Notes from the Field: Home is Where the Stuff Is

By Cheryl Katz 

It is often said that home is where we hang our hat. It’s also where we hang our art, collect our stuff, arrange our shelves, and compose our table. No place says home like the things that we choose to share. At its best, our home is a container for objects picked up while travelling to foreign shores or walking down the street where we live. Whether ordinary or precious, those objects are the stuff of our life, helping to define who we are and how we see. They’re a treasure trove of salvaged memories, imbued with meaning and, sometimes, purpose, deserving of place. I’m pretty sure it’s the hat, not the hook that it’s hung on, that makes home.

Photo by Jeffrey Katz

In the name of love and regardless of time period or materiality, a suite of nesting boxes covered in Biedermeir “Linden Branch” fabric and an homage to the Italian artist Fornasetti, sit on a side table; a stack of art books are visible through the table’s glass top.

Photo courtesy of Martyn Thompson

John Derian is known for his roving sensibilities and impeccable eye. Here, at a writing desk, his idiosyncratic art collection.

Photo by Cheryl Katz

At the home of designer David Ekizian and photographer and artist John Lawler, every surface tells a story.

Photo by Cheryl Katz

Favorite pieces of art and antiques share shelf space at the author’s home.

A well loved still life, the objects and paintings of which have been collected over time and are re-arranged frequently.

 Photo by Quin Robertson

At the home of Travis and Quin Robertson a vintage naval barristers cabinet is used to showcase much loved books and objects.