house visit: diana fayt

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A real treat today, because we're visiting the home of San Francisco potter, Diana Fayt. She was kind enough to share her photo's of her cheerfully decorated and cozy home filled with her beautiful ceramics and collections of others she has accumulated over the years. We asked if she could share her thoughts on her interior here. You can also view her pictures as a slideshow here.

Let's start with your kitchen. I love your kitchen, it's got that cozy, lived in feel and I can just tell you are a good cook just by looking. I love the way you have your pots hanging above your stove, easily accessible and the shelves that hold your dishes. Can you tell us a bit about the things in your kitchen, where you got them (the shelves for instance), what are your favorite pieces, and what you can't live without?

Thanks Jan! You are right, I do love to cook, especially for my friends. I really enjoy hosting small intimate dinner parties with yummy home cooked food. I also love to bake and each season I make my favorite jams for the year (I am about to make this years batch of apricot jam, my absolute favorite!).

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I love my kitchen because I have everything I need at my fingertips. I try not to collect too much stuff since I live in a small space. I have been able to keep my cooking equipment down to the main essentials. The open shelving and the pegboard pot rack were part of the kitchen when I moved in. At first I wasn't too excited about the pegboard look and had considered taking it down but quickly changed my mind once I got my pots and pans hung and realized what an efficient solution it is for hanging things. The open shelving makes what I have on my shelves part of the decor. I did not want a mish-mash of colors and designs on display so I decided that I would only collect handmade pottery from fellow ceramists in shades of white and ivory.

I'd say my favorite things in my kitchen are my ceramic tea cups and my large cast iron tea pot . I have been collecting the cups over the years, two by two, from my travels and from fellow potter friends, like Christa Assad and Ayumi Horie. I can't live without my teapot, good knives and my pots and pans.

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You have a real knack for displaying things. What advice would you give for hanging wall art and the way you display your art?

I like open wall space and uncluttered shelves. As much as I love collections (and have many of them) and beautiful displays of things I also like blank space on the walls and a sense of order, otherwise I can feel crowded. I really don't have formula other than the object has to fit the space. If it doesn't work then I won't put it out or hang it up. I also move things around a lot and rotate my collections so things will stay fresh.

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Tell us where are your favorite places to go shopping in and around where you live for the home?

My favorite place to shop for things for my home is the Alameda Flea Market. Other than that I often bring back things from my travels so a lot of what I have in my home is collected from all over the world.

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We're huge fans of your porcelain tags. Where do you draw inspiration for your work and do you design with your home in mind?

In 2000 I designed a collection of handmade ceramics for the home called the neofayt collection. At the time I was feeling a little overwhelmed from the muchness of my work and wanted to design some things that felt quiet and were subtle and spoke of the material I was using so I left the white clay unglazed and a bit rough looking with small bits of embellishment. The porcelain tags were a result of that collection as well as my glowbowls and a line of kitchen items which included my salt & pepper cellars and a sugar bowl that I call a sugar cube. These things were designed with mine and others homes in mind. I like to make things that I would like to have for myself.

My illustrated ceramics really are little stories from my life. I am always looking at things, colors, the way gardens are laid out, sidewalks and their cracks, road workers marks on the streets, graffiti, clothing, flowers, stories people tell it all inspires me and I translate it into visual imagery for my pieces.

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Name a few of your favorite things in your home.

I'd say my favorite things in my home right now would most definitely be my growing collection of brown pottery. I am also loving my collection of printed Japanese textiles. I love the bold colors and simple patterns.

Thank you Diana!
Thanks for visiting Jan!

dianafayt.com
oneblackbird.blogspot.com
oneblackbird.etsy.com
home set slideshow

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Jan Halvarson

7 comments:

Ashes and Milk said...

Thank you for sharing! Where did you come upon that cast iron tea pot. I am big fan of these.

Fiona Cartolina said...

That was a great post - really enjoyed it. And I love that photo of the cat(?) jumping on the bed!

lisa solomon said...

diana is the coolest!

AMM blog said...

Fun house & great advice about displaying...I agree!

Jessie Cacciola said...

such a cute home -- thanks for sharing!
- Jessie -

diana fayt said...

thanks for all your comments everyone!

ashes and milk, i got the cast iron teapot in japan.

cartolina, the cat is actually my friend lisa congdon's dog, wilfredo.

alice said...

What a wonderful place!