(Photographs by John Gruen.)
“We simply acquired a pet named Mango,” pronounces creator Maggie Pouncey, who lives together with her husband Matt and their sons Dominic and Felix in Rhinebeck, New York. “Our pets are all named after stone fruits – our different canine is Apricot and our cats are Peach and Plum.” Right here Maggie provides us a tour of the joyful chaos…
LIVING ROOM
Paint: Odessa Pink by Benjamin Moore. Financial institution: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Hunter. Cushions: Block store. Gooi: Artistic girls. Espresso desk and rug: classic.
On pink paint: We’ve rented flats for years and this home is the primary home now we have ever owned. We will lastly make the house the best way we wish, so I went for the pink one! I hoped that our front room can be an oasis, but in addition inviting for the kids’s crew. Odessa Pink by Benjamin Moore felt good.
Armchairs: classic from Holler and Squall. Cushions: Block store. Rug: classic from Breuckelen Berber. Bookcases: Inbuilt by earlier house owners. Ground lamp: Faculty constructing. Workplace: CB2. Portray: by Wolf Kahn.
About joyful reunions: The portray above the desk is by Wolf Kahn and the portray above the fireside is by Emily Mason, his spouse. They had been mates with my mother and father after I was rising up. When my mother and father divorced, my mom acquired the Emily Mason portray and my father acquired the Wolf Khan portray. Now the 2 work dangle collectively once more in my home.
Imprint: Amanda Jane Jones. Chairman: hand-me-down.
About household heirlooms: We’ve discarded furnishings from my mother and father, grandparents and even great-grandparents. It is humorous as a result of it turns into troublesome to guage them aesthetically. Generally I believe, ‘Do I like that chair?’ However I’ve such a heat attachment to all the pieces. We handed down an enormous chest from my great-grandmother, and there’s nonetheless a faint scent of her fragrance, which is so wild. From time to time you get a sigh.
OFFICE
Paint: Chippendale Rosetone by Benjamin Moore. Rocking chair: classic. Kissing: Mr. Madam. Rug: classic from Breuckelen Berber.
A couple of new chapter: I ran a kids’s bookstore, Tales, in Brooklyn for 5 years. In 2021, the pandemic had taken its toll and we needed to shut. Whenever you make one thing you’re keen on, letting go is so laborious. You could permit your self to grieve. It feels that approach particularly if it’s a bodily house that’s not there away. However arising with a brand new journey was very therapeutic and useful.
Desk: “My father’s desk.” Lamp: hand-me-down. Bookshelves: inbuilt by earlier house owners.
Concerning the magic of youngsters’s books: My first novel got here out when my eldest son Felix was born, and I skilled a really complicated id shift. Earlier than I turned a mom, I assumed I might spend my life writing grownup fiction. However on the finish of my maternity go away, I had a four-month-old child, and I spotted, “There is not any approach I can write one other novel.” I felt misplaced. However at the moment I actually fell in love with present kids’s books. There may be a lot variety. A toddler within the adventures of a ladies’ basketball crew or climate-related dystopian fantasies can discover nice books that talk to them – books which might be mirrors that make them really feel seen And home windows to different worlds. That is why I opened Tales and wrote A Fort on the Moon from there.
Case: classic. Lamp: hand-me-down. Flower portray: “Was my grandmother’s, painted by her good friend Abram Lerner.”
About furnishing a big room: We’re nonetheless determining the perfect locations for issues. As a author, I like tinkering with sentences, simply enjoying and transferring phrases round. And rearranging the items in our home feels the identical. Simply by doing that, the home feels cherished and lived in.
DINING ROOM
Paint: White Dove by Benjamin Moore. Hanging lamp: Workshop. Eating desk: ABC Dwelling. Chairs: classic. Rug: Armadillo.
On a particular desk: When Matt and I acquired married, my mom and stepfather gave us this eating room desk. My mom had obtained an oval eating desk as a marriage present, and it was a supply of pleasure to her. She used it for numerous household dinners and events, in order that was her imaginative and prescient for us. Our twentieth anniversary is in Could and this desk now holds many fantastic reminiscences and household moments.
KITCHEN
Cupboard and counters: “90s Formica, child!”
On main colours: The earlier house owners designed their kitchen within the Nineteen Nineties and it exudes an actual classic ambiance. When individuals first come into the kitchen, they are saying, ‘Wow.’ My artist mates say, ‘By no means change this!’ whereas different individuals say, ‘How do you reside on this insanity?’ Nevertheless it brings me pleasure. I admire that the earlier house owners actually went for it.
Hanging lamps and eating desk: left by earlier house owners. Chairs: Serena & Lily, “Initially bought for the Storytelling Lab at Tales.”
About internet hosting: For big teams, I wish to arrange a buffet within the kitchen, the place everybody can serve themselves. Then I can keep away from feeling on the finish of the night that I have not been capable of have an actual dialog with anybody!
HALLWAY
Framed tapestry: household heirloom. Bookcase: sparse. Runner: Block Store.
Household hangs: We play quite a lot of board and card video games. We additionally simply listened to all of the Harry Potter audiobooks. It was the sweetest night custom and so cozy within the winter. We additionally take pleasure in listening to The Westing Sport, a enjoyable homicide thriller with a Knives Out ambiance.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Paint: Peacock Feathers by Benjamin Moore. Bedding: Dazed however amazed. Pillowcases: Les Indischenes. Desk lamp: Design inside attain. Bedside desk: household heirloom. Portray of flowers: by Leanne Shapton.
When going to sleep it says: Just lately I completely cherished You Might Make This Place Lovely by Maggie Smith. It’s superbly structured – she writes about small moments that collectively kind a life story.
Photograph: by John Pack, from the Olympic Metropolis venture. Dresser and wardrobe: household heirlooms. Bulb: CB2, related.
About bed room blues: Our bed room seems to be inexperienced within the daylight and blue at night time; I discover it very peaceable. The boys additionally in the end selected shades of blue in related however completely different shades – which fits them as brothers.
DOMINIC’S ROOM
Paint: Ocean Metropolis Blue by Benjamin Moore. Beatles Imprint: Effective Artwork Journal. Glow-in-the-dark stickers: GloPlay. Lamp: Schoolhouse. Bookcase: classic. Ukulele: Les Paul.
On the contact of a 9 yr previous: Dominic put up glow-in-the-dark stars and he requested for a Beatles poster. He performs the ukulele and discovered to play all these Beatles songs and Carter household anthems. There’s one thing very, very candy about just a little child enjoying people music.
FELIX’S ROOM
Paint: Within the Twilight by Benjamin Moore. Dresser and lamp: classic. Pillowcases: Brooklinen, related.
On elevating younger youngsters: My children are 10 and 14, which is an intense time of life. As a dad or mum, I’ve labored on actually listening and never voicing my opinions – which is difficult as a result of I’ve quite a lot of opinions. However I believe as soon as children attain their teenage years, they understand how you consider issues and so they do not want fixed suggestions anymore. Felix and I as soon as had a second the place I mentioned, “Felix, I am just a bit nervous…” And he interrupted me by saying, “Mother, you are actually all the time just a bit nervous.” So it’s a work in progress.
UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Print: An Training, by Shawn Fields.
About nostalgic reminiscences: This print used to hold within the Tales storytelling lab, so households who went to storytime will acknowledge it. Now it sits in our upstairs hallway and I adore it. It exhibits the kid’s full absorption within the ebook, though you’ll be able to’t actually see his or her face. It brings again the sensation of my childhood mendacity in my cozy mattress with an excellent ebook.
Calendar: The Dolphin Studio, “I framed each of my boys’ beginning months, that is February 2010, when Felix was born.” Chairman: hand-me-down. Rug: classic from Breuckelen Berber.
On elevating readers: There’s a nook on the prime of our stairs the place we put a settee and bean baggage. When studying, I attempt to observe every kid’s lead. There’s usually a subject they’re obsessive about, and so they’ll simply learn and browse and browse – whether or not it is dinosaurs or graphic novels. I do know there’s quite a lot of worry about getting our children to learn, however I believe studying is definitely so joyful. For instance, we do not fear about whether or not our children will use Netflix, we simply belief that they may take pleasure in it. And books could be simply as a lot enjoyable for youths as soon as they become involved.
Thanks very a lot, Maggie! xoxo
PS Extra home excursions, together with a spaceship residence and a farm constructed for Black Pleasure.
(Photographs by John Gruen.)
