Name: Heidi Cron and cat, Harold
Location: Somerville, Massachusetts
Type of home: Condo
Size: 590 square feet
Years lived in: 9 years, owned
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: When I moved into this condo, I had just returned from working abroad, and I had almost no furniture, but I did have boxes of books and artifacts that I had collected during my travels. My vision for the space prioritized displaying my collections, focusing on coziness, and maximizing storage. Antique shopping is my cardio, and a lot of my stuff is secondhand. I scored the TV credenza, along with a dining table, six chairs, and a bar cart, at a single estate sale! Over the years, I’ve renovated the kitchen, built out a closet, and refreshed the bathroom. It’s truly mine!
Change is good. I like everything to be mobile, and I move things around a lot, so as I collect and curate, I consider not only the initial use of something, but how I might re-purpose it later. Part of my wanderlust is that I like to refresh my eyes and brain by looking at different things — that feeling of waking up in a new place, seeing things I’ve never seen before while at the same time being surrounded by the familiar. My home is a balance of things I’ve been collecting for years, an ever-revolving jungle of plants, and recently found objects that speak to my sense of home.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Mid-Mod Global Maximal Coziness
What is your favorite room and why? I renovated my kitchen about four years ago, prioritizing storage space. I sweated over every detail and personalized it exactly to my needs. The color palette was inspired by a beloved Marimekko mug. During lockdown, I finally learned how to cook for real. The kitchen became my home away from home, at home!
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? The bathroom tile stickers and accessories were a pandemic project. Inspired by a vacation to Morocco a few years ago, I painted the walls and applied tile stickers to the shower. Adding fabric, a new bathmat, and a selection of photos I took on my trip, it truly feels like I’m stepping back into the Riyadh we rented in Marrakesh. Tile stickers proved to be a really effective way to transform the feel of the space, at a time when a renovation wasn’t in the cards. It was a fun lockdown project!
Any advice for creating a home you love? The space works because I try hard to stick to a baseline color palette, edit constantly, and to be disciplined about what I bring in — one thing in, two things out! Organization is so personal. Much of my furniture is multifunctional, and over the years I’ve built out the closets to have more hanging space, which is important to me. If I can’t see it, I forget I own it. I feel like I’ve maximized the space exactly to my own taste, rather than following a specific method. A word to the wise: Stick to a color palette, and everything you bring in will play well together.
This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
