Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Sarah Barlow, Joe McKendry
If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like hair spray or an electric toothbrush. We asked designer Leanne Ford — whose new book, The Slow Down: For the Love of Home, is out now — about the bath tub, box bike, and lightbulbs she can’t live without.
I am such a tea girl. I’ve actually never had coffee. Right now I love Rishi the most. I’ve been a loyal fan for a couple of years now. I brew it at home and get it at the local coffee shops around Sewickley like Mic’s Market. I drink it black. Nothing fancy. Dare I say I’m a minimalist in the tea category.
My little Otto trucker hat, it’s like 7 bucks on Amazon. You can always tell what day dirty hair it is, it goes from hair down to hair in a pony to hair in a bun to trucker hat. I’ve tried many a trucker hat in my life and I’m very brand loyal to Otto. I have them in all their earthy colors, but the olive-green one’s my favorite. Oh, hot tip, make sure to rip off the little rope that’s on it.
Something I preach about is good lighting is everything. Every space needs to have warm lighting. You shouldn’t be sitting in your house and feel like you’re about to go into surgery. Every lightbulb should give off warm, ambient lighting. My house is super cozy at night. It’s not dark, but the lighting is warm. That’s one easy way to create a space that feels better in your own home. Put everything on a dimmer. This one is LED but still warm. Thankfully companies are now starting to make LEDs that have warmer lighting.
I love my tub. I take all my meetings from there. In fact, I wish I was in there right now. I connected my bathroom to a little patio off our bedroom and turned a very average-size bathroom into an indoor/outdoor space, it’s been the best. Albert + Victoria make beautiful, simple, and classic shapes out of volcanic limestone. So they’re extremely light. Which, believe me, as a woman who loves mostly vintage bathtubs — finding a beautiful new one that’s not going to fall through the floor is a win.
I have a pottery studio downstairs. It’s been an amazing creative outlet for me. In my career as an interior designer, it’s not just you and the art, you rely on so many people to bring your art to life. You have to hope the plumber shows up and the electrician and the contractors and the permit office approves the idea and so on. Ceramics is something I can do solo, start to finish. It’s just me by myself, on my own time. I am not what you would call “good” at it, but luckily I like “bad art” so I’m good enough. In my opinion, the wonkier it is the better. I mostly give them away, but only to people who appreciate wonky. Most of my work is strewn about my house. Sometimes I put them in the shop to sell, but that’s for special people who like special, imperfect things.
I tend to put a record player in every project I work on — ambiance and the experience is just as important as what the place looks like. This one connects to your phone if you are feeling a bit lazy, but I love that vinyl is a bit of a ceremony. Right now we have the Lone Bellow, Mickey Newbury, Bonnie Raitt, and Tom Waits on rotation. And of course, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan always.
I’ve spent this year reading the Bible cover to cover. If all goes well, I’ll be done by December 31 — I’m actually very impressed that I’ve been sticking to it! And it’s been eye-opening. I’ve always felt very connected to God, so I love digging deeper into all of it. I still have the first Bible that my parents gave me in 1995, she’s my daily driver — it’s so trashed from writing all over it, but that’s why I love it. It’s pretty much my prized possession. I actually got a fresh Bible to mark up for my “research and development” this year, something simple and clean that I could start new notes in, something to scribble all over it again. Though you better believe I covered the new one with stickers and tape too. I think my connection to God is why I feel so free to create in the first place. It’s such a feeling of joy, of contentment — I have nothing to prove. I’m free to be me, free to create with zero expectation or need of success. And that freedoms opens up everything.
When I was in Copenhagen for 3 Days of Design, I was watching everybody use these bikes. I mean, there’d be full families of five in their little box bikes. I thought, If they can do it, we can do it. And since we live in a small town, we all pile in to bop around town. I take my daughter, Ever, around in that thing constantly. We really ride it all the time, even when the weather’s not great. So very European of us!
I live in this hoodie from Buck Mason (full disclosure: I married into the company …). I always layer it under my jacket — I love a hoodie under a trench coat or under a leather jacket. Then when I don’t need a jacket, I just wear it as a shirt. You can dress it up or down. I’ll wear that hoodie with a silk skirt or with my scrappy jeans.
This is my secret weapon, which doesn’t have to be secret, obviously, since I just told you! I usually layer it with another fragrance to add dimension. Molecule changes the pH balance of whoever’s wearing it — so it smells different on everybody but always smells good. I discovered it probably ten years ago on one of my guy friends who was wearing it, and I’ve been wearing it ever since.
It was very, very early into quarantine when my husband, Erik, and I decided to leave Los Angeles. We had a 1-year-old at the time and decided to get her closer to family and to find our family a slower, happier, easier life. We knew very well that leaving L.A. might be very bad for our careers, but at the end of the day, we chose family and quality of life. And it turns out it didn’t hurt my career at all.
The house we moved into was built in 1900 and is amazing. The Slow Down is an ode to this home, this family, and this quality of living. The house sat empty for four years or more before we found it. Apparently, everyone would walk into this massive house and see it as too big of a project. When we finally rolled in, I felt like this place had been waiting for us. We didn’t touch any of the bones or trim, in fact, we kept everything pretty much intact. But by adding modern lighting and furniture, we were able to create a space that a young family could feel comfortable in.
My dear friends Amy Neunsinger, a photographer, and Hilary Robertson, a stylist, came over to shoot the house one day, and we realized that this house could actually stand to have its own book, an ode to this beautiful historical building. It’s a love story to the house and to fixing up a historical home in general. I’m also a huge proponent of small-town living. I feel like it’s been so great for me creatively and personally and for our family. Leaving the big city at that time was a big move and it was a big decision, but it turned out to be the right thing to do. The Slow Down is all about that move. Spoiler alert: There were tears. In construction — there are always tears.
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