Design — @HOME
“If I do clut ter [in Manhat tan], which I love, It’s here." East Hampton is a place where she can house her “clutter.” Or at least some of it. “If I do clutter [in Manhattan], which I love, it’s here,” she explains, gesturing to the white polyflor table of her eat-in-kitchen. “This is the place and the only place.” The area is covered with tchotchkes as she calls them: a Santa Claus dressed in pink, a porcelain jewelry box with things like a delicate vintage bracelet and one made of brightly colored Barbie doll shoes, and a small photo of her daughter. Nearby, the TV set is on TMC with a black-andwhite film of Bette Davis—Johnson’s favorite— playing. “I put my makeup on to my TMC [The Movie Channel]. Like a true New Yorker, Johnson confesses, “I don’t cook. I don’t shop. I treat myself out to dinner every night.” She loves the branzino from Vico on Madison Avenue. Much like the episode of Sex and the City, where Carrie Bradshaw explains that she uses her oven for sweater storage, Johnson shows off her own oven, in which she stores piles of makeup. And the pots and pans? Those are crammed in the dishwasher, which stopped working after two uses. Johnson’s bedroom is predominantly white. Her bedding is by Donna Karan Home in a silk ivory with eight large pillows. She throws them all off and pulls the cover off too, to show the one pillow she actually sleeps on. It is the same size as a baby’s pillow. The bathroom has the most fabulous items in her apartment, she explains. Like a Toto toilet with a seat that lifts automatically with the wave of a hand. Her second favorite? From top: Betsey's bedroom; the table of the designer's eat-in-kitchen where she applies makeup Opposite page: Betsey's prized Toto toilet and soaking tub
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scene mag a zine
sc.SEPT13.athome.indd 6
s e p t e m b e r 2 013
8/30/13 1:00 PM