Drew Barrymore, Nate Berkus, and More on the Meaning of Home

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“I’ve been joking that the Edith Wharton book, The Book of the Homeless, has been “vibrating” on my bookshelf for the last ten years,” designer Charlotte Moss tells House Beautiful. She's explaining the inspiration behind her own new book, Home: A Celebration: Notable Voices Reflect on the Meaning of Home. The tome boasts a collection of musings from fellow design icons and celebrities alike—including Delia Kenza,Delia Kenza, Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, to name a few—about what home means to them.

Moss looked to Wharton for motivation when working on this book, given that the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist “created [The Book of the Homeless] as a fundraising effort to help refugees and children.” The result was a compilation of reflections made by artists, writers, and poets, and Moss knew that this kind of venture would work well as a fundraiser amidst the pandemic. “Once COVID-19 hit and I saw the food lines getting longer, unemployment numbers rising, and all the school closings, I started thinking, ‘the time is now,’” she professes.

Subsequently, Moss began making calls and started working on what would become Home: A Celebration—and the real standout, she reveals, was “seeing home through everyone else’s eyes.” By the time this book was completed, 125 people—including journalists, artists, and photographers—answered Moss’s calls and contributed to Share Our Strength, the parent organization of No Kid Hungry.

Below, we’ve gathered selections of quotes from notable figures featured in the book, like Drew Barrymore, Corey Damen Jenkins, Kelly Wearstler, Nate Berkus, and Jeremiah Brent, and even House Beautiful's own Robert Rufino!—and you can peruse all 125 quotes by purchasing a copy of Home: A Celebration: Notable Voices Reflect on the Meaning of Home here.

Corey Damen Jenkins

"Home should be a refuge from daily pressures—a haven where one can be treated lovingly, respectfully, and with the utmost dignity.”

Delia Kenza

"I took daily Covid-cations, as my friend called them, going down memory lane in my photo gallery. I realized I have many homes because home is where I feel happy, safe, and loved."

Drew Barrymore

"I want things on my wall that are gathered and curated. I like to have life on display. And then I can feel the warmth of the decoration."

Jamie Drake

"More than 11 million children live in food insecure homes, and it is projected that this number could increase to 18 million in 2021.”

Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent

“Home, to us, is where you tell your story—every chapter unfolds as your eye travels around the room.”

Jill Kargman

“The art you choose for your home becomes almost a physical representation of your eye, the feelings it evokes in you are what you want to feel, and relishing them is a balm to the weary psyche of this moment. It provides a portal to happier times, when they came home with us into our young lives, and a pole-vault of hope for the future when it will be safe to drink in the creative, eclectic energy of art fairs once again."

Kelly Wearstler

"Our homes tell stories about us. The ways we choose to utilize and decorate the places we inhabit paint pictures of our personalities, offering unique insights into our minds and hearts."

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