair. While the chair is gorgeous, it was the creative collateral that moved me; After my grandpa left this dimension back in April, my family spent a week in Minnesota sifting through his, his parents’, his parents’ parents’, and even his parents’ parents’ parents’ stuff. He was quite a committed photographer, and I love these prints from his highschool backetball days. Each of them says “N.G.H.S.” on the back (Newman Grove High School), while one of them even shouts out one Dennis Kennedy, a teammate; I have this printed much larger on the other side of the room, but I love this photo of Sophie that I took on my birthday in 2023. Blonde hair, leather jacket, talking on the top deck of the Rockaway Ferry in April; I’m not sure when I took this, but it shows a car parked somewhere in Brooklyn. I asked Maya to translate: It reads “Cockroach” in Japanese. A little edge to balance out the sentimental bits.

More on the why: I learned quickly that my favorite colors weren’t supposed to be pink and purple. How silly! Until adulthood, really, I hid my appreciations—for boys, for clothes, for colors—and I’ve spent the last few years trying to embrace the idea that what resonates with me is fundamentally valuable. I’m hoping these can live as little visual references in the name of self-ownership. So here’s to collecting (and sharing) what we like!

From left to right, top to bottom:

1- For Copenhagen Design Week 2025, Ae Office partnered with local restaurant OURI to curate a beautiful array of tableware in a debut exhibition, Bread & Butter. My favorite piece is Ae Office’s own design, a fruit bowl/candle holder/mini vase system cast in porcelain. Honorable mention to Forever Studio’s wine cooler & tray - the first use of resin I’ve seen that seems to add something to the world (besides Gaetano Pesce’s work). [Credit to This is Paper for making the introduction]

2- Quentin De Briey is effing phenomenal. I’m all about his color control, and how it works so well with darker interiors. [Original post here]

3- I have a perfect planter in the corner of my living room, and in it, a rapidly decaying Chinese money plant. As fall comes and the greens grow fewer, I’ve been thinking about a replacement: perhaps a sharktooth fern. [Photo courtesy of Piece Love + Happiness Club]

4- A great photo from Miu Miu’s S/S 2001 campaign, shot by icon Anders Edstrom. Noticing condensed notch lapels recently and I’m a fan. [Via the fantastic Assorted Books]

5- Ana Kraš shot these Hermes bracelets for The Real Real. Genius. She also just released a fantastic collection of lights with Hay.

6- Can’t remember how I found this IG, but it’s something I consider to be perfect. This package seems to be for a vitamin supplement, designed by Helmut Schmidt. I was trying to get a friend to xerox the labels from wine bottles served at her bar last year… Never happened but I still think its beautiful to see packaging laid out like this.

7- An introspective giggle

8- Nothing much to say about this one besides that it reinforced my fondness for these Ikea pillows. [Credit to rosemarybeige on tumblrrrrr]

9- Ceramics are such an ancient slay, and it’s so fun to see current artists add something to the canon. I love Camila Lim-Hing’s pieces.

And if you want a little more

At the end of each send, I’ll be handing the mic to my more luddite self, and sharing what I’m physically collecting. I try to change it up regularly, so let’s call it shelf life. The shorter the better.

Christopher Currence in Summer of Something Special, 2021. Love the harsh shadows and page placement; A favorite photo of my mom I took when moving into my apartment in 2023; A Postcard found in Provincetown showing Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara (Flemish, c 1510) by Master of St. Sang, an anonymous painter whose name translates to “Holy Blood.” Such a serve; Postcard by Robin Broadbent, bought at Dashwood a couple weeks ago.