Houseboats are small-space inspiration gold
And your floors might need a coat of paint.
The summer after my freshman year in college, I visited my roommate, a talented French horn major, in the verdant Pacific Northwest. We spent days in Seattle with her childhood pals, running around pre-iPhones. Funny enough, the experience I remember most clearly is staying on a friend’s family houseboat with views of the city’s Queen Anne neighborhood. It spurred a lifelong love of the home style…
—Samantha Weiss-Hills, managing editor
Seen and Saved
There’s something about small living spaces that I’ve always been drawn to—maybe it’s their natural cozy factor, or my aversion to having too many surfaces to clean. After nearly 15 years in New York City, a tiny apartment is something you learn to love in its own way. Houseboats are similar in that way, requiring an eye for editing and a willingness to really live amongst your stuff. Smart layout solutions and hidden storage are non-negotiables. My husband Alex and I like being near water, but we’re not beach bums; we’d move into a city-docked houseboat in a nanosecond. Here are just a few that are inspiring me.
Designer Regan Baker took cues from the Bauhaus movement to reinvent this circa-1970s boat as a warm, colorful retreat (the transformation is nuts). Some of the brilliant ways Baker made the constraints into assets: a two-sided sofa, a bed platform with built-in storage, and vibrant, curved edges everywhere.
A few years ago, Alex and I took a trip to the U.K—our first visit to London together. We loved running together in Victoria Park and along Regent’s Canal, which is lined with houseboats like Rachel Allen’s. Hers is exactly the kind of cottagecore you would imagine in an English home: pattern-maxxing, antique floorboards, and Farrow & Ball’s Arsenic green is in attendance. I can’t get over the tub (technically sized for pets!), wood-fired stove, and layered lighting.
Every time I’m in Copenhagen, I end up passing by Søren Hvalsøe Garde’s jet black houseboat, which floats on a little waterway near the opera house and Royal Danish Academy. When I finally got a peek at the interiors, it was, of course, as chic as I expected from the founder of the design brand Garde Hvalsøe (I dream of a kitchen outfitted in its millwork).
There’s something so calming about this1950s Gerald Van Slyck-designed boat in Seattle’s Portage Bay. With double-height ceilings, a nature-inspired color palette, and wood paneling, it’s airy and grounded at the same time (styling thanks to local vintage store In the Comfort Of). At 833 square feet, it’s practically palatial for a floating home.
Hot Topic
When I first stepped inside design studio General Assembly’s new Tribeca office, there was a lot to see: grasscloth wallpaper, mismatched doorknobs, a floor-to-ceiling sample library. But the floors were where my eye went first—painted in a muddy-crimson hue, they’re an homage to the space’s former architect tenant.
It’s not the only painted floor I’ve seen in recent months that feels like the main event. Cookbook author Dan Pelosi’s Hudson Valley dining room is splashed in an oversized diamond pattern, and fashion designer Nikki Chasin shared that she painted her studio floor in a cobalt blue from Backdrop. The key to longevity, according to designer Liz Kamarul, is using paint made specifically for floors and adding a protective sealer on top.
Side Notes
We’re in the midst of New York Design Week, which lands squarely between Salone del Mobile in Milan and 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen. It’s a busy time for the Domino team, to say the least. We’re out and about getting a look at new product launches, exhibitions, and saying hi to designers in town from other parts of the world. A few things I’m hoping to get a closer look at:
Afternoon Light, one of the new cornerstone fairs of New York Design Week, brings together a varied group of heritage brands, contemporary design studios, and emerging artists under one roof—this year, at the effortlessly cool WSA building. Exhibitors on my radar: light switch brand Dimwit; NYC- and Thailand-based Pern Baan furniture; New Hat wallpaper out of Nashville; and the glass maker Vitricca Iannazzi.
Venetian glass atelier Laguna~B is on a roll. First, Dusen Dusen announced a collaboration, and now In Common With has partnered with the company on its new Lido Series. The sconces, flush mounts, and chandelier showcase two Murano techniques—goti de fornasa and murrine—to mesmerizing effect.
More on the lighting front: Danny Kaplan’s Foxglove collection with artist Kassandra Thatcher, an exploration of how metal and plaster combine. The botanical-inspired capsule includes a pendant in two sizes, two different chandeliers, two sconces, a floor to ceiling tension lamp, and a mirror. I love that they speak about it as a “friendship made tangible.”
Lawson Fenning’s Bosque collection draws influence from 1960s Japanese metabolists, an architectural movement that includes Tokyo’s notable Nakagin Capsule Tower. Blocky forms, low and grounded, appear throughout, while wood, leather, or even stone can be inset into the tables and bed frame.
Simone Bodmer Turner introduced her new tableware last month, and it’s undeniably heirloom-worthy. The plates, platters, mugs, and bowls are all designed for heavy use while retaining a delicate, handcrafted look. This weekend, you can visit her pop-up yourself: The SB-T Shop will be open at 109 Thompson Street through May 20th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with prices ranging from $75 to $525.
I DREAM of living on a houseboat.