Home Style by City

All photography by Ida Magntorn, copyright Home Style by City, Chronicle Books 2014

Stylist, photographer, and author Ida Magntorn's Home Style by City (Chronicle Books) is a décor guide with a focus on vintage, antique, and flea markets. Ida visited homes and markets in Los Angeles, New York, Copenhagen, Paris, and London to discover how these homes/markets reflect city character and atmosphere. "I traveled around my five favorite cities," writes Ida. "My goal was to find homes that captured the city--nothing too exclusive, but ones that felt homey and real."

Above, Copenhagen apartment of stylist and designer Mette Helena Rasmussen. Her dining room radiates coziness or hygge, and the Nordic tradition of socializing at home. Ida's tips, "Think about Danish harmonies and bringing out that Scandinavian personality. Mix classic heirlooms with the modern. Look for comfortable chairs, preferably with frames and armrests, so that they invite deep, long discussions. You also need a large table--with lots of room, even for people who just happen to stop by. This colorful mix of furniture and décor requires a calm background. A light wood floor and a subtle purple color on the walls rein in and relax the atmosphere."

Each city section has a flea market directory and checklist of typical finds. "The more I explore flea markets overseas, the more I become fascinated by the differences and likenesses between cultures. The flea markets and what I find there, along with what's bought and sold, reflect the ambience of the homes in that location, as well as the lifestyle of the city. How do the flea market finds resemble a genuine New York loft or a Parisian attic apartment with its wrought-iron balcony? What kind of vintage items are the city's inhabitants drawn to, and how do they use their flea market finds? Most often, I wonder how the purchased objects look in somebody's home: How are they styled? Where are they placed?"

Interior designer Faith Blakeney's inspiration for her Culver City treehouse draws from the desert, Bedouin tents, and houseboats. Furniture, accessories, rugs, objects, and art are thrifted from the Long Beach Antique Market, Rose Bowl Flea Market, and other flea markets and thrift stores all over the world. The L.A. flea market checklist: Wooden crates, old windows, sculptures, disco balls, tassels, crystals, embroidered fabric, oil paintings, dream catchers, skateboards, and surfboards. "A Californian bungalow keeps the doors open to the sun, and the border between inside and outside is as thin as the horizon."

"New York's soul is artistically intelligent, bohemian, and smart. The classic New York loft is in an old factory building and has open spaces, roughcast walls. The décor is effortlessly simple, never showing off." The living area in the Williamsburg apartment of photographer Simon Howell and jewelry designer Jessica Barensfeld. 

Ida's book includes an eclectic assortment of design complemented with music, book, and film lists. DIY projects implement city style, with step-by-step tips on how to get the looks. It's an album of her photography, collages, and illustrations, full of inspiring ideas and spaces.