Is Mariel Hemingway Antidecor?

See inside Mariel's book in our slide show

I was all set to do a phone interview with Mariel Hemingway to discuss her new book, Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living From the Inside Out (Harper San Francisco). But when I called her hotel, I had an incredibly difficult time getting through to this granddaughter of America's literary titan: The operator couldn't spell “Hemingway,” which probably had Ernest rolling over in his grave. But it was a fitting introduction to my conversation with the actress-writer, who personifies contradiction.

Like the character she played in Woody Allen's Manhattan—an apparent innocent who was, in fact, far from it—Mariel is not what you'd imagine. Despite her family's dark and murky legacy (the suicide of her grandfather; alleged suicide of her sister, Margaux; and the death of her father following a surgical mishap), Mariel radiates lightness, clarity, and strength. And though she derived early fame and fortune as a model and actress, struggling to live up to unrealistic standards of outer perfection, she has spent much of her adult life directing herself inward to discover dietary, physical, and spiritual practices, including yoga, to vanquish demons that threaten emotional and physical well-being. Now, as a writer, she presents her four-prong (food, exercise, home, and silence) roadmap for achieving wholeness and balance.

Of course, I was most interested in her theories and strategies concerning the home, which could be regarded as antidecor—if decor means adopting trendy styles that have nothing to do with one's deepest inclinations, or dressing rooms in a look determined by a designer who never gets to know you. “We don't spend enough time at home, but when we are there, it should fill us up,” says Mariel. “But we get caught up in the model home syndrome, which is like being on someone else's diet or wearing someone else's dress—it doesn't fit. I believe that you can have fabulous design, but it should come from your heart. We need to figure out who we really are and go from there.” Mariel's book is filled with practical advice. Here are some suggestions she shared in our conversation:

Happy holidays from our Home to yours!

Top row, from left: Carole Nicksin, senior decorating editor; Carolyn Weber, senior building editor; Angela Riechers, art director, Susan Weiman, assistant to the editor-in-chief; Donna Sapolin, vp/editor-in-chief; Marlene Sezni, deputy art director; Julie Taraska, articles editor. Bottom row, from left: Laura Dye Lang, executive editor; Joel Bernstein, features editor; Nicole Sforza, deputy articles editor; Kitt Harris, photo editor; Rachel Stinson, contributing photo assistant; Christine Cameron, assistant editor.

Curbside Decor

See more of Donna's photos

Every weekday morning and evening, I traverse the avenues and streets connecting New York City’s Grand Central Terminal and my office by foot—a roughly 20-minute jaunt. No matter what the weather conditions, I’m out there chugging along, raptly documenting the dynamic, ever-changing sidewalk show with my camera. About a year ago, I started taking pictures of worn furnishings that had been set out for trash pickup. Manhattan is famous for the many extraordinary, sometimes priceless pieces that find their way to the curb and then into the apartments of people with the fortitude and resourcefulness to haul them home and give them new life.

Monet’s Water Garden Redux

Click here to see the Giverny Slide Show

I’m gonna ask you to think about riveting blends of color for a moment. What just popped up on your visual screen? The brilliant fall leaves that just blanketed your lawn, the Sunday comics, the neon billboards of Times Square? Or was it perhaps a bowl of M&Ms? If it was, I’ll forgive you—you probably have a lot of Halloween candy left over.

What comes to mind for me is Claude Monet’s paintings of water lilies—those Impressionistic masterpieces that were inspired by the interplay of light, shadow, water and plant life in and around the landscapes he and his gardeners crafted on his property just north of Paris, in Giverny, France. Using large brush strokes and multiple layers of paint, Monet painted the enchanting scenery that surrounded his home over and over again during the final 30 years of his life (from about 1893 until the early 1920s).

Home Grown

Click here to see a gallery of where the Home editors grew up.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Home blog—a multifaceted compendium of the latest and greatest tips, personalities, and products in the home design and retail arenas that goes far beyond what is covered in the pages of the magazine. In reading it, you’ll not only get a ton of fabulous solutions and info, but you’ll also get to know the Home editors a lot better. That’s because they’ll be the ones bringing you all this added insight—in their own unique voices. These folks are entertaining, totally in the know, and they love sharing their finds and ideas—in fact, they’re all but obsessed with the subject of home. I mean, why else would they walk around with pictures of their childhood homes in their wallets? (Well, okay, not all of ’em do, but they’re all willing to write about the same stuff they cover for the magazine, which is lots more work—and why on earth would they do that if they weren’t fixated?) I don’t carry a house photo on me, but I do have a shot of the place I moved into back in 1965 hanging on my bulletin board. I can trace my personal preoccupation with the topic of home to that period.