Stand in My Window

The beloved stylist and author of Woman of Color shares powerful lessons about creating a home that evokes joy, honors the past, and celebrates the future through essays with stunning photography. Home, LaTonya Yvette has learned, is not only the physical space we occupy, but also a source of comfort, grounding and transformation. It is a reflection of communal care; a place that can hold and nurture our dreams. In Stand in My Window: Meditations on Home and How We Make It, Yvette offers everything she’s learned about creating a meaningful home, and in doing so invites readers to explore how they can do the same. In essays that examine the process of creating spaces that express one's inner joy, Yvette shows how we can make meaning from both the places we’ve been and the objects that fill our lives. A magnolia tree in the backyard of her Brooklyn apartment at risk of being destroyed; the comforting smell of palo santo wafting through a hallway; a clothesline that recalls the resiliency of ancestors; the childhood eviction notices that prompted deeper explorations of belonging years later—these images and more serve as portals into Yvette’s most foundational lessons in love, loss, family, and self-care. In short: home-making. Sharing her design philosophy and the very personal experiences that helped forge it, coupled with beautiful original photographs, in each thoughtfully designed chapter Yvette walks readers through the process of creating a meaningful space by taking stock of one’s inner world, personal history, and unconscious narratives about how—and where—we think we should be. At its heart, Stand in My Window teaches us that home truly is what you make of it—in mind, body, soul, and in the lovingly curated spaces we can build for ourselves anywhere.