When Your Friend Has Great Taste

An interview with my best friend

With the start of the new year, I assume many people are thinking about their space. How can I make it cozier? More chic. More organized. But lived in. But clean. What things are worth splurging on? And what things should I buy secondhand? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

I can’t say I am an interior design expert. I either feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options or my ADHD brain tells me to just throw in the towel and buy the first thing that comes up in my Google search. To my credit, I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older. I have slowly learned to be patient, take my time, and appreciate the slow collection of just the right furniture and decor. But I think I owe a lot of this to my friend, Jenny.

Jenny is the first person I ask for opinions on furniture and interior design. Every time I am in her apartment, I feel simultaneously cozy and chic. I almost always end up buying something she has or recommends. The list of things she has influenced me on is long…and growing.

One time, when I was fed up with not having a dresser, I bought one from Article. I told Jenny and felt her immense disappointment in me through the phone. She was right. When it arrived, the brand new dresser had a huge dent in the corner. Needless to say, I returned it and I was once more, dresser-less. I think it was a few days later when Jenny and I were on one of our many Brooklyn strolls when we passed by a tiny vintage furniture store.

One of the items was a stunning midcentury modern vintage Rway dresser for an absurdly good price. It took me no less than 5 minutes to buy it and now it’s one of my most treasured items that I own. I seem to always find the best stuff when I’m with Jenny.

In light of the new year, and a time for inspiration, and freshening up our living spaces, I wanted to ask her some questions about her personal style, where she gets inspiration for her home, and what she’s loving right now.

Jenny’s apartment

If you could describe your living space in a sentence, what would it be? 

A cozy, relaxed, space where old meets new.

2. What kinds of things inspire you when it comes to your living space?

Movies, TV Shows, colors, antiques, art, museums, New York, my mom.

3. What are some of your favorite things in your apartment?

My antique dresser, my stacked bookshelf, my green couch, my rug, photos of my mom, and my plants.

4. How has your personal sense of style evolved in the last ten years?

My style has ebbed and flowed a lot in the past 10 years as I’ve honed my sense of self and gained confidence (and financial stability). At 22, I was living in DC and restricted by my minimal budget and what was immediately available to me, which meant Ikea furniture and Ikea clothing (Forever 21 and H&M). As the years have gone on, those restrictions have decreased while the prevalence of online brands/shopping has increased and my worldview has expanded – all of which has led me to more informed choices for both my wardrobe and my living space.

5. Has your style changed since moving from Washington DC to New York? If yes, how so? 

Absolutely – New York has made me value style that is both functional and chic. I often joke that living in New York is like living in the wilderness (except that there is a high concentration of people and a lot of trash). Living here, you walk A LOT whether it’s through a wall of humidity or wet snow and you’re climbing up and down subway stairs meaning your footwear can no longer just be chic, it has to be comfortable too. When I was in DC, you never would have caught me pairing a sneaker with a dress or jeans, but in New York you sure will! In terms of apartment decor, it’s the same mentality. When considering a new purchase, if there is an item that it is chic and multipurpose, I am buying it. A living room lamp that is also a plant stand? Buying it. A vertical bookshelf that saves space? Buying it. 

Generally, there is more emphasis on creativity, aesthetic, and design in New York than there is in DC. I think since this is such a densely populated city, people here feel safer taking risks with style. I am constantly inspired by the people I see every time I step outside of my apartment. 

6. I always love the brands you show me and end up telling people I know about them "my friend Jenny always knows the best things to buy [insert xyz]". I tend to think any brand or item you are particularly fond of is chic and cool. Examples: Joybird couch, Open Spaces shelf, Article bed frame, Cold Picnic, the list goes on. What are some of the brands or companies you've been loving lately? 

Quiet Town: I recently did a bathroom makeover and discovered this brand in the process. They make cool, colorful, clear shower curtains that make showering a bit more joyful. They recently added this one, which I love! I bought both a canvas shower curtain and a colored clear one. Why buy a boring clear shower curtain when you could buy a colorful one!

Dusen Dusen: This is a Brooklyn based company that uses lots of bright colors and funky shapes, which is even reflected in their website design. I recently discovered this duvet cover – the print on it reminds me so much of a tulip my mom drew for me when I was in preschool. I am loyal to my Magiclinen sheets but is it time for a change? Should I buy it? (Please tell me I should buy it).

MoMa Design Store: I feel like you can’t go wrong buying anything here and it’s a great resource for discovering brands. On my list is this yellow tea kettle. It’s currently on backorder but you best believe I signed up to be notified when it’s back in stock!

Areaware: This another Brooklyn based brand that collaborates with independent designers on various home objects, so it’s also another great resource to discover new brands. I was recently gifted incense by a friend and was searching for an incense holder when I stumbled upon this website. I found this one which can also be used as a candle holder but I haven’t bought it yet. 

7. How do you discover these rare gems?

I’ve always had an appreciation for interior design and even considered going back to school to for it at one point, so I pay close attention to the objects I see in a room. For certain items, I prefer to buy from antique stores or via online marketplaces, but that is not always an option depending on the item. When it comes to discovering brands, it often happens when I want to buy something new or when I am helping a friend find something for their home. It mostly happens by obsessively combing the internet.

• One of my favorite activities is looking at photos of dreamy multimillion dollar brownstones on Streeteasy and fantasizing about living in them. If I see an item in one of the photos that I like, I’ll screenshot it and search the image on Google or Pinterest and it usually leads me to it or something similar. This is actually how I discovered Quiet Town. 

• I’ve been off Instagram for awhile now, but whenever they launched their Shop feature, more and more brands began to show up in my feed which is how I discovered Open Spaces. I was surprised that I was the person to put people on to this brand since I figured everyone else had probably seen their shelf in their feed at some point too! 

• If I am committed to buying a larger item new, I will do extensive research on it before buying. I can get a little of obsessive which leads me down rabbitholes and I end up discovering new brands and finding inspiration. When I was investing in a couch for the first time, I knew I wanted it to be green and big enough for people to sleep on when they visit me so that helped narrow the search. After weeks of sifting through various green couches, I chose one from Joybird because of how deep and cozy it is.

8. Are there similarities between how you dress and how you organize and decorate your home? 

Yes in that I like my clothing and my home decor to be functional, chic, and timeless. I definitely use more color in my home decor than I do in my wardrobe, though. 

9. When was the last time you felt really inspired by a space? 

I saw Spike Lee’s exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum a few months ago. It felt like a peek inside of his home and I was inspired by what he finds inspiring (lol) and I loved the use of color. I also recently watched the movie All About My Mother and was struck by the use of contrast and color. I felt similarly about the set design of Poor Things.  

Lightning round:

• Warm or cool tones: Warm

• Mornings or nights: Mornings

• Stay in or go out: Hmmmm…. This is hard to answer. If by “go out” you mean get wild at a bar until the wee hours of the morning then I am team stay in at this stage ;)

• Silver or gold: Silver (for now)

• Pizza or sushi: Pizza (harder to mess up than sushi)

• Old or new: Old

Jenny often shares what’s inspiring her on her substack, Still Processing. Subscribe here.