Noz Nozawa
photo by Alanna Hale
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? The West Village in NYC. Not the most exotic answer, but since I was a college freshman, I’ve dreamed of having a home in the city – I spent a month in Chelsea earlier this year, and even though I thought I was grittier than this, I loved the Village.
What are three words to describe your style?
1. Storytelling
2. Layered
3. Collected
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? I wasn’t allowed to paint or put holes in the wall. All the furniture in my room was a set of soft-radius 1980’s solid oak heavily whitewashed bed / nightstand / desk / dresser. The bed’s headboard was one of those big built-in looking pieces with glass display cabinets, built-in lighting, built-in tissue slot, and a hidden cabinet which now that I think of it was maybe for a weapon. At some point I tried to tent my ceiling, but was a kid – so I bought a roll of cyan-blue plastic wrap from the grocery store and thought I could drape it with scotch tape to mimic the look. It was my first DIY failure.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? In 2012, a Heath Ceramics oval dimensional tile backsplash for my janky developer kitchen. It was deeply discounted seconds-quality and “we made too much” tile, and still such an investment for me at the time.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Julia Morgan for the architecture, and Iris Apfel for the interior decorating
No room is complete without something that makes you laugh!
People think of me as a maximalist, but I actually get very distressed by clutter.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: The stamens on lilies
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Jams and fruit pastes
A bar cabinet: Oh, I am not allowed to omit anything! My husband tends our house bar, and his hospitality philosophy is that if a guest wants it, we will happily serve it.
A song for:
Dinner at home: Tina Turner “The Best”
Working at your desk: True Crime podcasts!
Going for a run: Nine Inch Nails “Closer” (also the song lasts longer than my “runs”!)
Biggest Vice? Real Estate FOMO!
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Those extremely baggy Margiela jeans that Diane Keaton made go viral in 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/diane-keatons-instagram-makes-everyone-want-wide-leg-pants.html
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Increasingly so! I do shop for clothes in similar ways to how I shop for furnishings – a mix of high-end, vintage, and cheap second-hand… paired with a statement something – usually shoes.
Who is your star crush? Martha Stewart and Meryl Streep. If I had to pick a man-crush, Conan O’Brien.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Tile counters. I honestly love the look and it pings on my nostalgia, but I can’t imagine myself designing a bathroom or kitchen with tile counters.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Most of my design books I think I could buy again, but I grew up with this tattered copy of “Painted Ponies” – a picture book about historic carousel horses, which informed some of my more ornamental design tendencies. I’m very attached to it.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? That my work has been proof of a kindred emotion and a kindred way of seeing things, that will have opened more doors and smoothed out more trails, for future generations of creatives who feel like aliens among their peers.
photo by Colin Price
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Death Becomes Her
Book: “The Elements of Style” – that grade school grammar book!
Scent: Blown out matches
The fabric you always come back to: Perennials Sunbrella “Tangled” by Porter Teleo
Dream project: The Spreckels Mansion in San Francisco
Meal: Omakase at the sushi counter, and the ribeye my husband makes!
Drink: It’s a very specific cocktail called the Bannockburn at a now-shuttered speakeasy in Tokyo where I befriended the bartender. Ardbeg scotch, Clamato juice, this Asian garlic-chilli-sauce, and a few other ingredients I’ve since forgotten and omit when I make my lazy version.
Hotel: Prestonfield House, outside Edinburgh
Travel Destination: Tokyo
Artist: Oh no don’t make me choose!
A cause near and dear to me: De-stigmatizing mental illness / talking about mental health
Thing to collect obsessively: Ear piercings
Era in the history of design: Mid to late 1800s when all the summer “cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island, were being built.
Museum: The Met!
Paint Color that always looks great: Black
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: @iamthirtyaf – the best meme account
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Love all animals, but I’m a dog person 1000%
