When talking "home" with writer and director Mara Brock Akil, you're not necessarily going to discuss paint swatches, sconces, and square footage. I mean, you should. Besides being the creative powerhouse behind such TV shows as Girlfriends and Being Mary Jane, the screenwriter and producer turns out to also be a design maven who has masterfully renovated the Los Angeles home she shares with her husband, Black Lightning director Salim Akil, and their sons, Yasin and Nasir. It's awash in exquisite original detailing, vintage Murano chandeliers, and a robust collection of work by Black artists, including Lorna Simpson and Noah Davis.
But for Brock Akil, design is about more than just the details: It's about the kind of lifelong longings that pull at your heartstrings and prompt you to mood-board since you were a teenager. "We really are our heart's desires," she says. "And I want my home to reflect that."
Brock Akil's career-she helms her own busy L.A. production studio and has a Netflix development deal-is in overdrive. But in recent years, she realized she craved a sanctuary as a source of inspiration and restoration. That need became even more immediate in the aftermath of the 2016 killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two unarmed Black men gunned down by police that summer within weeks of each other. A generally optimistic person, Brock Akil found herself paralyzed with fear in a country that was constantly undermining and devaluing Black life. "Joy is deserved," she says. "We don't have to keep waiting for it. And that's what this house is."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2022-Ausgabe von Elle Decor US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2022-Ausgabe von Elle Decor US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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BIOGRAPHY OF A ROOM
BE IT VIA GOSSIP GIRL, SEX AND THE CITY, OR REAR WINDOW, we all have our fantasy versions of New York City.
SNOW in Every WINDOW
IN MONTANA'S EXCLUSIVE YELLOWSTONE CLUB, COMMUNE DELIVERS A WEST COAST GROOVE TO A HOME WITH PRISTINE VIEWS OF BIG SKY COUNTRY.
VIENNA WAITS FOR YOU
DESIGNER BEN PENTREATH RECOUNTS HOW HE BROUGHT A VIBRANT ENGLISH SENSIBILITY TO A QUINTESSENTIAL AUSTRIAN TOWNHOUSE.
IT'S HUMAN NATURE
SHEILA BRIDGES DRAWS FROM VERMONT'S HISTORY AND WILDERNESS TO BRING LIFE AND CHARACTER TO A SPRAWLING NEW HOME.
MIAMI? MINIMAL.
DESIGNER MARTIN BRÛLÉ MAKES FABULOUS UNFUSSY IN A SOUTH FLORIDA PIED-À-TERRE.
ALESSIA in WONDERLAND
IN THE ITALIAN SKI RESORT OF CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, A MILANESE HOMEOWNER TAPS HER ARCHITECT SISTER TO BUILD AN ALPINE CHALET WITH FANTASTICAL FLAIR.
DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER DRAMA?
Cinemas were once dazzling architectural statements. Now, after decades of the pictures literally getting smaller, there's a renewed appetite for Golden Age glamour.
The Life of Bath
The ancients invented them, the Enlightened brought them home, and the Victorians gave them feet. Tubs continue to evolve but are as much a luxury today as they've ever been.
IT'S SO VERY YOU
So what if it's a rental? Swap out the curtains, put up new wallpaper, go crazy. It's your home after all, so own it - even if you really don't.
CIAO, MADISON
A new 12-story building offers a blueprint for how to live like Armani.