INTERVIEW #133 KRISTIN CAMPBELL

Name: Kristin Campbell

Based in: New to Philadelphia, PA

Occupation: Pre-loved home decor dealer, personal shopper and soon-to-be hypnotist. Maybe I can dream up a way to combine them into one practice. They're all about feeling good on the inside and using our imaginations to create a more beautiful life. 

Gets inspired by: Where to begin?! Wandering around photographing flowers, unusual plants, leaves as they're changing colours, moss, peeling paint -- anything with a Fibonnaci sequence or wabi-sabi quality. Same for looking at fruits and vegetables up close, as well as artfully plated food.

Visiting galleries and museums and spending time in well-designed spaces also feeds my soul. When I was in NYC, I'd often pop into the Chelsea galleries or charm my way into the guest-only courtyard at the Greenwich Hotel. During our year and a half in Austin, I'd go to the Austin Proper Hotel, designed by Kelly Wearstler, just for a cortado in order to be there and let my eye wander. Perhaps the best part is the incredible florals by serracinna. Austin also has a great open gallery event that runs for a few weekends where you can see new work by talented artists like Elizabeth Chapin, Kelly Framel and Moyo Oyelola.

Listening to a wide range of music is an essential inspiration for me. Some forever favourites; D'Angelo, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jimi Hendrix, Janelle Monáe, Johannes Brahms, Alice Coltrane, Leon Bridges, Big Wild, Lauryn Hill, and SAULT.  

It's a blast to play with our freshly minted toddler and see what he's curious about and what makes him light up and laugh. I also get high on my own imagination supply, supported by time outdoors, exercise, solo dance parties, self and guided hypnosis, and on occasion, sativa -- a healing plant that ought to be totally legal. (I'm from Loveland, Colorado, okay? Let's normalize.

Instagram: @nomnomemporium

Kristin! A warm welcome to A Sustainable Closet! We are so happy to have you here. Tell us about yourself?

Hello new friends and thank you so much for the opportunity to share what I'm passionate about! 

My newest and favourite role in life is that of mama. On one hand, I'm grateful I had a whole decade in NYC sans children, but on the other, having a baby would have been physically easier in my 20s or 30s. During those 10 years in Brooklyn, I was a server and then a restaurant manager, with some freelance jobs mixed in, like interviewing the co-founders of Marchesa, and later, creating content for an antique silver dealer. 

Toward the end of my time in New York, I impulsively signed up for a pop-up market and Nom Nom Emporium was officially born! Though I had to source quickly for that, my interest in vintage decor started while I was in college and needed to furnish my first apartment. I was spoiled to have a couple of roommates who were interior design majors and had great taste. In those days, I was using CraigsList and would drive all over Dallas/Fort Worth to pick up awesome finds, like a Coco Chanel gold gilt wheat side table that I still have and a Saarinen-style tulip dining table that is also in my home, some 20 years later. Newer treasures include a coppery-pink resin ribbon table and a faded golden peach ombré French side chair. Anyhow, shortly after that market, I landed a dream client who needed a few key pieces for his Dumbo apartment that overlooks the East River and Manhattan skyline. And then Covid hit, and I moved away to Austin, but we still made progress.

When it comes to finding pre-owned furniture online, my browsing behaviour is bordering on obsessive-compulsive. For example, when I was nursing our baby, I'd be looking on Instagram, FB Marketplace, Etsy and Chairish for unusual furniture, pottery and lamps that I didn't really need. Nor did I have any clients at the time...since I'd just had a baby! Though I did manage to buy, mostly from my bed, a vintage pencil reed and brass cabinet, an original Milo Baughman swivel rocking chair, a Moroccan rug for a very reasonable price and an 8-foot-tall papier-mâché mushroom for the nursery for $40. That last one came by way of my friend Katherine of Not A Humble Home. She finds the coolest things. I enjoy seeing and appreciating what's out there and imagining how I would style it. Always be sourcing. And, most importantly, I get super excited about the magic that is possible on a conservative budget when buying vintage, handmade and pre-owned.

We are so curious about your career and how you've reached the point where you are today?

My career has meandered all over the map, geographically and across industries, and probably doesn't make much sense to anyone but me. I've worked in newspaper journalism, PR, TV news and video production, hosted a web show, and managed restaurants in New York and now I source unusual and special furniture, art, lighting, pottery, textiles, kitchenware, glassware and other decors for my shop and for clients. The through-lines are storytelling, constant learning, creating connections and introducing people to new favourite things they may not have chosen on their own.

I'm an outlier in that I fell hard for hospitality as a legit career and enjoyed being a server even more than a general manager. You can have more intimate and therefore more rewarding interactions with guests as their server than as a manager who floats, keeping an eye on everything. An industry disclaimer is necessary, however: I didn't like being financially incentivized to encourage gluttony and heavy drinking, subtle and overt sexual harassment from colleagues and male guests and the caste-like power imbalance of an inherently racist tipping system that was originally created as a way of just barely paying formerly enslaved people. (That's a whole different can of worms.) All that said -- ha! -- what I loved about it was never knowing who I might interact with, building rapport with people, having unexpected, fascinating conversations and being able to subtly educate and guide my guests to co-create an optimal dining experience for them. It can be very satisfying to turn people onto things that they might not have otherwise tried and to take care of them during their important moments, celebrations, and first dates and to hold space for the difficult and tender times, too. It's the energy exchange, the discovery of new things and collaboration that I enjoy. 

Now that I'm a mama who needs to be asleep before most restaurants close, I'm returning to one of my early loves: finding and styling undervalued and rad decor for myself and clients. I've just replaced menu items with furnishings. Like, "Hey, instead of the omnipresent avocado toast and mimosa [CB2 bouclé sofa and West Elm glass vase mass produced in China], how about giving the Shakshuka and Garibaldi with fresh OJ [amazing vintage chair and Art Deco lamps I find on Marketplace] a try instead?" My way of sourcing works best when I'm in the same city as my clients, but I can certainly source remotely and teach anyone my crafty ways via video chat. 

Once I'm certified and confident as a hypnotist later in 2023, those sessions will happen via Zoom to start, and hopefully in a physical space at some point. I had a radically transformative hypnotherapy experience in 2020 and want to share that with others. As within, so without. I'm applying that in the tangible sense of curating interiors with a distinct personality and also in the ineffable realm of the subconscious. We're all just making it up, writing, editing, and rewriting our own stories in this awesome holographic game of life, so may as well have fun and love ourselves and our homes!

How would you describe your interior style and where do you find inspiration?

My style is improvised, warm, colourful, soulful, a bit trippy and full of oddball juxtapositions, like living inside the Nai Palm track, "Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)." It's all in the mix. 

Decorating is a kinesthetic, instinctual game of creating my own delightfully imperfect evolving world of art, patterns and mellow lighting that makes my soul feel good and doing so well within my means. (Can we all please agree to banish super harsh overhead lights?) Extra bonus points when I find a quality chair or something extremely appealing to me for like $20. I'm a big believer in buying what you love, not what you think has value. May I suggest using your heart when shopping and putting the overly logical mind to work minding the budget in the background? My eye and gut instinct are in sync, so usually, the things I'm drawn to can all play nicely together. Here I go again with another food analogy, but decorating is not that different from the beverage pairing strategy. You can complement OR create contrast. If you have a heavier main dish, like a vintage mauve floral sofa, maybe you'd go with a young, weird sparkling orange wine in the furniture analogy form of a shiny, dark orange Verner Panton chair, to lighten the mood. (I swear I'm not high. This is just how my brain works.) When it comes to Riesling, Champagne and Madeira, the older and smaller the production the better. Those three are akin to a Moroccan rug, French Sterling silver tray and Murano sconces, let's say. When you're craving that specific thing, nothing else will do.  

It was fun to mix and match rugs, furniture, art, etc. in this new Philly rental and find some novel combinations that work better than anything I'd come up with before. I also enjoy hosting and applying hospitality intelligence to decor details, like lighting a Black Forest-scented candle from Archipelago before a guest arrives and having Q-tips out in a tiny pink marble jar. In my dream home, I'd hang some grasscloth wallpaper, hire Cecelia Claire to paint a mural, install Calacatta viola marble somewhere and have all the light switches be brass. And there would be a large floor-to-ceiling window/door that opens to the backyard and garden.  

I'm inspired by Jane Hallworth, Jenna Lyons, Beata Heuman, Night Palm's Tiffany Howell, Simone Haag, Katie Saro, everything at Pop Up Home, Emily Bentley's Junqúe, Flamingo Estate, Shop NFS, as well as the LA gallerist Rhett Baruch and his artist partner Patty Sanchez. They all have such a strong POV that you can always tell if space or image is theirs before even looking at the credit. Oh and scrolling back in my IG 'Saved' posts is a constant source of inspiration.

What is your relationship with fashion and clothes, how do you consume your clothes?

My relationship with clothes was first shaped by my mom shopping at Sears for everything us kids wore since they had an absurdly generous return policy. In my teen years, I'd buy on layaway at various shops in the Fort Collins mall and have a few dollars leftover for an Orange Julius. Abercrombie was, like, wow, so cool. And I had to have a NorthFace jacket. I discovered sample sales in my 20s, but had mostly Banana Republic in my closet, a regrettable Zara phase, and if I'm being honest, no real style. I stopped in at TJ Maxx and outlet stores often. Most of those old things have long since been donated since Beacon's Closet doesn't want my bejewelled yellow cardigan from 2002.

Thankfully the swagger of NYC rubbed off in some small way; the creativity of New Yorkers really helped me find my own sartorial voice. I half joke that Eva Dayton, owner of Consignment Brooklyn, is single-handedly responsible for me developing my style in my 30s. I was managing a popular restaurant in Brooklyn Heights when I started shopping there, as well as at other consignment and vintage stores. When Claire Danes, Usher, Athena Calderone, John Slattery and Stacy London are walking through the door on a regular basis, you want to look and feel good, ya know? 

These days, my wardrobe is a bit stagnant and full of clothes from TheRealReal, Consignment Brooklyn and Poshmark, etc., that I've had for several years, but many items are currently too small for me. While I'm super grateful for my healthy body and the fact that it grew a wonderful little human and has recovered from an unplanned C-section, as well as a planned surgery to remove 15(!) fibroids, I'm relearning to love my body as it is now. I suspect many moms can relate. I'm using the hypnosis techniques I'm learning to assist in dropping 30 pounds so I can get back to my pre-baby weight with more ease and self-love. It might be time to say "thank you, goodbye," to certain items that no longer suit me anyway and sell or donate. I am definitely ready to retire the bike shorts and leggings that have served me well through pregnancy and the postpartum period and welcome in some fresh items. To that end, I just scored two vintage dresses that I'll feel good in no matter the size of my waist and thighs. 

Time to buy some new bras as well. What better source than Iris Clarke of Iris Lingerie who did a fitting for me in 2017. I was delighted to see her featured in an episode of the heart-expanding AppleTV show, "Little America." I turned to my boyfriend and said, "I know her! That woman has had her hands on my boobs!"

As for baby clothes, I'm blessed to have two nephews and a sister who kept many of their baby things. Plus, I shop thrift stores, FB Marketplace for baby gear and discovered the lovely Jenna at ShopRetroBabes on IG. A couple of the outfits I bought from Jenna and found at Goodwill in Austin are so damn adorable that I'm tempted to frame them. The rest are being donated or sold on eBay.

Favourite stores/brands to shop from?

TheRealReal, FARFETCH, Poshmark, Su'juk, Consignment Brooklyn, Dobbin Street Vintage Co-op, Feng Sway, MOSS Consignment in Austin, and a great new vintage shop in Mt. Airy called Pax and Flora that just opened, owned by a mama and former Brooklyn gal.

As for name brands, I gravitate to pre-owned Chloe, TIBI, Rachel Comey, Sandro, Marni, Stella McCartney, GANNI, All Saints, The Frankie Shop, Loeffler Randall boots, YSL...the list goes on. I have yet to buy from HYER GOODS since I don't currently need a new bag, but I'm a big fan of what Dana Cohen has created. They make leather bags and other items all from the fashion industry leftovers.

Favourite material to wear?

If I must leave the house and can't wear my washable silk pyjamas, I'm going with organic cotton, specifically a Maria Cornejo jumpsuit. Honourable mention: cashmere, in the form of thrift men's sweaters.

You are an expert on the interior industry, would you say this industry is as "polluted" as the fashion industry? 

Short answer: yes, probably a lot more. Since about 85 per cent of the furniture and decor in my home is secondhand, I only sell pre-owned decor and I've not been involved in a demo or remodel, I'm somewhat blissfully ignorant of all the waste generated by the interior design and related industries. Let's not forget the real dirty work done by construction and demolition crews before a designer or decorator would ever get involved. I just found a thoroughly depressing stat from 2020: "Nationwide, the C&D industry sends more than 548 million tons of waste to landfills annually, more than twice the amount of waste generated through municipal solid waste."

In 2018, the last available year for EPA waste data, 6.7 tons of furniture and 2.4 tons of carpets and rugs ended up in a landfill. All the more reason to not buy brand new, light greige furniture that isn't built to last and that you're more likely to grow tired of quickly.

Not all hope is lost! The good news is that there is high demand for pre-owned and vintage decor, especially as supply chains have been disrupted by the pandemic. The resale market for furniture and decor is sorta endless. Look at the amount of business done by 1stDibs and Chairish and thousands of resellers across the country. The number of followers that StoopingNYC has puts a smile on my face. 

I invite everyone to join me in imagining your own estate sale and allowing that vision to guide your purchases now to make it legendary! 

Describe what fashion-respective interior decoration means to you, in three words:

Handcrafted. High-quality. Inimitable.