Current Obsessions: In a Mood

When Halloween and Daylight Savings fall in one weekend, we can’t help but lean into dark and moody interiors. Ahead, a celeb’s market, new ceramic lamps, a bookstore in the works, and more:

• From Clare: “I’m reading British garden designer and writer Mary Keen’s Diary of a Keen Gardener. It’s about her year as a gardener…. Just so much amazing growing information and it’s so beautifully written, like having a conversation.”
• The dreamiest new botanical mural wallpaper. (Hat tip: Laura.)
• Annie sent over this slide show of desire paths. Do you know what they are? So compelling.
• Over on landscape designer Brook Klausing’s Instagram, excellent examples of spooky decor, courtesy of Mother Nature.
• Ooh, witches’ stairs, “thought to confuse or trap witches”—or anyone going downstairs in the middle of the night. (Hat tip: Margot.)
• And: revisiting Roman and Williams’ design of the Practical Magic house.
• Tis the season for a virtual (or in-person) visit to Alison Roman’s market in upstate NY.
• Does your town have a Library of Things? Ever since we worked on the Low-Impact Home book, we’ve been smitten by the idea of borrowing binoculars, craft kits, and cake pans.
• We’re all saving the date for Craft Feast 2025 at Stissing House, Dec. 13 and 14; tickets go on sale on Monday, Nov. 3.
• Margot’s admiring this new block print collection by “a small textile co. with a lovely library of offerings.”
• If you’re in the market for colorful storage, have a look at Mustard Made’s big sale, going on now through Nov. 12.
• Fan’s coveting these ceramic lamps by Nickey Kehoe x Dumais Made, “with painterly strokes and finishes that feel discovered rather than designed.”
• And on Julie’s wish list, dropping this weekend from Sugar House Ceramic Co.
• Angelenos, stop by The Huntington for an evening with Edmund de Waal on November 11. The topic? His yearlong exhibition “The Eight Directions of the Wind,” exploring “memory, cultural exchange, and the movement of ideas through porcelain and place.”
• Happy fifth birthday, Pidgin. (Further reading: A Poet-Collector’s Finds at Pidgin in Upstate NY.)
• “A bookstore opening is always cause for celebration, but this is especially exciting,” writes Fan on the news that journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is opening a literary salon at the former Macon Hardware in Bed-Stuy.
• And a plea from Samin Nosrat for donations: “There are over 40 million of our friends, colleagues, and neighbors who are set to lose their SNAP benefits this weekend due to the government shutdown. For those of us who can, this is a crucial time to donate funds to our local food banks. You can use the @feedingamerica web tool to put in your zip code to find the closest food bank near you.” (N.B.: Check back in the coming weeks for garden and kitchen tours from Samin.)