The music room in Erica Tanov and Steven Emerson’s house (see this page).
WHO ARE THE NEW BOHEMIANS?
What we now understand as bohemianism emerged in early nineteenth-century France when artists moved into the lower-rent Romany (gypsy) areas of Paris as they sought out alternatives to bourgeois expectations. Artists from all over the world, most with very little income, tried to make their art and eke out a living in this part of Paris. This convergence of cultures gave rise to a kind of vagabond lifestyle, where the pursuit of wealth and other traditional indicators of success were abandoned in favor of a creative life and an active engagement in the search for alternative ideals of beauty.
This search for alternative lifestyles and aesthetics continues today—especially in response to a corporate cubicle culture that can sap the creative spirit out of anybody. Today’s bohemians seek to erase the distinctions between work and play, and our living spaces reflect that lack of boundaries. The new bohemian home is a multifunctional playground for exploration and experimentation: It is an office, an art gallery, a showroom, a daycare, a photo and music studio, even a pop-up restaurant, or all of these. Our new bohemian lifestyle is rooted in freedom: free-spirited, free-form, and free of rules.
We bohemians chase free wi-fi, we blog from Brooklyn Laundromats, and we check our e-mail barefoot in Tulum. We arrive early to flea markets but late to farmers markets. We are vintage hounds. We are resourceful and profoundly creative. We are boutique owners and bloggers, mothers and makers, entrepreneurs and expats, chefs and consultants, fathers and urban farmers, doulas and dancers, collectors and curators, designers and dreamers. Our travels—whether in our own city or oceans away—inform our style. Our worldly collections are as eclectic as we are. The new bohemian is a master of layers.
The music room in Erica Tanov and Steven Emerson’s house (see this page).
The kitchen of Emily Katz and Adam Porterfield (see this page).
MY BOHEMIAN PHILOSOPHY ON CREATIVITY
My own bohemian aesthetic arose out of my multicultural upbringing in Berkeley, California. (My father is African American and Native American of the Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes, and my mother is of Eastern European Jewish descent.) The blending of ethnic backgrounds in my childhood home gave me an appreciation for mixing things up when it came to home decor. Travel also informed my aesthetic. Every year, we got at least one new stamp in our passports, learned how to say thank you in at least one new language, and tried at least one kind of totally unfamiliar food (the onion ice cream in Jakarta will go down in the history books). Along with souvenirs, like a cuckoo clock from Bern, papier-mâché angels from Playa del Carmen, and a menorah from Jerusalem, I also brought back a stronger sense of self, a notion that being different was a good thing, and a pretty mean case of wanderlust that would lead me to spend ten years living abroad.
My parents weren’t precious about their stuff. My siblings and I took liberties moving furniture around. I’d usurp a hutch from the hallway, lug it into my room, and convert it into a home for my winter clothes or art supplies. We were allowed to make design decisions. I remember playing hide-and-seek with my brother and sister at the carpet store when we were given permission to shop for our bedrooms. I painted murals on the walls and sewed my own curtains with some amazing mirror-ball fabric. My room was a forever-unfinished canvas, consistently evolving and being layered upon, and always an accurate reflection of me at any specific stage of life.
Under each roof that I’ve called home since those days in the Berkeley Hills, I’ve had my way with decor. In my college dorm room at UCLA, I hid with boys under layers of tented scarves and sarongs draped over and around my bed to create privacy from my roommates. When I was studying in Florence, Italy, I wanted to give my living room a Moroccan feel, so I sawed the legs down on the dining room table that came with the apartment. I’m notorious for kissing rental deposits good-bye and ushering in the freedom to make myself totally at home.
CREATIVITY IS KEY
Growing up with such freedom to design and decorate my own environment fostered my creativity and helped to shape my eclectic bohemian vibe. This sensibility, coupled with a love of sharing, compelled me to launch a design blog when I returned to the United States after seven years in Italy. And while I no longer play hide-and-seek at carpet stores (at least not lately), what has stayed with me from those formative years is that, to me, everything is creative material and nothing is too precious to make my own. Decorating is about feeling free, having fun, rejecting traditional notions about what goes with what (especially that everything in a room has to match), and getting a little bit wild.
I’ve found over the years that resourcefulness and my own imagination inspire me most. Designers discuss splurging on a $400 doorknob when for most of us, spending $400 on anything is a splurge. The truth is, I’m a working mom, I live in a rental, and much of what I have decorated my own home with are hand-me-downs, Craigslist miracles, and thrift-shop finds. It is my strong belief that wealth is not the key to having an amazing home and an incredible lifestyle—the key is inside you; it’s your own creativity and being in an environment in which you’re allowed to openly express it.
In this book, my goal is to share ideas that give birth to new ideas and feed the imagination. Whether you read it cover to cover or browse for sprinkles of eye candy, my aim is to inspire you to make your home a reflection of your personality. My hope is that each time you pick up this book, it will motivate you to actually put it back down and start a new project. Switch out those tired curtains in your bedroom and layer on the fringed scarf you brought back from Spain five years ago or that sari you picked up in India. Pry open that can of paint under your bathroom sink and give that little wooden accent chair a kelly-green hue. Reupholster that cushion with a sarape. Canopy your bed in Turkish fouta towels, French lace nightgowns, or washed linen fabric that you dip-dyed in indigo. Let loose. Experiment. Kick off your shoes; light your incense; turn on Joni, Jimi, or Janis; and get all boho.
BREAKING DOWN THE “NEW BOHEMIAN” HOME
Though they all exemplify the new bohemian spirit, the twenty homes featured in this book are divided into six themes. The homes of the modern bohemians place a premium on clean lines and functionality. The homes of the earthy bohemians are veritable greenhouses where plants take center stage. Folksy bohemian homes are distinguished by stories of family and tradition told through art and artifacts. In nomadic bohemian homes, collections of colorful textiles reign supreme and cover every surface to evoke an almost dizzying grand bazaar effect. Romantic bohemian homes are a narrative in nature and evoke a sweet nostalgia. The maximal bohemian home (like mine!) includes a whole lot of everything.
At the end of each home, I’ve added a section called Adopt an Idea, which is where I offer tips and hints on how to achieve a certain aesthetic found in that home. After each of the six main sections, I’ve given you a couple of DIY projects that help you to bring the new bohemian vibe and spirit into your own home. In the back of the book, you’ll find a plant-o-pedia that breaks down all the amazing plants and plant installations in the book and details how to care for them. The last chapter provides shopping and inspiration resources.
The striking fabric wallpaper in Paige Morse’s home (see this page).
