There’s a particular intimacy to a designer’s own home. It’s where experimentation becomes instinct, professional polish collides with real life and the rules they so assuredly champion for clients often show up too — either fully embraced or quietly abandoned.
In the upcoming summer issue or aspire design and home magazine, we step inside the personal spaces of designers who have turned the lens inward. Some homes are lifelong dreams realized slowly over time; others are spontaneous departures from what their owners thought they wanted. What unites them is a sense of authorship that feels especially direct — a kind of creative honesty that can be harder to access in commissioned work.
Take a peek at what to expect in this issue below:
GOULT, FRANCE
Design: Hélène Roux
Photo: Yann Deret
On the cover: Interior designer Hélène Roux assumes ownership of an 1860 farmhouse and restores it with the patience, restraint and respect of a master vintner.
NEW DELHI, INDIA
Design: Shivan & Narresh
India’s premier luxury lifestyle brand debuts its first poolside takeover with the Palmera Pool Pop-Up at Shangri-La Eros New Delhi.
SCARBOROUGH, SOUTH AFRICA
Design: Jonathan Reed
Photo: Warren Heath
At home in South Africa, designer Jonathan Reed and artist Graeme Black have created a retreat shaped by creativity, craftsmanship and a deep connection to the landscape.
Art: Elisa Sheehan
Photo: John Gruen
Artist Elisa Sheehan creates evocative works inspired by kintsugi, exploring the balance between fragility and strength. What began as a quiet morning ritual has evolved into a thoughtful practice celebrating beauty in imperfection. Using paint, eggshells, gold leaf and porcelain, Sheehan blurs the line between fine art and organic form. Her work ranges from intimate framed eggshell pieces to large-scale porcelain installations, each honoring what has been broken, repaired and made beautiful in unexpected ways.
KARDAMYLI, GREECE
Design: Detale Architecture & Engineering
Photo: Gaëlle Le Boulicaut
In Greece, a home contours the terrain while turning its gaze outward to the infinite blue.
PARIS, FRANCE
Design: ARGIA Architecture
Photo: Agathe Tissier
In the luminous Haussmannian Paris apartment of international communications consultant Giulia Felicani, Proustian echoes and fin-de-siècle elegance meet a contemporary sensibility. From the entrance, the view opens toward the kitchen; at left, a Josef Hoffmann banquette, Vienna, early 20th century.
Photographer Brooke DiDonato’s penchant for turning everyday interiors into realms of the unreal is on full display in Brooke DiDonato: Take a Picture, It Will Last Longer (Thames & Hudson).
TEXAS
Design: Furman + Keil Architects
Photo: Casey Dunn
Furman + Keil Architects design a straight-shooting Texas retreat that cuts through the noise — pared-back, site-driven and unapologetically direct.
HAMBURG, GERMANY
Design: Amunt Studios
Photo: Sabine Bungert
In search of a contemporary, daring second home, Manfred Wagner and partner turned to architect Bjorne Martenson of Aachen-based Amunt Studios – who understood the brief.
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