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With a keen eye for design, styling, and curating a beautiful and liveable space, it was inevitable we would become fans of the lovely Mallory from Reserve Home (Blog, Instagram). We found photos depicting her light-filled, cosy, and relaxed New York Apartment on Instagram a few years ago and have been following along ever since.
Over the years, Mallory has honoured us by collecting a few special Angus & Celeste pieces that have made their way onto her shelves, including into her brand new kitchen after extensive renovations.
We reached out to Mallory to get to know her a little better and find out more about her passion for plants, artwork, and what it’s like to work in social media.
Your apartment is such a serene oasis in the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn. Have you always lived in New York?
Thank you! We are actually both from the Midwest. We moved to Brooklyn from Kansas City, Missouri, a little over four years ago. When we compare life in NYC to Kansas City, we always remark on the extreme change of pace. Time seems to fly by here! That can make life exciting but also feel like a bit much sometimes hence why I’ve sought to create a home environment that feels like an oasis. Sometimes we need to forget we live in the biggest city in America, which I do, on the regular.
Tell us a little about how you started your Instagram and what an average day might look like for you?
I have to say, I never thought in a million years that Instagram would become such a large part of my job and life. When I first started on there, I was using it as a means to promote the vintage textiles I was selling on my website. Since I didn’t have a separate studio space for my inventory, I started taking photographs of them styled in our own apartment to market them. I realised quickly that most people couldn’t care less about the textiles, and just wanted to see more of our home. Things have naturally progressed from there!
An average day for me is constantly changing, but many times, I wake up in the morning and have some coffee and read for a bit since I try to give myself some time before I look at my phone or computer screen. I then make a checklist of everything I need to accomplish that day, a new thing for me that has VASTLY improved my productivity. After that, I make some breakfast and get to work. The work usually consists of answering emails, scheduling out content for brands and/or personal projects, and then some variation of styling, photographing our apartment, editing photos, and/or posting on my social media channels. Sometimes I do all four in a day in a mad-dash. When I have some extra time or energy, I’ll try to update my blog or spend quality time responding to comments and DM’s. No day is exactly the same, and that’s pretty great. Still, my job is so focused on our home that I can feel a bit cooped up here day in and day out.
The artwork adorning your walls in your apartment is amazing. It looks like this collection took a while to build. Can you tell us a bit about how you curate the pieces?
The credit for our art collection should all go to my partner, David. He’s a painter himself, so when we first started dating almost 9 years ago, I noticed that he and all of his artist friends would constantly trade work. That’s honestly how we have come to have so much artwork. We’ve also tried to purchase art when we come across a piece we love or want to support a friend selling their work. I don’t have an art background, so when we’re looking at art to buy, I decide solely on how it makes me feel. David, however, thinks way outside the box, and introduces me to artists and pieces I would have never thought to love. I just wish we had more wall space to show off more of our collection!
The light in your space is so luxurious for New York! Do your plants get cold in the New York winters? What are your tips for keeping them healthy through the darker months?
We lucked out with our apartment for sure! Being on the Parlor floor of our building means larger windows and access to more natural light. Still, we definitely have some low light areas, and our apartment gets extremely dry during the winter months. While I am far from a green thumb, I’ve found that a consistent watering schedule and misting our tropical plants with water during the cold months helps keep them healthy!
You recently renovated your kitchen space – what was the most important part of the renovation for you, and what surprised you the most?
The entire kitchen renovation was quite surprising for us. Surprising, because we never thought we would renovate our little rental kitchen, and surprising because we managed to do all of the work ourselves within 3 weeks. We have LOVED this apartment of ours since moving in, but I kept feeling that if only the kitchen were updated, we would want to stay as long as the building owners allowed. That’s why we decided, with the help of our landlords, to invest in renovating the space. Our kitchen before was full of dark and dated finishings. So for me, making the as space light and airy as possible was the most important aspect to focus on. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!
