“My novels at all times appear to include a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says J. Courtney Sullivan. “I write one thing, after which it occurs in my life.” In her newest e book, The Cliffs, a lady named Jane strikes again to her hometown and winds up in a Victorian home. Then, Courtney additionally moved again to her hometown and landed in an previous Victorian — alongside together with her husband, two youngsters, and 13-year-old canine. Come have a look round…
LIBRARY
Chairs: Inside Outline. Espresso tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Goal. Curtains: customized through Noelani Zervas Interiors with cloth by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, comparable.
“Many individuals I do know had an sudden life occasion within the early days of Covid — a reevaluation of some form. A divorce, a brand new profession, a child, a canine they weren’t planning on getting. For me, it was heading again to my hometown of Milton, Massachusetts, one thing I by no means thought I’d do in one million years. I like it, however I generally think about my 14-year-old goth self, who wrote quick tales concerning the soullessness of suburbia, discovering out that we reside right here. She can be appalled.”
Couch: Room & Board “Hutton”, comparable.Espresso tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Goal. Curtains: customized through Noelani Zervas Interiors with cloth by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, comparable.
“We moved into our home in July 2021. We didn’t have a lot furnishings, and with all the provision chain points on the time, it felt not possible to discover a new sofa that might arrive inside a yr. So, I went to Room & Board and requested if there have been any couches obtainable instantly. There was precisely one: yellow and velvet. I purchased it and determined to construct the room round it. The navy partitions got here subsequent.”
Portray: Leo Dunn.
“A couple of months after I purchased this portrait of a sea captain, my greatest good friend and I walked into an enormous artwork gallery in Maine. There have been a whole lot of work on the partitions, and she or he pointed at one and mentioned, ‘I really like that!’ It was a Leo Dunn portrait of Captain Cogswell! She’d by no means seen mine, however now we every have our personal.”
DINING ROOM
Mild fixture: Shades of Mild. Desk: Duvall & Co. Chairs: Design Inside Attain. Wallpaper: William Morris.”
“Whereas dwelling in Brooklyn, we had our second child, and our eating room turned our son’s bed room. I didn’t wish to half with the desk, so I discovered a desk tent that turned it into firetruck. With pillows and fairy lights and books, it was the proper hideaway. Now the eating desk is again to being a eating desk. My daughter and her mates do plenty of crafts, so there may be glitter in each crevice.”
Wallpaper: William Morris. Mirror: body from an vintage retailer, mirror inserted later.
“For my fortieth birthday, my two greatest mates every gave me a stunning ornamental bowl as a present. I bear in mind considering, Wow, so we’ve reached the ornamental bowl years. In a contented manner — I really like an ornamental bowl.”
LIVING ROOM
Sectional: Inside Outline. Rug: Classic, comparable. Espresso desk: West Elm, comparable. Aspect desk: “Thrifted at a MCM retailer in Brooklyn a decade in the past,” comparable. Wall shade: Tallow by Farrow & Ball, Tallow. Curtains: customized through Noelani Zervas Interiors.
“The day after we moved in, a part of the second-floor ceiling caved in from a mysterious leak. The home nonetheless has its unique wood gutters. The partitions are filled with horsehair plaster. That is the primary dwelling my husband and I’ve owned, so it’s a studying curve.”
“Most of the girls in my mother’s household have passed by their center names. My first identify is Julie, however nobody has ever referred to as me that. It would appear to be I’m making an attempt for this literary affectation with ‘J. Courtney Sullivan,’ however if you happen to checked out my kindergarten attendance sheet, it mentioned that, too.”
KITCHEN
“After 20 years in small flats, we have been joyful to maneuver into an enormous home. Funnily sufficient, although, when all 5 of us are dwelling, we’re nearly at all times in the identical room. When we’ve got a celebration, everybody congregates within the tiny kitchen till I urge them to go elsewhere.”
Throw rug: Sprint & Albert.
“If there are greater than three kids at dwelling, somebody is shimmying by the little window within the kitchen. It’s the legislation.”
“There are such a lot of pretty historic particulars, like a Harry Potter closet beneath the steps and this butler’s pantry, which we use for storing youngsters’ artwork provides.”
OFFICE
Desk: Theodore Alexander. Wall shade: Dix Blue by Farrow & Ball. Desk chair: classic Steelcase, comparable. Globe Lamp: Classic Dansk from Ramble Market. Rug. GreenRow.
“The centerpiece of my workplace is the desk my husband gave me 15 years in the past, after I give up my day job and began writing full-time. On my desk, I’ve {a photograph} of me and my childhood good friend Noreen making a snowman in a blizzard. The picture is a each day reminder of what drives us to create.”
“When Kevin and I have been first relationship, we bonded over a mutual love of the artist Leanne Shapton. Leanne and I labored collectively on the time, so I requested if she had any work she may be prepared to half with. She ripped two pages proper out of her sketchbook — a watercolor of brownstones — which I framed for Kevin as a Christmas reward. Then, after I turned 35, Kevin commissioned the artist Samantha Hahn to create a customized Child-Sitters Membership cowl, based mostly off a photograph of me and my childhood mates.”
LANDING
“At one time, a lady named Clara should have lived on this home as a result of she carved her identify into the wood doorways. It’s at all times thrilling and slightly spooky to find a brand new one.”
PRIMARY BEDROOM
Yellow quilt: The Firm Retailer. Wooden bench: comparable.
“With youngsters, it’s a lifetime of extremes. My husband and I are both on this very quiet, pretty home working from dwelling, or the youngsters are right here and it’s completely bananas.”
“Once I was nonetheless consuming, I discovered myself drawn to issues written by individuals who’d give up. Ann Leary wrote an unbelievable e book referred to as The Good Home that I take into consideration on a regular basis. I’ve written typically concerning the ‘good woman’ in a household of alcoholics. In my newest novel, I made a decision to be extra sincere and say generally the ‘good woman’ is additionally an alcoholic who must face that. There have been plenty of instances after I felt like I actually wanted to cease consuming, nevertheless it didn’t appear potential. It was potential. In October, I’ll be eight years sober.”
SON’S ROOM
Bedding: Pottery Barn Youngsters. Mattress: Pottery Barn Youngsters. Nightstand: Ikea. Rocket lamp: Goal, comparable. Curtains: Pottery Barn Youngsters.
“Once I was a child, I at all times wished to learn The Child-Sitter’s Membership, however my dad instructed me to learn ‘actual books.’ Now I volunteer on the library, which has all of the books I bear in mind from childhood, and the youngsters simply wish to learn graphic novels. I really feel a bit like my dad after I catch myself considering, What about Anne of Inexperienced Gables?! However a part of instilling a love of studying includes letting youngsters learn what they gravitate towards.”
DAUGHTER’S ROOM
Mattress: Pottery Barn Youngsters. Map: Cavallini Papers. Nightstand: Ikea. Curtains: Pottery Barn Youngsters. Rug: Pottery Barn Youngsters.
“Just about each win in our family is well known by going to Dairy Freeze, so after I completed my e book The Cliffs, we did simply that. My husband was saying, ‘Yay for Mother, she completed her e book!’ My five-year-old goes, ‘Now you by no means have to put in writing once more!’”
“When my mother and father moved out of my childhood dwelling, they referred to as to ask what I wished to maintain. I used to be dwelling in a studio residence in Brooklyn, so I instructed them they need to give away my childhood toys — however the one factor they stored was my dollhouse. I’m so glad they did.”
STAIRS
Wallpaper: Farrow & Ball.
“I used to be consuming pizza with a good friend one night time, and I requested her what to do with our again stairs. I had one million paint swatches. She steered wallpaper as an alternative, so I obtained out all of the wallpaper samples I had. She picked one from the pile, held it up, and we have been each like, ‘That’s excellent.’”
PORCH
“The entrance porch is the perfect place to nap, drink espresso, or watch a rainstorm. Each September, we participate in Milton Porchfest, the place bands carry out on individuals’s driveways and porches. It’s our favourite day of the yr on this city.”
Thanks a lot for sharing your private home with us, Courtney, and congratulations on your new novel!
P.S. Extra dwelling excursions, together with a colourful Swedish residence and an introvert’s nook.
(Images by Lyndsay Hannah Pictures. Noelani Zervas offered some inside design companies. As Courtney put it, “After making some daring decisions, like portray a complete room navy, I bumped into determination fatigue. Noelani gave me so many nice concepts for how you can pull issues collectively and steered items I completely love and by no means would have discovered by myself.”)
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