Welcome to our newly revamped weekly Home & Garden Index, in which we let the folks interviewed by New York Times reporters about design, decorating, and architecture speak for themselves. Through this highly exacted and carefully controlled sociological study, we hope to determine how, exactly, the other half lives. Onward to the countdown!
10: “German is easy — it’s easy to find a complete set of vellum Goethe in the original German,” he said. [link]
9: “Some people will insist that they be in English, because they want them to look as if they could read the books,” Mr. Weinstock said. “Others don’t care what language the books are in as long as the bindings are beautiful.” [link]
8: “People are scared to let their kids outside, even where I live,” she said. “If I want my kids to go outside, I have to be with them.” [link]
7: “Our next project is to build a pool in between our houses,” said Ms. Giribone, who can walk from her mother’s house to her own terrace in two minutes. “I want to feel like I’m on holiday in my house.” [link]
6: “A coffee table that raises to dining height and is attractive is no easy feat,” she added. [link]
5: And because the “torque and spiral” of the raw materials determine the shape of her creations, “the pieces almost make themselves,” she said, as she winds strands together. [link]
4: “We’re two people who love to entertain but also live in small apartments, so we look for attractive items that allow a space to function in a multitude of ways.” [link]
3: “In Paris, if my sister wants to have her flat painted, it costs almost the same,” said Ms. Giribone, who left Paris four years ago, with Mr. Zefifene and their daughter, to be closer to the artisans who make her jewelry.[link]
2: "In the traditional modernist planning that created the suburbs, you put residential buildings in suburban neighborhoods, office spaces into brain parks and retail in shopping malls. But you fail to exploit the possibility of symbiosis or synthesis that way." [link]
1: “Your furniture should be smart,” she said. “But smart-looking, too.” [link]