Let's Meet Sarah Lyon

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Sarah Lyon

Friends I’m thrilled to share my recent interview with freelance writer and stylist Sarah Lyon.

Sarah welcome to the Chalet. Please tell the readers how long you’ve lived in NYC and what drew you to the Upper East Side? Thank you for having me. I’ve sort of had two different lives in NYC! I moved to the city right after I graduated from college—seriously, two weeks after I received my diploma, I was here—and worked in magazines, starting out as an editorial assistant at the now-defunct Meredith publication American Baby. I lived in the city for two years and then left and went to grad school at the University of Pennsylvania, where I received my master’s in higher education. After living in Philly, I moved back to the DC area (where I’m originally from) for six years. I lived in various apartments in Washington, D.C., while working in communications at a K-12 school in Virginia and then in alumni relations at George Washington University. It was during this time that I began freelance writing (more on that in a bit), and during the pandemic, I decided that I wanted to move back to New York City. I moved back to Manhattan during the summer of 2021, and I landed on the Upper East Side because of how much I’d enjoyed living here before; it feels very neighborhood-like and is a great place to live as a 30-something.

Sarah’s stylish livingroom

You mentioned you’re originally from the Washington DC area - please tell us a bit about growing up. I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, which is about 10 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. I always loved to rearrange my room as a child and would spend Friday afternoons moving furniture around after school. No one in my immediate family enjoys design as much as I do, but both my grandmothers liked to decorate their homes. My paternal grandmother, Rhee (who is 91!), has always been a kindred spirit here; even to this day, we love to go thrift and vintage shopping together when I visit her in Florida. She was always frequenting garage sales when my sister and I were kids and would find dolls and dollhouse accessories for us, which she would then repurpose if needed (she is an amazing artist who paints, draws, and sculpts, and has always been full of creativity). It’s been fun having her witness my career as an interior design writer. She will read my work online—she loves the Apartment Therapy website in particular—which I love!

Any memories of all that room rearranging? I remember shopping for furniture with my parents at IKEA and picking out pieces that I loved; there was a vertical organizer I had that was designed to be used as a CD holder (hello, 1990s!) but I would instead use the small compartments mostly to display various trinkets. I always loved switching up which pieces I placed inside each area. My church had an annual rummage sale that I always looked forward to (and still like to attend when I’m able!) and I would find lots of great items there. The American Girl books for tween girls were always fun to read as a kid and had lots of decorating ideas that inspired me, too. Like most of my friends, I had an over-the-door shoe holder filled with Beanie Babies, for example! I also loved doing crafts and would decorate picture frames and other small pieces for my bedroom. I was obsessed with keeping my bedroom nice and neat; even friends’ parents would comment on how good it looked.

Oh my Sarah that wonderful!

Sarah’s Desk

What was the genus of your writing career - I understand for a period of time you worked in Higher Education. I went to a small liberal arts college where we didn’t have pre-professional majors like journalism or communications, so I chose sociology because it interested me and then decided to focus on being a part of the student-run newspaper as my main extracurricular. I was extremely passionate about the school newspaper in high school and had taken a journalism class my sophomore year—which I’ll still find myself referencing today—but that’s really my only formal training; everything else I learned firsthand! As a freshman in college, I started out as a news writer for our weekly paper and then worked my way up: I became an assistant editor my second semester, served as the editor of the news section my sophomore and junior years, and then became the editor-in-chief as a senior. This was an extremely rewarding experience and was something that I had been working toward since I was 18! I was fortunate to have had the chance to intern at Bethesda Magazine, a regional lifestyle publication, a couple of times when I was home throughout college, and then the summer between my junior and senior year,I lived in New York City and interned at Parade Magazine.

When I graduated from college, I worked at American Baby but didn’t feel super optimistic about the state of the print magazine world. I reflected back on my interests from college and realized how much I had enjoyed covering and studying campus issues during my time both on the newspaper and as a sociology major. I decided to apply to graduate school for my master’s in higher education and greatly enjoyed learning more about issues including college access, diversity in higher education, and more. I then worked in communications at a K-12 school for about a year before deciding that I really wanted to be in higher ed, as I had intended when I received my degree, and moved over to George Washington University. I first worked in the development and alumni relations department at the business school before moving over to the engineering school. For most of the three and a half years I worked at GW, I was also freelancing on the side to earn extra money and to enjoy a creative pursuit outside of my day job, which was fairly corporate in nature.

Sarah’s stunning wingback chair

When did you decide to fully commit to being full-time freelance writer? What was the a-ha moment. I’m definitely not always the most rational person in my day to day life, but I was extremely practical when it came to making this decision about my career. When it came to going full-time freelance, I didn’t take my decision lightly: after all, I had a job that I liked, and we were still in the middle of the pandemic.

As background, I had started freelancing part time in 2018 and my work really began to build in 2019. During the summer of 2019, I had really hit my stride with a bunch of regular assignments, and I also applied for and received a big promotion at GW. I was very happy with how my life was looking personally, professionally, and financially—I felt very balanced and proud of what I had accomplished as a 27 year old. However, I knew that the position I was in wasn’t very sustainable: I was working portions of every weekend to keep up with freelance work, and I didn’t want to take on too much more and risk letting my day job suffer. At the same time, I felt that if I wanted to move up in my career again in another year or so, I would have to think about cutting back on my outside writing. I was pondering all of this, and then the pandemic happened. At first, I was a bit worried about the state of both industries: journalism and higher education aren’t known for being super stable! Luckily, my day job remained intact, and meanwhile, the home industry began to boom.

During the pandemic, all of my work travel and event planning of course came to a halt, freeing up more time in my schedule to take on additional freelance assignments. I began to really consider the possibility of moving into a full-time role; all I did during fall 2020 and spring 2021 was work at both of my jobs, which was extremely overwhelming. It got to the point where I knew something had to give—if I couldn’t maintain a semi-balanced life in the absence of social plans, travel, and the like, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do so once the world opened back up. I had been tracking my freelance income for about six months and it was consistently exceeding my income from my day job significantly. Once I felt confident that this would continue to be the case, I put in my one-month notice at work, and my full-time freelance career began!

I definitely took a more conservative approach than most here: I probably *could have* gone freelance two years prior but didn’t want to compromise my day-to-day standard of living or take any major risks; and as a single, childless woman in my 20s, I pushed myself to juggle both of my careers for as long as I feasibly could. I did finally feel that this was the time in my life to make a change.

What do people think you do as a Freelance Writer. I’ll get inquiries from people offering to pay me $$$ to place them or their client in an article - that is not how journalism works, even if you’re covering a fun subject matter like I am.

The fireplace in Sarah’s bedroom

Switching gears let’s touch on your interior design style. You’ve spoken about adding Parisian Charm to your UES apartment - How did you find your style? I feel as though my design style is always changing and evolving a bit, but I’ve been drawn to the Parisian look for quite some time. When I lived in Washington, D.C., one of my apartments featured beautiful fireplaces (not the marble Parisian style ones, but they inspired me nonetheless). I then got into the concept of adding faux mantels to a space; I did so in my D.C. apartment after that and then again here in New York. I am constantly inspired by what I see on Pinterest, I probably use the app at least once a day! I am always saving images that speak to me and using them to inspire my next apartment upgrade.

Would you agree your favorite design element is a fireplace. Yes! I love the faux mantels that I added to my space; my current apartment is pretty cookie cutter and doesn’t have much architectural character (minus the built-ins in my living room, which I love). I am all about creatively adding charm and personality to rental spaces; knowing I can do some of this myself takes some of the pressure off when it comes to finding the “perfect” place.

What is your design philosophy? I always say that a room is never finished! I am always tweaking my space and adding in new fun finds and shifting around furniture. It keeps things interesting!

You find a lot of home décor through Facebook Marketplace – as well as flea markets - What is the best thing you’ve ever thrifted. Oh gosh, that’s hard for me to say—I am at a flea market almost every weekend and check Facebook Marketplace several times a day, so I’ve accumulated some incredible items over the years! One of my all-time favorite secondhand finds is a vintage Dior logo suitcase that I found at the Chelsea Flea; I use it as decor (and storage!) in my bedroom.

a Dior suitcase Sarah thrifted from the Chelsea Flea Market

You were featured on an episode of Homewothy. How did that happen? I actually reached out to Alison and pitched myself; we had a great time filming and it’s been nice to share a glimpse of my space with the world—many people have come to my Instagram account from that video!

Sarah’s bedroom perfectly reflects a balance of Parisian glam and contemporary elements

How has Social Media and especially Instagram impacted you and your career? I have mixed thoughts here! I began my Instagram page in 2016, back when I had a small lifestyle and design blog called DC to a T (I believe all of my posts have disappeared, sadly!). My page has grown so slowly in comparison to other creators. I don’t think it will ever really be anything big and I now sort of just use it as a portfolio to showcase some of my home projects and articles and as a means to connect with new sources to interview and follow. I will say that I truly believe I have the most supportive Instagram community ever! My followers are the kindest, most supportive people—they always have my back and lift me up. Many of them have been following along since the DC to a T days, but I’ve also met so many new, wonderful people since moving to New York. Many of my good friends in the city these days are other people with public accounts who I’ve gotten to know through Instagram.

Anything upcoming for the rest of 2023 you wish to share with the readers? I’ve had a busy travel year thus far and am not sure what the rest of 2023 will hold—I’m sure I’ll continue to take on more fun home projects and write a ton, of course!

Sarah I looked you up on Apartment Therapy it shows you’ve been published 819 times on the platform. That’s quite an accomplishment.

click the image to be linked to this page on Sarah’s website

Below is a sampling of a few of the many articles you’ve written; including two published this week.

Sarah thank you so much for taking the time to chat I really appreciate it!

Friends you can follow Sarah on Instagram and check out her Website to read her latest articles. Til next time be well!

Let's Meet Emily Vanderputten

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Emily Vanderputten

This month’s feature is a fabulous maker! Emily Vanderputten works with patterned papers from around the world as well as hand-painted or block-printed papers of her own design to create gilded decorative objects, taking inspiration from the history of decoration to combine new techniques with traditional finishing methods that result in heirloom quality works for today’s modern collectors. Friends I own an exquisite heart of marbleized paper by Emily hand. Her works are stunning.

Emily welcome to the Chalet my dear please introduce yourself to the readers. Hello Meryl! My name is Emily Vanderputten. I grew up in Dayton, OH and moved to Atlanta after graduating college. After close to ten years, I returned to the Midwest for work and met my husband Mark shortly after moving back. We currently live on the east side of Cincinnati with our teenage daughter Pietra in a ranch style home.

hearts

Most creatives I speak with can’t remember a time they weren’t making… tell us about your memories. Yes! I have loved making things for as long as I can remember – drawing, painting, cutting, and especially coloring – but I think the development of my creative eye truly began at the age of 4 when I received a large wooden dollhouse for my birthday. Captivated, I watched as my mother, Lisa, decoupaged remnants of patterned paper onto the walls. We glued loads of tiny wooden pieces to the top to create a shake roof – I can still smell that glue. She let me pick out wooden furniture that we altered with scraps of fabric. We even made a runner for the stairs! Experiencing the transformation of the dollhouse from a plain wooden shell into a beautiful, little home was impactful. I played with that dollhouse constantly, rearranging the furniture, redecorating and dreaming up fantasy lives for my little people.

An icon painted by Emily’s mother Lisa

In retrospect, I am certain this core memory of mom applying ‘wallpaper’ to the dollhouse walls contributed to my affinity for the craft of decoupage as well as my obsession with interior design. It is no surprise that I have floral wallpaper in my kitchen today.

Incidentally, mom paints orthodox icons so years of observing her meticulously apply 24K gold leaf to icon boards likely also informed my choice to gild most of my decorative objects.

decoupage ROUNDS

While you creative beautiful objects.…I’ve seen your home, tell us did you decorate your bedroom while growing up? Absolutely! I graduated from decorating the dollhouse to making design requests for my bedroom. To be clear, Mom always had a clear vision for our bedrooms, but she allowed me to make a few selections. When I was six, my parents divorced so we moved from a classic saltbox that my parents built together into a modest bungalow in a wealthy neighborhood filled with historic homes and mansions dating from the early 1900s. Off we went to an antique shop to pick out a dresser for my new room – the scrubbed pine one I chose is in my current bedroom! Even though Mom’s circumstances had changed, she worked hard to make our home feel as rich as the stately mansions by filling it with quality pieces and antiques, custom window treatments, transferware, majolica and loads of art. And ALWAYS fresh cut flowers. I will never forget how she spent that first week in our new home, chiseling up layer upon layer of linoleum so that she could have hardwoods throughout. It was like witnessing the dollhouse transformation again, only this time bigger! Most importantly, she filled the house with interesting people who became dear friends and family – artists, actors, decorators, musicians, clergy, doctors, lawyers, and politicians – all of whom informed the direction of her life and taste, as well as mine. By the time I was leaving for college, I was drawing up floor plans and creating design boards for my rooms.

Where and What you went to school for. I graduated from Miami University in Oxford, OH with a degree in Biology. Having been surrounded by design and art my whole life, it is surprising that it did not occur to me to pursue a creative degree. It was just always assumed that I would become a doctor as I was deeply interested in science and loved to study and learn. But by senior year of college, I began to question whether that was the right trajectory. Instead of applying to medical school, I moved to Atlanta and got a job in sales and marketing which, after many years, ultimately led me to become a management consultant.

How long you’ve been in your home and what is your favorite space? Having lived in our current house for 17 years, every space in our house has been tweaked in some way. It is hard to play favorites – I have enjoyed decorating each room. Much like my childhood home, our house is modest in size and while I have always longed for one of those stately homes, the size is right for us. Slowly, over time, I have filled it with quality things that I love – antiques, art, vintage lighting, and meaningful collections – just like mom. And lots of COLOR. The wooden floors in our house came from my husband’s family farm so they are particularly meaningful. His mother grew up in that farmhouse with her siblings as did my husband with his siblings. Now my daughter is the 4th generation to walk upon these wooden floorboards. Maybe an odd choice for a favorite ‘space’ but when we refinished the floors ourselves, a few years ago, I was struck again by how important this seemingly small detail is to our family home and very reminiscent of my mother who worked so hard on her hardwoods all those years ago.

KITCHEN

I look at your home and think it’s put together marvelously… your pattern mixing is the thing of dreams…. Have you always done this? What is your design philosophy? Thank you! Pattern mixing and color is something that comes instinctively to me given my exposure to it from a young age, so the short answer is ‘yes.’ How I further developed my design philosophy was by paying close attention to the way my mother and her fabulous friends lived. Specifically, one family friend has had a large influence on my life. She has inspired the development of my interests and informed my aesthetic, ultimately impacting the way in which I live now. Her home is a place of exceptional beauty and apart from a few tweaks, has largely the same décor as when I was a child – demonstrating that thoughtful and timeless design should be centered around how one really lives. She has a high standard of living, to be sure, but the overwhelming effect of her home is one of comfort. Everything is considered – there is a comfortable place to sit, a spot to place your drink (they still do cocktail hour!), and everywhere you look, there is something to delight the eye. Kettle cooked chips are served in polished Revere bowls! From her example, I have endeavored to make everything around me beautiful. Taste is not something we are born with; it is a matter of observation and consideration.

LIVINGROOM

Daughter Pietra was a design client when Emily redid her bedroom a few years ago. Pietra was very involved in the process and everyone is pleased with the results.

Skirted Table in the livingroom

Your logo is so distinctive can you share the details behind it. I started making decorative things in earnest as an outlet from my stressful job as a management consultant around the same time my daughter was born in 2008. Making things with my hands always calmed my overactive mind so after a particularly stressful consulting project I began block-printing, a technique I had learned from my seventh-grade art teacher (Thank you Mr. Griffith!). The repetitive motions of drawing, carving, and printing by hand are very therapeutic! The fantastical beast on my business logo, which was inspired by a piece of ancient Iznik pottery, is one of the first motifs that I drew and carved during that time and among the first things that my followers requested to purchase so in essence he symbolizes the reawakening of my creative eye.

I’m amazed by your approach - you sketch, carved and printed the dolphin and monkey pattern and the design is brilliant!

When did you start selling your creations? In 2012, during a break between long-distance assignments, I started a lifestyle blog as another creative outlet. I received purchase requests during my blogging tenure (I no longer publish on the blog) for the things that I made but I mostly demurred as I really had no idea how I would effectively sell things via my blog.

With the advent of Instagram, I migrated to that platform where the purchase requests increased as I began sharing more things that I made for my own home. I did not have the means to buy some of the beautiful things I wanted so I learned how to make them.

At the behest of my husband, I finally acquiesced and began offering hand-printed wrapping papers, stationary and custom pillows of my block-print textiles directly through IG. But it was when I began working with marbled paper in 2018 that things really took off.

Auction catalogues are a big source of inspiration, so I began playing around with techniques and finishes to approximate some of the antique decorative items I coveted - marble obelisks, porphyry urns, and lacquered chinoiserie pieces. I started sourcing hand-marbled papers from artisans around the world and experimenting with them on various shapes. This was the birth of my first collection of holiday ornaments that included paper mâché stars and faceted baubles. When I posted them on my Instagram Stories they sold out within minutes. I was completely shocked. People were messaging me to be placed on a waiting list in case I made more. And it has been this way ever since.

I have created exclusive collections for:

My baubles have been featured in Southern Home Magazine, Southern Lady, Holidays by Southern Lady as well as on Veranda’s website via Lyndsey Zorich of The Avenue.

These features must have been incredibly exciting. Thank you! Yes, any time something you create receives praise or is featured in a print or on-line magazine it’s very gratifying and a pinch-me moment.

A super fun surprise last Christmas was discovering that my baubles made a cameo appearance on a Homeworthy tour of Brian Branton’s historic home – he is the KING of Christmas decoration! When he said his favorite ornament were my baubles and they are so pretty I screamed in excitement!

How can we purchase items from you? People can find me on Instagram @emilyvanderputten where I accept wait list requests through direct message. I process payments via Venmo or PayPal when orders are ready to ship. Every order is custom made so I do not typically have finished inventory on hand to sell nor do I sell on any other platform because I could not keep up with demand.

I do accept wholesale orders with quantity minimums, and I share my retail partners when their collections are available for purchase. I work from my wait list year-round, but my busiest season is October through December as the baubles are my biggest sellers. I feel very fortunate to have the best clients who collect baubles year after year! I absolutely LOVE making them.

What’s upcoming? It’s July so you’re hard at work on Holiday I am excited to introduce more of my own custom design papers in the Holiday 2023 collection as well as expand my product offerings. While I am still obsessed with marbled papers, often I struggle to find the exact color combinations or patterns I want, so I have been playing around with my own designs this year.

We will see what shakes out. Hearts for Valentine’s tables were a surprise hit this year (You have one in the Chalet!) so I definitely plan to include more seasonal items throughout this next year. As always, many prototypes are in the works so stay tuned! Thank you so much, Meryl, for having me!

Emily I am in awe of you my dear! The creativity and beauty you share with the world blows my mind!!!! Thank you Thank you for saying yes, when I asked if we could chat and taking time away from vacation so we could xo.

You can find Emily on Instagram.

Til next time be well and I’ll see you over on the Gram!