Angie Myung - Creative Spaces: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire

Ted Vadakan & Angie Myungwith Gregory HanPhotography by Ye Rin Mok

Dedicated to our moms

Text copyright 2019 by Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung.
Photographs copyright 2019 by Poketo.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Vadakan, Ted, author. | Myung, Angie, author.
Title: Creative spaces : people, homes, and studios to inspire / by Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung ; with Gregory Han.
Description: San Francisco, CA : Chronicle Books LLC, 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018056046 | ISBN 9781452174099 (hardcover : alk. paper); ISBN 9781452174303 (epub, mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: ArtisansHomes and haunts. | Interior decorationHistory21st centuryThemes, motives.
Classification: LCC NK2115.3.A76 V33 2019 | DDC 747.009/05dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056046

Design by Vanessa Dina and Ly Tran.

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SONOKO SAKAI
COOKING TEACHER AND AUTHOR

LILY STOCKMAN AND HOPIE STOCKMAN
TEXTILE ARTISTS

DAVID IRVIN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR

STEPHEN KENN AND BEKS OPPERMAN
DESIGNERS

HELEN LEVI
CERAMICIST

ADI GOODRICH AND SEAN PECKNOLD
SET DESIGNER AND DIRECTOR

BRENDAN RAVENHILL
DESIGNER

CHRIS MANAK
PRODUCER AND DJ

TAKASHI YANAI
ARCHITECT

TAMMER HIJAZI AND CAITLIN MOCIUN
DESIGNERS

WINDY CHIEN
ARTIST

SHEV RUSH AND KEVIN LANE
ENTREPRENEURS

SEAN KNIBB
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGNER

EVA GOICOCHEA AND IAN GOICOCHEA
ENTREPRENEURS

LUKAS PEET
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER

ADAM J. KURTZ
ARTIST AND AUTHOR

ADELE TETANGCO
FASHION ENTREPRENEUR

TERRI CHIAO AND ADAM FREZZA
ARTISTS

JEAN LEE AND DYLAN DAVIS
DESIGNERS

LINDSEY HAMPTON
CERAMICIST AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER

STEPHANIE FORSYTHE AND TODD MACALLEN
ARCHITECTS

TINA ROTH EISENBERG
ENTREPRENEUR

TRACY WILKINSON
DESIGNER AND CERAMICIST

I GET ASKED ABOUT my office a lot. People want to see it, photograph it. As Im someone who spends all day looking at (and often curating, judging) beautiful spaces, curiosity about my own space arises. ButsadlyI am the cobbler with holes in her shoes. My office, which is technically a spare bedroom in my home, has always been a plain box filled with whatever furniture survived the move from one house to the next. The truth is Ive been too busy working, building Design Milk, nurturing it, and sacrificing my own needs for its benefit. Thats probably why I like to peek into other peoples spaces with such voyeuristic joy. As Design Milk has grown, Ive slowly started working on my own home, making it a place that reflects who I am. Maybe one day Ill get around to designing my dream office...

Our spaces are supposed to reflect who we are. Whenever I am asked for decorating advice, I typically say, Buy only things that you love. I want to encourage people to be creative and personal with their spaces, to surround themselves with objects that they love, that have meaning, that tell stories, not shop for everything at one store or buy things simply to fill a space or a blank wall. I want to walk into a home and immediately get a feel for who lives there, and not confuse it with a model home or a catalog set. We should all think of our home as our favorite pair of jeanscomfortable, relaxing, fits like a glove, but most of all it feels like HOME.

Ive long been a fan of Poketo and how theyre creating a beautiful, creative community in Los Angeles. I admire their dedication to good design and their desire to help others fill their homes with meaningful objects. But Angie and Ted take it to another level through their understanding that design comes from and is for humans. The workshops, programming, in-person events, and pop-ups shine a light on how design is so much more than objects, and that bringing people together to collaborate or to be more creative is just as critical to design and community as swinging a hammer or buying a rug.

When they asked me to write this foreword, I started thinking about why it is that we love seeing other peoples spaces. I already told you that I love looking at them because I still have a lot of work to do myselfyes, part of it is pure inspiration. But I think theres more to it. I believe that what we choose to surround ourselves with is a reflection of our humanity. We want to see parts of ourselves in others so we can connect with them on any level... whether its through a mutual love of Greek pottery, an admiration of Frank Lloyd Wright, or perhaps more importantly, the realization that were not alone in not being able to get it all magazine ready and picture perfect.

What Poketo is doing by sharing these creatives stories and spaces is giving us an exclusive peek behind the curtain. By doing so, were reminded that theres a human being (or multiple humans) behind every little thing that we touch, every object or structure that surrounds us. Someone had an idea, and someone used their hands, brains, tools, and sweat, and maybe even some blood and tears, too, to birth this creative something into the world. Moreover, the spaces reflect how these people live their livesa visual way of expressing their daily routine, how they relax, what supports their creativity, and, in some cases (like my own), how the creative struggle is very real.

With this book, Poketo is painting a full-spectrum picture of these creative individuals, so as youre reading this right now, you can hold a little part of their creativity, and humanity, in your hands.

THIS IS NOT SIMPLY AN INTERIORS BOOK, but a celebration of creatives, their work, and their spaces, and an inquiry about their personal and professional philosophies. A creative space can be a home, a studio, or any inspiring environment. A creatives space is a living and breathing thing, evolving and reflective of its occupants. The definition of a creative is open to interpretation and debate, but this book focuses on artists, designers, cooks, writers, musicians, educators, architects, entrepreneurs, and others who strive to live artful, intentional lives, and explores the relationships these creatives have with their spaces.

Poketos story can be told through various spaces. In 2012, while searching for a new and bigger workplace, we happened upon an empty storefront not far from our loft in the Arts District in Los Angeles. At 4,000 square feet, it was nearly four times larger than our loft, offering us a considerable amount of room to grow. But this was a big and frightening step for us. The rent was higher, the space was larger than what we needed, and the neighborhood was in a state of transition, still a bit of a ghost town offering very little foot traffic. What we did like was that this was a ground-floor unit; we would be able to put our sign on the street. We could open a Poketo retail store and the community space we had always dreamed of. So, despite our trepidation, we signed the lease, moving our entire operation into the new location.