“My novels at all times appear to comprise a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says J. Courtney Sullivan. “I write one thing, after which it occurs in my life.” In her newest guide, The Cliffs, a girl 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 along with her husband, two children, and 13-year-old canine. Come have a look round…
LIBRARY
Chairs: Inside Outline. Espresso tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Goal. Curtains: customized by way of Noelani Zervas Interiors with material by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, related.
“Many individuals I do know had an surprising life occasion within the early days of Covid — a reevaluation of some variety. 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 find it irresistible, however I typically think about my 14-year-old goth self, who wrote quick tales in regards to the soullessness of suburbia, discovering out that we reside right here. She can be appalled.”
Couch: Room & Board “Hutton”, related.Espresso tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Goal. Curtains: customized by way of Noelani Zervas Interiors with material by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, related.
“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 unimaginable to discover a new sofa that might arrive inside a 12 months. So, I went to Room & Board and requested if there have been any couches accessible 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.
“Just a few months after I purchased this portrait of a sea captain, my finest pal and I walked into a large artwork gallery in Maine. There have been a whole bunch of work on the partitions, and she or he pointed at one and stated, ‘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
Gentle fixture: Shades of Gentle. Desk: Duvall & Co. Chairs: Design Inside Attain. Wallpaper: William Morris.”
“Whereas residing 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 associates do lots 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 finest associates every gave me a beautiful ornamental bowl as a present. I bear in mind considering, Wow, so we’ve reached the ornamental bowl years. In a contented method — I really like an ornamental bowl.”
LIVING ROOM
Sectional: Inside Outline. Rug: Classic, related. Espresso desk: West Elm, related. Aspect desk: “Thrifted at a MCM retailer in Brooklyn a decade in the past,” related. Wall colour: Tallow by Farrow & Ball, Tallow. Curtains: customized by way of 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 picket gutters. The partitions are stuffed with horsehair plaster. That is the primary house my husband and I’ve owned, so it’s a studying curve.”
“Most of the ladies in my mother’s household have passed by their center names. My first identify is Julie, however nobody has ever known as me that. It’d seem 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 stated that, too.”
KITCHEN
“After twenty years in small residences, we have been joyful to maneuver into an enormous home. Funnily sufficient, although, when all 5 of us are house, we’re nearly at all times in the identical room. When we have now a celebration, everybody congregates within the tiny kitchen till I encourage them to go elsewhere.”
Throw rug: Sprint & Albert.
“If there are greater than three youngsters at house, somebody is shimmying by the little window within the kitchen. It’s the regulation.”
“There are such a lot of beautiful historic particulars, like a Harry Potter closet below the steps and this butler’s pantry, which we use for storing children’ artwork provides.”
OFFICE
Desk: Theodore Alexander. Wall colour: Dix Blue by Farrow & Ball. Desk chair: classic Steelcase, related. 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, once I give up my day job and began writing full-time. On my desk, I’ve {a photograph} of me and my childhood pal Noreen making a snowman in a blizzard. The picture is a day by 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 is likely to be keen 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, once I turned 35, Kevin commissioned the artist Samantha Hahn to create a customized Child-Sitters Membership cowl, primarily based off a photograph of me and my childhood associates.”
LANDING
“At one time, a woman named Clara will need to have lived on this home as a result of she carved her identify into the picket 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: related.
“With children, it’s a lifetime of extremes. My husband and I are both on this very quiet, beautiful home working from house, or the youngsters are right here and it’s completely bananas.”
“After I was nonetheless ingesting, I discovered myself drawn to issues written by individuals who’d give up. Ann Leary wrote an unbelievable guide known as The Good Home that I take into consideration on a regular basis. I’ve written typically in regards to the ‘good lady’ in a household of alcoholics. In my newest novel, I made a decision to be extra sincere and say typically the ‘good lady’ is additionally an alcoholic who must face that. There have been a number of instances once I felt like I actually wanted to cease ingesting, but it surely 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, related. Curtains: Pottery Barn Youngsters.
“After I was a child, I at all times needed to learn The Child-Sitter’s Membership, however my dad advised 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 once I catch myself considering, What about Anne of Inexperienced Gables?! However a part of instilling a love of studying entails letting children 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 widely known by going to Dairy Freeze, so once I completed my guide The Cliffs, we did simply that. My husband was saying, ‘Yay for Mother, she completed her guide!’ My five-year-old goes, ‘Now you by no means have to write down once more!’”
“When my dad and mom moved out of my childhood house, they known as to ask what I needed to maintain. I used to be residing in a studio house in Brooklyn, so I advised them they need to give away my childhood toys — however the one factor they saved was my dollhouse. I’m so glad they did.”
STAIRS
Wallpaper: Farrow & Ball.
“I used to be consuming pizza with a pal one evening, and I requested her what to do with our again stairs. I had one million paint swatches. She urged wallpaper as a substitute, so I received 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 most effective place to nap, drink espresso, or watch a rainstorm. Each September, we participate in Milton Porchfest, the place bands carry out on folks’s driveways and porches. It’s our favourite day of the 12 months on this city.”
Thanks a lot for sharing your own home with us, Courtney, and congratulations on your new novel!
P.S. Extra house excursions, together with a colourful Swedish house and an introvert’s nook.
(Pictures by Lyndsay Hannah Pictures. Noelani Zervas supplied some inside design providers. As Courtney put it, “After making some daring selections, like portray a complete room navy, I bumped into choice fatigue. Noelani gave me so many nice concepts for learn how to pull issues collectively and urged items I completely love and by no means would have discovered alone.”)
Word: Should you purchase one thing by our hyperlinks, we could earn an affiliate fee or have a sponsored relationship with the model, for free of charge to you. We suggest solely merchandise we genuinely like. Thanks a lot.
