The Kinfolk Home

September 7, 2015
The latest Kinfolk lifestyle book from Williams (The Kinfolk Table) is ostensibly about interior design, but it primarily profiles the owners of 35 homes around the world whose living spaces all fall under the nebulously defined theme of “slow living.” Williams defines this as an aesthetic shaped by the “dwellers’ definitions of what brings joy and meaning to their homes.” The book is divided into three categories: “homes for communities,” “homes for simplicity” and “homes for slow living.” But the homes themselves are hard to differentiate, despite the author’s insistence that the selection does not subscribe to a particular aesthetic. All of the homes adhere to a distinctly modern minimalism; many have white walls accented by earth-tone textiles, and hardwood floors and furniture; subway tile is also frequently used. The homes themselves are impressive and skillfully decorated, but the book lacks insight into their design. Instead, the essays and interviews with the homeowners, who are nearly all creative professionals with young children, provide notes on living better: get up early, use light to signal circadian rhythms, welcome children’s chaos. These are whimsies, fantastical goals that belie a more quotidian reality and give little practical advice on designing a home.

April 1, 2016

Kinfolk magazine is devoted to slow living, defined as a way to create a simplified lifestyle to focus on the quality of our experiences. In photo essays, Kinfolk editor in chief Williams (The Kinfolk Table) visits 35 dwellings in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia to show how the inhabitants' embrace of this movement is expressed in their homes. Many of these sections are followed by essays reflecting on the lifestyles or designs displayed on the previous pages, with several featuring interviews with the designers. Although slow living may conjure up visions of sparsely furnished interiors, many here illustrate crowded bookshelves, art-filled walls, and rooms populated with children and pets in close to 300 color photographs. VERDICT This handsome volume filled with visuals and advice shows how to create an environment surrounded by meaningful objects and designed to facilitate the enjoyment of life.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.