Heirloom Modern Is Magic

I love big coffee table books, especially the ones about interiors and decorating. It seems there is a healthy and thriving publishing industry that revolves around such books. Dozens of new titles are released every year, and they seem to be selling. A big book with beautiful photos just cannot be experienced on the computer screen. I especially love a big beautiful book that is also well written and has a story to tell.  So I am happy to tell you about Heirloom Modern by Hollister and Porter Hovey.

A portrait of the Hovey sisters' glam grandmother from the book Heirloom Modern -  photo by Parker Hovey

The Hovey sisters in their loft in Williamsburg

Let's back up a bit to 2008 when I first started my blog. There were a handful of exotic bloggers, the in girls and it boys who everyone swooned over. The "J'dore" cult following emerged. One such blog beloved by many was called (and still is) Hollister Hovey.

I always thought the whole loft was painted black, but it was just one great big accent wall

I think I can say that Hollister and Parker Hovey started the whole black wall (and decorating with taxidermy) craze for bloggers, that has now trickled down to decorators everywhere to this very day. Black walls were not thought of as chic or in the comfort zone of most people. Rebellious teenagers and rock and roll types painted their walls black. Funnily, that famous black accent wall in their loft is no more. They recently painted it white HERE!

The walls are white now

Hollister and her sister Parker live in a windowless loft in Willamsburg in Brooklyn in New York. They rode the wave of the hipster movement that totally changed a once discarded neighborhood, that morphed into a pretty fabulous "see and be seen" scene.

One of their favorite pieces of taxidermy

Mismatched toy soldiers form a unique army

Militaria form one of their many collections

Love the Lucite chair

In the home of their aunt

I like many am fascinated by the Hovey sisters. Talented and quirky, they capture attention. They are two young stylish women who love to collect extraordinary vintage objects. They seem to have a full, fun, creative. and vivid social life, and Parker even snagged a cameo on Mad Men.

The London home of Alexa Romanoff is in the book

Now they have their first book out, Heirloom Modern (published by Rizzoli), and it is simply wonderful. At first glance, I thought how can a book basically filled with vignettes of quirky collections be so captivating. But then I started to read it, and I could not stop. It is pure magic.

Add this book to your collection

After all, it is really the back stories about the things we choose to live with, and how we put them together that makes interior design and decoration become a living thing, and not just a dry husk of attractive rooms strung together for imaginary photo shoots for imaginary magazines.

The Hoveys have a rich family history, filled with artistic, creative, talented, and quirky types. And they have acquired alot of their stuff from family collections. I am especially drawn to their stories. I'm sharing a number of photos from the book to whet your appetite for the stories behind the objects and collections. Plus I love the photography of Parker Hovey.

I am a rootless creature. My family history is sketchy and unknown. I live in the present. I create my own history that lives on only as long as I do. I am not boo-hooing. But at times there is a certain longing for a connection to a past before I was born that formed me. I can become lonely and melancholy in longing for ancestors.

On the other hand, I have a tremendous freedom, being able to create a family of Alberto, friends, and siblings. Ralph Lauren created an industry providing a modern heirloom lifestyle for people like me.  My grandmother was only alive for my childhood, too soon for me to delve into genealogy with her. But I did come away from her with a love for vintage and old things, and for many years my grandmother's clothes and memories of her house formed my sense of style both in home decorating and fashion.

So I really appreciate the Hovey sisters. Get their book and be inspired. There are of course gorgeous images of their home, and also those of friends and family: "Homes filled with objects bought, bequeathed, beloved, and worth handing down".  After you read this book, you will embrace your own stuff and glory in the layered beauty of its artful clutter.

I heart the Hovey sisters

The Hovey sisters  are thriving. Besides the book, and lots of press over the years, they also have a wallpaper at Anthropologie that can instantly give you a little of their wit in your own space. They also have an interior design firm now, Hovey Design.

Do you treasure your auntie or granny's or parent's stuff? Do you decorate with it?

To my sisters and brothers, and nieces and nephews, please don't throw away all my stuff after I am gone. Perhaps it can help start a family history longer than a New York minute.

All photos  (except for the second and third, and the last one) by Parker Hovey from the book Heirloom Modern by Holister Hovey.

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