Athena Calderone's newly renovated Hamptons home

Forget everything you’ve seen on Instagram: if you need reassurance that interiors perfection is overrated, talk to Athena Calderone. The designer and entertaining guru behind lifestyle brand EyeSwoon quite literally wrote the book on how to create soulful spaces that don’t just check trend boxes. In Live Beautiful, the companion piece to her endlessly bookmark-able tome Cook Beautiful, she and 19 other trendsetters, from Nate Berkus to Jenna Lyons, ruminate on the highly personal, sometimes subconscious decisions that have dictated the look of their homes, insisting that idiosyncrasy—the stains on a marble countertop, the verdigris of a brass fixture, the chip on an antique wood stool—is more alluring than aesthetic flawlessness.

“I’m so curious about how design unfolds and how one point of inspiration can lead to something completely unexpected,” says Calderone. “The common thread that I really loved among all of these designers was that they were very much into embracing imperfection and allowing themselves to tell a story only they can tell.” She elaborates in her book: “The pieces they’ve collected over time tell us about more than their taste in furnishings—they reveal the contours of life’s path, like a visual diary.”

So when it came to updating the rustic-meets-industrial kitchen in her midcentury Amagansett, New York, beach home, it was no surprise that she chose materials, furnishings, and accessories that—like Proust’s madeleines—would unlock the memories and unspoken narratives that fuel her creativity. It began with a graphic backsplash, floating shelf, and countertop of Calacatta Monet marble with subtle green-and-plum undertones that informed the palette for the rest of the room, from the Ash Grey paint by Farrow & Ball on the cabinetry to the antique lamp that resides at the end of the fluted-plaster kitchen island by Kamp Studios. “It was a continuation of the materiality study of the original iteration,” says Calderone, who took a DIY approach to the space. “I wanted it to feel elevated but still beachy.” Stainless steel appliances by JennAir adhere to the streamlined aesthetic, while 1970s woven rattan stools from Spain keep the vibe calm and collected.

The project snowballed from there, spilling into the adjacent living and dining rooms and a small family room off the kitchen. There, too, Calderone challenged herself to think in terms of materiality, brightening each neutral-hued space through textural contrast and chromatic moderation. “I wanted the architecture to be the focal point,” she says, referring to the intricate rope detail along the ceiling. “When there’s some restraint on the palette, it allows your eyes to gently wander around the space and settle on carefully curated pieces.” Among them are the biomorphic light sculpture by Rogan Gregory that hangs above the dining table, a 1960s bamboo armchair by Giovanni Travasa in the living room, and a burled wood plinth by Milo Baughman in the family room. “My goal is always to create vignettes that feel intimate and encourage intrigue and curiosity,” Calderone says.

But she is also steadfast in her determination to build a home, layer by layer, that is comfortable and inviting, not just an art-school project. In Amagansett she’s done just that, incorporating items for their past or ability to patina rather than their perfection. “People always say, ‘How do you keep that marble spotless?’ And I tell them, ‘I want to see those stains. I want to remember those moments when my son spilled his ice cream.’ It’s a marker; it’s a memory. I love the idea of something with a rich, unknown history starting a new life in your space.” For Calderone, that story starts now.