come on in and definitely leave your shoes on
welcome to the first-ever edition of THE CHINA CABINET 🫖
** Please grab a delicious beverage, pour it into your favorite tea cup, and settle in. Take your shoes off or don’t. Get comfy! It’s a meaty one.
Why is it so hard to start the beginning of things? I’ve been planning the launch of this newsletter for months and yet, here I am…paralyzed. It’s likely due to the crippling fear of judgment, but ya know what? That feeling actually works for what I’m about to say. This entire venture will be a great exercise.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS NEWSLETTER
THE CHINA CABINET is an unpretentious newsletter for people who love interiors and getting dressed. I want to make this abundantly clear: TCC is a teensy corner of the internet that is free of (personal) judgment and full of inspiration (we will very much be judging interiors and fashion).
You know when you plan a trip and get a feeling of palpable happiness whenever you think about it? My hope is that TCC will be a cherished place for you to visit weekly where you can relax, get excited and explore art through interiors and fashion in a way that feels easy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. what you can expect from TCC
II. on layaway: what’s in my cart at this very moment
III. ‘home sweet’ interview with birmingham-based floral designer, vicka hansen
on layaway | WHAT’S IN MY CART AT THIS VERY MOMENT
left to right from top: jcrew boxer shorts $39.50, old celine colorblock boots $206.50, ACW x 70 chuck low dark sapphire M8.5 $116, funny avon tote, $20, vintage marc jacobs silk scarf $68, saint art fiona short $225 honorary: tibi tropical wool blazer $750
home sweet’ | A CONVERSATION WITH BIRMINGHAM-BASED FLORAL DESIGNER VICKA HANSEN
** ‘Home Sweet’ is a YouTube home series where I explore the spaces of creatives and learn how their careers and life experiences inform their design style. Vicka’s home tour will launch next month! Subscribe so ya don’t miss it. Until then, check out this lil photo gallery of Vicka’s apartment at night!
*warning, more self-promotion*
Want to hear the full hour-long AUDIO interview wherein I ramble a bit and only zone out once? 🤪 Paid subscribers will get unbridled access to the full interview + more content this Sunday, 3.24
kendall: I'm so excited to be here with you. Before we get into everything, I just want to set the scene for people.
** It's a Friday night, and we're drinking wine in Vicka's two-bedroom Highland Park apartment. It feels very cozy and intimate but also open. The living room is spacious and flows into the dining room area where we're sitting. The lights are all dim, candles lit & fresh flowers around the apartment, a record playing. It’s beyond dreamy.
kendall: Ok ok, can you introduce yourself for me?
vicka: This is fun! Well, I’m Vicka Hansen, and I'm a floral designer and prop stylist, working in the commercial and film world here in Birmingham. What I do is all about setting the scene and creating worlds based on briefs I get from clients.
I grew up in Ukraine and moved to the States when I was 16. My brother and I were adopted by an American family who already had five kids, so it was definitley always lively. I’ve been here in Birmingham ever since! My parents support what I do, which is really great. They show up to my events, spend time with my community and I think it makes them proud to see the life I've been able to create and to see other people supporting my art.
kendall: How would you describe your floral style?
vicka: My floral style is very organic. Bringing the outside in. Letting the flowers and the grasses do what they naturally do.
kendall: Did your time in Ukraine influence your love of florals at all? If so, how?
vicka: Oh, for sure. I grew up in south Ukraine, so there were a lot of landscapes, hills, smaller towns and villages. I was always independent as a kid, so I would just wander off into the woods a lot of times. I loved picking flowers. I would come home with chamomille, tulips, grasses, mushrooms. My brother and I would forage mushrooms and then mom would cook them for dinner. Those years in Ukraine were magical.
kendall: Describe your apartment to us!
vicka: The apartment was built in the 1940s. It has that nice, historical feeling – little things like the crooked archways and nooks. I live AND work here!
I think that's one of the things that was important to me when I decided to have my studio here. Yes, it’s a two-bedroom apartment, but I use every inch of the space. The kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the porch – it's shotgun style, so every room leads into the next one, all on its own. And then the studio is an intimate place where I write, paint, do all of my floral design, ya know, such a different environment from the rest of the apartment.
kendall: But yet the entire space still feels like YOU. Especially the studio. It doesn't feel like a space that gives off, "Ok, work obviously happens here,” vibes. What’s your favorite room in the apartment?
vicka: Probably my porch. It's March now, and we're getting into the spring months. And I’m such a summer baby – I loooove being outside. Spending time in the sun, reading. On my porch, I have a little bistro set where I drink coffee, host friends, and give people a place to smoking a cigarette or whatever – just a place to spend intimate time together. It’s the best.
kendall: How would you describe your home style?
vicka: My style leans mid-century modern but also a little French.
kendall: Quality time and entertainment are clearly important to you. Tell me how you entertain in this space!
vicka: I love hosting, dinner parties, holiday parties, just because parties – any random Saturday night. I hosted a hot dog party a while back just because I was like, 'I'm craving a hot dog, so let's have a party." I don’t plan much.
One of the things I've strived to do is avoid creating a stressful environment in this space. I'm very much a type B. I just let people know like, "Hey come on over if you want, here's what's going on." Whether it's 10 people or 20 people, I just take joy in hosting and being able to provide an environment for people to feel relaxed and eased in – and being able to share a conversation, a meal, or a glass of wine. For me, that's where the love of hosting comes from. Being able to truly share in my space with others.
kendall: And you don’t stress out about chaos, which I’m so envious of. When I see your photos from parties, it inspires me to entertain and just DO IT!
vicka: This apartment is really one of the big reasons I started hosting a lot. Everyone always approaches me and is like, "So, when is the next party?" and I'm like, "Is it time for the next party? Tonight, come on over." It's not something that I thought I would be good at, but it just naturally happened. All I have to do is move some furniture around, pick up a bottle of wine, open up the balcony and I'm ready.
kendall: Since TCC is all about sharing how our spaces represent the cherished parts of our lives, I'd love to know what the most cherished piece in your apartment is.
vicka: Probably this table honestly. This was a table from Woodlawn Cycle here in Birmingham, where I worked for a long time. The table is shakey and old, but I love it. That cafe was the first place I was allowed to go to when I was finishing high school and starting college. It’s where I developed community and came into my own as a creative. It’s even where I met my first love. This table was also the only piece of furniture I had for the longest time, and I’ll never give it up.
See ya next Thursday!
xoxo
kw
Congrats on your launch edition, Kendall! 💛
thank you so much, jessie! i appreciate you being here 🩵