'Selby in the House'

Todd Selby in his East Village studio

Most people would hesitate opening their doors to a stranger who wants to photograph their apartment. Not when that stranger is Todd Selby.

The blogger/photographer recently has been gaining popularity in the home décor blog circuit, capturing the essence of his subjects in their private homes on theselby.com. Only for those spaces deemed “cool,” Selby will photograph any one from fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and model Helena Christinensen to an unbeknownst Los Angeles filmmaker and Brooklyn artist.

The space must be: lived in, interesting and original. But not because an interior designer has made it so. As for the subject? The subject must be interesting too, Selby tells The New York Times.

At the bottom of each profile of images will be a hand-scribbled interview, where Selby poses questions like: “Who are your style icons? Could you draw your favorite object in your office? What do you like about New York City?”

The answers are random and offbeat, in keeping with Selby’s persona.

Selby in his own shop window at Colette in Paris

A tour through his East Village studio/office is as telling as those featured on his blog. The studio/office is an eclectic mix of colorful doodads and remnants from past freelance projects. (The photographer has recently shot ad campaigns for Nike and Jack Purcell, in addition to special projects with Louis Vuitton and The New York Times T Magazine.) Mounted against his wall is a tye-dye T-shirt, magazine cutouts and drawings. There are stickers of an alien and peace symbol on his desk drawers and a rug in the shape of a cartoon-like lion lies on the floor.

Selby wearing purple pants and a cat t-shirt

His unkempt, raw interpretation of home décor might very well revolutionize our pre-conceptions about what interior decorating is all about. Nowadays, interior decorating places less importance on ‘cookie-cutter’ setups, but on arranging a home in such a way that color, texture and personality shine through. Usually there is no clutter, no mess generated from the day-to-day. But to Selby and a lot of his subjects, clutter is real. And realness is what a home is all about.

Take a look at theselby.com blog and then ask yourself: “Would you let Selby into your house?”

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of The New York Times, nuninuna.com; fashionindie.com

'Decor Goes to the Dogs'

For someone who has long been considered man’s best friend, it’s about time he had a say about the décor.

The New York Times recently ran a July 21 article centered on our furry friends and the rising popularity in pet-friendly design solutions and furnishings for the average ‘human home.’

Animal lovers, knowing that a happier pet is a well-behaved pet, are buying into the pet accessories. Others go as far as constructing their own feeding stations, with one pet owner transforming her old furniture into a place where her dog and cats can find their food (below middle).

As a former dog rescue volunteer – I used to foster dogs in my home until they were adopted – one of the many challenges I faced was keeping the house orderly. Whether it was spilt water bowls, the remains of a half-eaten teddy bear lying around, or puddles of dog pee, I had my hands full.

Decorator and pet owner Kristi Linauer, of Texas, said that her dog Boo would eat out of the cats’ bowls on the kitchen floor of their home. But moving the cats’ bowls to the kitchen counter posed another problem: kitty-litter encrusted cat paws padding across her counter (highly unsanitary).

Linauer took matters into her own hands, taking an old secretary desk and converting it into a feeding station. How’d she do it? By removing the hatched door, bottom drawers and shelf, Linauer created a top section for her cats and bottom section for her dog to eat, drink and be merry.

Basset-hound owner Toru Hirose turned to an architect to build cabinets (above) that would conceal his hound’s dog supplies and crate. Creating a wall-to-wall cabinet, the architect hid the dog crate and food dishes inside. Hirose’s hound, Marco, enters through an opening in the center.

“How you plan a house influences a dog’s behavior and spirit,” Hirose told The New York Times.

Couple Bill Hilgendorf and Maria Cristina Rueda, of New York, turned their Brooklyn apartment into an indoor cat playground with a bright yellow staircase (above) made from fiberboard that climbs over a doorway and above the stove to a set of kitchen cabinets. While adding an architectural element to the space, the stairs allow the couple’s cats to chase one another up and down the stairs.

Now you must ask yourself: “How can I think outside the litter box for my pets?” You’d be surprised what you might dig up.

-S. Gonzalez

'House Menagerie'

Planted on 90 acres of Catskill farm and woodland, this 18th century farmhouse is a study of geographical and anatomical proportions where clutter isn’t the exception – it’s the rule.

Meet Sean Scherer, an artist turned store owner, whose home was the subject of a guided tour in the New York Times on Thursday, Oct. 8.

The artist, who moved upstate after 9/11 paralyzed the New York City art scene, said he had waited his entire life to refurbish and expand the 1,000 square foot, Cape-style farmhouse from the 1840s.

He rebuilt parts of the house by hand, having also designed an addition that would triple the house's size. During shopping visits to the Brooke’s Variety, Scherer uncovered a selection of crude farm furniture with what he said were “clean, modern lines.”

“I don’t care about the pedigree,” he told The New York Times. “I like the fact that the objects were made for a specific purpose.”

Much like designers mix high with low, Scherer pairs the rudimentary wares with the unexpected: medical illustrations, anatomical models and even Soviet agitprop posters from Moscow in the late 1980’s.

The combination can be as eclectic as a collection of curvilinear ceramics on a tabletop, underneath an image showing a cross-section of the human head and an Industrial Revolution diagram of pulleys. Or it can be as simple as a series of mirrors hanging over a bed with a quilted duvet.

The artful clutter (as The New York Times called it) grew from years of years of collecting, since he first moved to the area.

One thing is for sure: The clutter in every corner and on any wall was no mishap. Carefully staged and beautifully staged is this artist’s approach to decorating.

And it is the same reasoning found at Kabinett & Kammer, Scherer’s own furnishing store complete with “dead animals, rocks and anatomical charts.”

Who knew that clutter could be so key?

-S. Gonzalez

*Photos courtesy of The New York Times

'Tropical Escape'

I can still remember the first time I visited Paris. The golden glint of the ceiling at the Galleries Lafayette department store, the buzzing of the closing metro train doors and the smell of warm brioche from my ‘quartier’s boulangerie were some of the new sights, sounds and smells that followed me home to the Chône residence.

The Chône family lived in the only house on an apartment-lined street in the bourgeois 16ème arrondissement of Paris. The family had taken in American exchange students for many years; I was the third student to live with them that summer.

Their home was as romantic as the city itself – a mix of Monsieur Chône’s affinity for 16th Century findings (he was an etchings and engravings art dealer) and Madame’s love of hand painting ceramic tiles and wall borders. There was a recamier at the heart of their living room (above left), hand painted bees on the wall tiles in the kitchen, and a wrought iron patio furniture in the well kempt garden outside.

But my favorite room would be my bedroom.

Unlike the rest of the house, the room had a photograph of a tropical sunset as a mural that extended the entire length of one of the accent walls. The mural drew a sharp contrast to the country French styled surroundings (below center), but it worked.


The use of a giant-sized wall covering that had the colors orange, pink and red added height and drama to furnishings that lacked clear personality, except for the Tintin garbage bin underneath the table. During the course of those six short weeks, that Hawaiian sunset and the rest of the bedroom became my escape from the tiring city life.

Since my return to the States, I’ve seen similar murals pop up in restaurants and hotels. But I have yet to see the photographic wallpaper in a typical American home.

I may not have to wait much longer.

The New York Times recently hit the nail on the head in its April 8 ‘Home & Garden’ section, reporting that a series of photographs-turned-murals (taken by photographer Dianne Bos in France )will be sold online exclusively at Target (see left). The Brewster Home Fashions images include those titled “Eiffel Tower” and “Along Paris Streets.” Browsing the selection, I found a similar version of my Hawaiian sunset available at Target for $99.99.

Looks like I don’t need a visa to visit France anymore. I can relive the experience right from my living room.

-S. Gonzalez
*Above photo courtesy of The New York Times