A Living Antique Home In New England
Our ‘22 Layette Collection Location
We photographed real mums and their babies in an exquisite private home in Ipswich, MA. This 1696 antique is owned by Katie Henry, who owns Labor in Vain - a beautifully curated retail shop - and Rumphius Flowers - wild, natural design pieces for weddings and parties.
Katie welcomed our team and several sets of mums and babies into her home. With photographer Winky Lewis, we observed these pairs in the beautiful, unfussy moments of motherhood. A tiny face marveling at the way the light comes in the room. Dimpled hands on a shoulder. Tiny stretches and tinier yawns.
Katie’s house was the most wondrous backdrop - full of thoughtful moments, cozy corners, rich textures, and beautiful sunshine pouring in around us. We spoke with her about her approach to designing her home.
Tell us a bit about the dynamics of your work life.
I am not a good balancer — I tend to lean very heavily into either work or home life depending on what's happening personally or professionally and just accept that it's hard to balance the two. If I'm doing flowers for a wedding, that becomes my focus and my house gets very messy and my son watches a lot of TV, laundry piles up, and I forget to water my plants. If work is slower, I hibernate or spend a lot of time outdoors with my family and generally avoid my studio.
How do you make design choices in your home?
I think that making decisions based on any sort of particular aesthetic or style ends up feeling forced. For both my house and shop, I find things I like and that I need and I buy them when I can. All the things that you like generally end up working together and feeling cohesive, even if they don't always necessarily match or traditionally go together. I love a mix of styles.
What are the main influences on your home decor?
I grew up with parents who were collectors of rugs and clocks and antiques and I think my house is very similar—a little cluttered maybe but cozy and never boring. I always come back to unfussy English houses that aren't too considered or planned as what I want and hope my house feels like. I’m also just generally pretty messy so I try to embrace the chaos as much as I can.
I like old things that have lived lots of lives — rugs, textiles, art — and always have lots of plants. My house was built in 1696 and I have no desire to make it a museum — it's been added to and changed a lot in the last 325ish years — but I want to respect what's there while also making it a liveable house for adults, kids, dogs, etc. I'm always collecting and shifting things around a little bit—there’s no such thing as a finished, perfect home.
Tell us a bit about some of our favorite moments in your house.
The wallpaper in the front hallway is hand block printed by Marthe Armitage; I adore her fabrics and papers.
The curtains in my bedroom were made for me by my very talented studiomate, Pink House Workroom and the painting is by Essex painter Margaret Sweet.
The rug with the sheepskin layered on top is an antique Persian Mahal rug.
I bought the quilt on a trip to textile mecca Anokhi in Jaipur, India.
The hall rug is a very worn hand-me-down from my parents.
The big fabric print in the background is Marushka—I bought it at the Brooklyn Flea many years ago and lugged it home on the subway when I lived in Manhattan.
Are there any specific places you like to shop for home decor?
I buy almost nothing new; everything in my house has been either passed down to me from my parents or bought secondhand or collected over the years. I love antique stores, auctions, thrift stores, flea markets!
