In the second instalment of our new blog series, we chat to editor, writer and super thrifter Christene Barberich. She is the founder of one of our favourite newsletters – A Tiny Apt. – a weekly read that invites people to think differently about the spaces they live in, the clothes they wear and the circular economy.
Christene lives in a colourful home in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter. Her family is also building a modern cabin in upstate New York.
Hi Christene, we are so pleased to chat to you! Please tell us a little about yourself and what you do.
Thank you so much for having me. I’m a FAN:). I’m a longtime editor and writer/author, and I also co-founded the women’s media company Refinery29 (which we sold to Vice in 2019). Since then, I’ve been focusing on advising/consulting for other founders as well as growing A Tiny Apt.—a newsletter I began two years ago on Substack about home, (very) personal style, life…and really, how these three things converge, mostly in our rituals and the things we collect. I’m also a mom to a 5.5 year-old named Raffi and a cat named Phoebe, and my partner Kevin Baxter and I are spending most of our spare time building a 650-square-foot straw-panel cottage in Upstate New York. Which has been WILD…
We are big fans of your Substack Newsletter ‘A Tiny Apt.’ How did that project come about?
Thank you so much. Starting something from the beginning, all over again, has been both incredibly special and also humbling. But I love that it’s mine and I can experiment + take my time teasing out the essence of what I want to share here…which is, how our spaces really reflect our hopes/dreams and become these power sources for creating joy and experiences as we shift and change throughout our days and lives. I love home content so much, but I often find that it’s detached from all the other aspects of a people’s lives that inform how our rooms come together—like our histories and our habits/rituals and how we want a space to serve us or make us feel energized or just rested. My newsletter is also a lot about being resourceful (that’s where the thrifting comes in, too!)…examining and moving around the things we already have to see them anew. Or to replace them with something that is more truly what we want and who we are. I think our homes become a laboratory for that. Not just a storage space but an active place to grow and evolve, everyday with the people and things we love.
What is your life philosophy and what does your creative process look like?
Everything is intuitive for me. Since I was very young, I’ve been aware of this affinity I have around color and texture and definitely contrast. I need contrast in my life, which helps me to feel awake and happy somehow. I think that’s why I’m always changing pillows and table runners and quilts (and why I’m a fan of YOU)…I like that refreshed feeling that new prints/colors always introduce. I realize, too, that mixing high-contrast colors/patterns can be overwhelming and sometimes scary…but it’s that process of experimenting that I find most soothing. It’s the same for how I dress. It’s rare that I won’t be wearing at least one detail of print (like a menswear striped shirt peeking out from a blazer). As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to trust that inner compass/intuition even more. Even when it kind of freaks me out! As a person who came to parenting much later in life (I was 49 when I had my daughter), I take nothing for granted. I think that’s why I love repurposing things I find on the street, thrift a lot in my spare time, and give away so many of the treasures I find to people I care about. I once told my friend Amina that in this phase of my life, I don’t want to leave anything on the table. And to me, that means, not worrying so much about what other people think about what I’m doing or writing or wearing and just being honest about who I am and what I want to create. I know what I want to say, and I also know that the people who need to hear it or see it will appreciate it, too.
We love your apartment! How long have you lived there and how did you know it was the right space for you and your family?
I had always wanted to live in Brooklyn Heights, and when my husband and I started looking to buy a place, the only apartment in our price range was in this neighborhood (which is historically very pricey!). Stranger still, we were outbid on it the first time we went for it…and I was devastated about it. But three or four months later I was in Tokyo on a work trip, and I got a call from my real estate person. He said it was back on the market and the seller was holding best-and-final offers that day…and was I IN? We bid as high as we could without being irresponsible, and we ended up getting it. And THEN…we found out the seller was actually a person I knew, another editor who had worked at one of the same places I’d worked. Which made the whole exchange feel even more kismet-y.
Practically, it’s a small apartment, about 750 sf, but it has these wonderful high ceilings and huge industrial skylights in every room (we learned it had once been an old sail-making studio for the nearby piers). We renovated it very simply, creating a clean white foundation that we could build on over time. And that’s what we’ve done. Kevin my partner/husband + architect is really thoughtful in his approach to renovating and building in that he really loves to focus on high-quality details and modern simplicity that can offer flexibility AND sustainability in the long run. He and I have a similar need for efficiency, often through constraints…we like a creative challenge, and smaller spaces really push you to be innovative and problem solve…and actually make choices (ie: you can’t just shove something you’re not sure about into another closet or room). When our daughter was born in 2018, she took over our very tiny guest-room, and it’s been really energizing making tweaks to that as she grows and changes year after year.
What do you like the most about living in a smaller space?
It sounds a bit crazy, but I deeply love living in a smaller space. Not only does it make me feel safe, but I love that it doesn’t expend unnecessary resources, be they $$ or energy, which I can instead focus on writing or taking care of my family or just making things. Many people live in much bigger spaces, but also have rooms that are never used, which really puts a strain on energy bills as well as the environment. I don’t like to waste anything…I mean, I am famous in our house for making dinner out of random scraps in our fridge:). When you live in a small space, you’re forced to think about how you want to use the kitchen, the living space, your biggest closet. Answering those questions and designing tight corners to work for you is what can make a home really sing, like a love letter, and offer so much character and warmth, which is what most people remark about when they come over to our home. That and the LIGHT—we have tons of sunlight that shifts and changes throughout our space. I started collecting videos for a Reel capturing the sunlight patterns throughout the day. Writing up in our tiny loft is nothing like the bigger spaces I’ve worked in over the years, but I love that it’s cozy and colorful and designed just for me…it honestly feels magical to me and what I create here has a spirit imbued in it that makes me feel grateful every single morning when I’m writing in my journal.
The interior of your apartment is incredibly creative, colourful and stylish – just like the way you dress! How would you describe your style?
It goes back to patterns again and high contrast colors….I lean toward natural fabrics and I LOVE stripes—menswear stripes, awning stripes, cabana stripes…they just make me happy. And I need to refresh and change around my space (and my closet a lot). If things start to feel dull and I don’t really “see” them anymore, I’ll pack up some things for donation/giveaways, put bits in storage, and pull out a few new or new-old things that give a room or my dressing rituals a LIFT…and inevitably, that lift ends up helping my writing, my parenting, my ability to solve problems. It just helps my brain feel lighter and more clear.
What are the most inspiring interiors you’ve ever seen or experienced?
Most of the interiors by Ilse Crawford as well as the homes she featured when she was the Editor in Chief of Elle Decoration. Homes in the beloved (now-defunct) NEST magazine. My friend Jen Pastore‘s home in Connecticut is wonderful and full of historical/beautiful things to discover. And my friend Luise Stauss who lives nearby in Brooklyn Heights lives with her family in the most beautiful historic apartment that’s both spare and also filled with modern + artful treasures. Lastly, my friend Liz Ukpe who is also a neighbor is a daring minimalist, and I love how she tends to her small apartment…she cares for it so lovingly and it really shows in how she hosts.
Tell us about your love of thrifting – you are SO good at it!
I talk a lot in my newsletter about how thrifting has been medicine for me….since I was young. There’s just something about the inward meditation of it, wandering the aisles, sifting through racks of jeans or t-shirts or old framed artworks…it just gives me so much joy. If I’m struggling or having a hard time solving a problem or getting out of a funk, thrifting is always, always the cure. It doesn’t solve all my problems, but putting my attention on these discarded things/treasures and other people’s imagined lives and memories and histories, helps me to reframe where I am and where I’m going…and it gives me more empathy for other people as well as myself.
You are building a new house upstate – it looks amazing! Please tell us a bit about the project and how you intend to decorate and use the space.
It’s a wonderful, very personal project that, like most builds or renovations, is really keeping us up at night . It’s a 650 square-foot modern cabin we’re calling Future Cottage made from compressed straw panels. My partner has been working with a small passive house outfit called Build With Nature that’s really spreading the word about using straw more frequently as a carbon-absorbing building material…that is long wearing, moisture-wicking, and conserves energy over time (Kevin is now using straw panels in a few design/build projects he’s working on). Initially, we bought a 1960s doctor’s office on this property, so we’re basically camping out in the doctor’s office (we turned the exam rooms into makeshift bedrooms!), while we build the cottage in the adjacent meadow. Then when we can move into the cottage, we’ll start the process of carefully renovating the doctor’s office. The long-term plan is to create a mini compound where our extended family (who are all over the map) can congregate a few times a year. And to also have a nurturing, inspiring space where our friends can come and recharge. We’d love to create a fellowship program in the cottage someday, too…for writers and architects who might need a quiet space for a few weeks a year to work on projects. It’s exciting to consider what it can become over time…and how it can replenish the people we love as well as rewilding the two acres that it occupies.
What’s next for you?
Growing and expanding A Tiny Apt. We just launched A Tiny Shop, the affiliate arm, which has been really fun and a different kind of “resource” value to offer my community; working on my book proposal, which I hope to sell and start writing in the fall 2024. And of course, continuing to work on Future Cottage and start actually living in it with my family and seeing how it feels, what it needs, etc. Nothing is ever finished you know…I love a work in progress…I guess that’s kind of the theme for everything with me:).
Thank you so much Christene!
You can find Christene Barberich here: Instagram / A Tiny Apt. / Website