the quiet seduction...

New York home of Maya Marzolf, Inside Out Magazine, Sept/Oct 2010

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it can be the quiet + unassuming things that can be so so seductive? This phenomena happened to me yesterday as I was unpacking a box of ceramic pieces at Object Gallery. The package in question was from the lovely Honor Freeman and the ceramics were beautiful production pourers and beakers that were destined for the store. 

I don't think its any surprise to you all that I love ceramics and the work of Honor. Her work is quiet, delicate, fragile and so skilfully crafted that its hard not to love it! But that can sometimes be its Achilles heel. Her pieces do not scream or shout at you to look at them. They sit and wait for a patient eye to look at their details, and a slow hand to pick them up and feel their marks and glazes. There are no strong colours or graffiti statements to grab you and demand your attention.

Its the complete opposite. 

The same could be said of this Brownstone home in New York. The look by Maya Marzolf may be 'World Traveller' but the way that it has been collected is anything but colourful, textural and wild. 

Maya who was a photographic producer for Vogue, but now owns an antiques store called Le Grenier, is a French/Finnish 34 year old who moved to this atmospheric Greenpoint apartment in Brooklyn seven years ago in order to renovate and create a unique space to reflect her love of eclectic, exotic and industrial things that 'hold a tale'. 

Maya in her quiet space... 

Rough, white, textured walls... love it. They add character and warmth to a quiet space.
And that bookcase is amazing. It was made by recycling old timber beams
to look as if it was always meant to be there...

I guess this is what you would call an antique, industrial, world traveller look! I love all the wood
that warms up the space and the vintage icebox that was been converted into a liquor cabinet.
The Dutch chandelier adds a feminine lightness to the the look and her Burmese cat Le Golgot loves the
light pouring in through the window!

Lots of small textural details from her many objects on display. From a pure white
ceramic collection on the mantel, to a rustic birdcage found in upstate New York....
I love the antique bed too with a lovely round mirror above it. The tiny objects displayed
above the light switch adds a beautiful touch too.

My favourite shot. Has to be one of the best ideas for a bathroom wall - a hand drawn mural
 of nautical objects which Maya has called 'Things that get washed up on the shore'.
It was completed by artist Weston Woolley and he has used a style similar to what you
would find in old botanical books. 

All these details may be subtle and quiet - but isn't that what you sometimes crave in a home space? 

The chance to breathe, be still and just let the eye wander over the small and delicate details that normally go unnoticed...

Credits: 

Article :The Cosmopolitan 
Inside Out Magazine
Sept/Oct 2010, pg 109
Words: Hilary Robertson, Photographer : Matthew Williams