Home with Rue

Home with Rue

Introduction


What does home mean to you? It’s a question I’ve asked hundreds of people in my ten years as an interiors editor. Though I’m usually the one inquiring, I’ve got an answer myself: home is a feeling. To me, home is a sleeping cat in the living room’s one sunny patch. It’s the clinking of champagne flutes to celebrate a big accomplishment. It’s your favorite knit blanket and a new season of Succession (or Real Housewives) queued up. Home is where life happens, and as we all have learned in the last couple of years, life certainly happens.

Our homes need to be more functional than ever before. With the big shift toward working from home in early 2020, what once was as simple as a “living room” quickly evolved to become a mobile workspace, classroom, and gym. Kitchens reclaimed their role as heart of the home, as we all sharpened our knives and our culinary skills. Our outdoor spaces began to feel like vacation spots, and our entryways were like an old friend, welcoming us back to our own personal safe havens.

If you’ve picked up this book, I’m guessing you’re like me and crave beauty in your everyday routines. Yes, I want my home to be functional, but I also want it to cultivate that feeling. I want my space to energize me, to comfort me, and to bring me joy. The thing is, with each home tour I’ve shared over the years, I’ve discovered hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds) of ways to make that happen. Is a functional, joyful home a minimalist space composed of shades of gray or is it an explosion of pattern, color, and texture? I believe it can, and should, be both.

I have done my best to always infuse the pages of Rue with that same ethos. Founded in 2010 as one of the first digital shelter magazines, the founding team (which included interior designer Crystal Palecek and designer + content creator Anne Sage) paved the way, sharing beautiful homes and meaningful stories about the people who lived there. With a goal to provide a pathway to stylish living, we created Rue Daily in 2013, sharing fresh content to inspire our readers every day of the week and keeping up with the pace (and attention span) of social media. In 2021, we had our biggest launch yet, debuting our first-ever print issue on newsstands everywhere. Yes, moving from digital to print might have seemed a bit backward, given the state of media today, but we saw a trend among our audience members that we couldn’t ignore. There was a craving for something a little slower, a little more meaningful. There’s nothing better than putting the screen down and diving into a print magazine or a beautiful book. It’s escapism at its finest . . . no notifications popping up in the center of a photo to lure you to another app or article.

If you’re new to Rue or you’ve followed it every step of the way, you might notice that we’re not defined by a singular look. We feature sprawling coastal estates alongside petite studio apartments. In one issue, you may see a rustic cabin in the woods of Vermont, followed by a colorful French Colonial in New Orleans, and then an urban loft in Paris after that. I believe that you can discover beauty in all of these spaces, even if you wouldn’t necessarily copy the decor. This “room for everyone” idea is best seen in our popular HomeWithRue hashtag. In the early days of managing our social media, I noticed more and more folks starting to share photos of their own homes, replicating the style of their favorite designers or experimenting with shelfies (cute photos of bookshelves) and living room layouts. We encouraged our fans to tag their images HomeWithRue and have really enjoyed watching the gallery grow. Across the world, people are offering an intimate look into their space, getting feedback from friends, and further identifying what home means to them.

I have always had an interest in interior design but admit my passion is deeply rooted in interviewing designers and homeowners alike. It brings me great joy to understand why certain decisions were made and how the home functions and then translating how our readers might get the same effect in their space. Over the years, I’ve taken a few design guidelines to heart: there is a specific reason for that exact shade of white paint, scale is important in everything from tile to chandeliers, and, my favorite, most of the “design rules” are meant to be broken.

Consider this book a compendium of inspirational and accessible ideas to help you imagine, plan, and create your ultimate living space. While you won’t necessarily find handy DIYs in the pages that follow, you will be given plenty of insight on how to recreate the looks you love from some of the top designers in the industry. Home with Rue is basically one big home tour—but it’s also filled with images from dozens of my favorite homes we’ve shared over the years alongside new spaces you’ll love. In chapter 1, I’ll take you through the entry, sharing savvy tips to make a good first impression or avoid major shoe pileups. We’ll continue through every room of the house, from grand dining rooms to functional laundry rooms, ending with a great selection of outdoor spaces. We’ll explore different aesthetics: California Casual, Modern Farmhouse, Mountain Chic, Industrial Minimalism, to name a few. My hope is that you’ll identify the look you connect with most, discover something new, and snag some tips on how to bring it home.

Mostly, I hope you’ll have a clearer understanding: What does home mean to you?