Discovering Other People’s Worlds in Their Houses

Just as the temperature dipped below 80-something, I could feel my thoughts change with the weather. Only a few weeks ago I was still focused on the garden. Now I found myself pulling out a mohair blanket and reading on my old linen sofa. I put away my bathing suits and tennis dress and rediscovered beloved sweaters and boots. I washed the windows. I thought about having my dining room painted. The inside of my house, the interior places where I will live in the coming months, had my attention once again.

Into this most welcomed time of year comes the perfect book: Wendy Goodman’s “May I Come In? Discovering the World In Other People’s Houses,” (Abrams, 2018) Goodman brings her extraordinary eye and her love of design to this gorgeous — ­and fun — celebration of how some very creative and passionate people live. The homes in this book are a feast for anyone who craves inspiration or shares a healthy impulse to peek inside someone else’s otherwise private rooms. 

Curiosity and never giving up has allowed this design-hunter to have a remarkable career as New York magazine’s design editor since 2007, the magazine’s interior design editor befoe that, and stints previously at Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine and House and Garden. Goodman is fascinated by other people’s private living spaces, and believes in the idea that houses never lie. The rooms in this book tell a story about the people who live there, how they feel most comfortable, and how they live their lives. 

Wendy Goodman will be signing books on Oct. 6 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Privet House,13 East Shore Rd, New Preston Conn.