Dwell May/June 2024

It seemed obvious. We had to put a pool on the cover. Working on our annual outdoor design issue always gets me excited for summer, particularly because we send it to press when, where I live in New York, it’s still that chilly, rainy, no-longer-winter, not-quite-spring time of year. In addition to inspiring longing, this serene scene in the almost-always mostly sunny San Fernando Valley will, I hope, remind everyone in more seasonal climes that summer is around the corner. To make sure you’re prepared, we’ve given the spotlight to some of the best new outdoor furniture, lighting, and accessories for your backyard in our Modern World section (p. 31). How did we choose among the new releases? We based our selections on our favorite movies that evoke summer. Whether…

Vanessa Bell Writer “Rural Reset,” p. 88 Several years ago, Vanessa Bell moved from England to Argentina, where she now writes for a variety of international publications and curates custom tours of her adopted city. “I show the B-side of Buenos Aires,” says Bell. “I show what’s not easily accessible from a tourist perspective.” Having first met the couple whose home she profiled for this issue 10 years ago—“Everybody knows everybody,” says Bell of the city’s creative arts scene—she included an afternoon of traditional Argentine barbecue and hanging by the pool in her reporting process. While exploring back streets is Bell’s specialty, telling the couple’s remodel story sparked new insights into the power of homes post–pandemic lockdowns: “There’s a need for something that creates a nest.” Lauryn Ishak Photographer “Force…

“So nice to not see a cookie-cutter space.” @steele.kim8 on Instagram Re: “This Vibrant $53K Kitchen Renovation Is the Anti-HGTV Aesthetic.” March/April Very cool. I really like a lot of this, despite being almost the opposite of my remodels. I would have moved the gas meter myself. Showing but off in the wall. I used the same half-circular handles too. @ONESURFBOARDS808 ON INSTAGRAM Love the philosophy, hate the budget split between materials and labor/infrastructure…. First-class design with economy finishes. @LUESSEN ON INSTAGRAM A kitchen remodel is hard work and costs a ton, believe it or not. Glad they made their vision come through, it’s very joyful and unique. @FENNJINAN ON INSTAGRAM Re: “What Happened to Sofas?” March/April As an upholsterer, I say no to fixing or reupholstering the “fast furniture”…

Love them! It’s like jewelry for your house! @saraintheweeds Can’t clog, and look and sound beautiful. Don’t get how these are not more common. @dominikaltheimer If the goal is to get water away from the foundation in heavy rain, most chain systems aren’t up to the task. @philip_with_a_ single_l Love it but learned the hard way that you have to mount them a good foot off the building wall or it will splash all over the walls. Will do better next time… @lokal__house Might as well strap a wallet to that chain. @a__h__c Birds can’t nest in them! @warped_by_bsg To see water dance is way better than looking at an ugly downspout. @paulapecina When the alternative is a downspout, a rain chain is a design no-brainer. @heathersandy hebert They seem…

International Sowing There’s no consensus on the origins of the CSA concept, but similar community farm initiatives gained momentum in Japan, Chile, and across Europe after World War II. In the mid-1960s, a group of Japanese women, concerned about the safety and quality of increasingly industrialized, chemically intensive agriculture, approached a local farm family with an idea to create a farmerconsumer partnership involving direct supplies of organic foods, and the teikei movement (referred to as Japan’s CSA movement) was born. In the late ’70s, proto-CSA models began to take hold in Europe, inspired largely by the Austrian occultist Rudolf Steiner and his 1920s teachings on biodynamic agriculture and “associative economics,” as well as Chilean agricultural unions and cooperatives that sprung up in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Civil Rights…

Beads of sweat and warm night winds. Smoke from the grill, the rip-roar of ice in a blender, and the sweet, sweet taste of turning on your out-of-office for a week or two. Summer’s (almost) here, and we’re getting ready by watching some of our favorite sun-soaked movies. In case your old lawn chairs are no longer compelling or your patio has lost the plot, we took some inspiration from a selection of what we think are classic summer films and found a few new outdoor accoutrements that will bring a cinematic atmosphere to your backyard.…