We asked seven exceptionally tasteful New Yorkers to tell us about an item they bought forever ago — and that they still love (and use) today. Here, interior designer Bunny Williams on her leather-bound photo binders that have endured since the eighties
Back in the ’80s, I was using these run-of-the-mill black notebooks to keep tabs on my clients’ projects. Then when I started my own interior design firm in 1988, I spotted these beautiful red leather binders at a T. Anthony store. The color spoke to me; they reminded me of old Moroccan leather binders from the 19th century. I knew instantly I wanted to use them, instead. Shortly after, T. Anthony stopped making the binders, but I was able to find these red leather Graphic Image ones as a nearly identical replacement.
Whenever I finish a design project, I have the interiors and garden photographed and printed. I place the pictures in the red binders that live on my shelves in my New York design office. Each notebook gets personalized with the name of the project in easy-to-read gold lettering. I’ve given a couple of the binders away to clients, but I keep most of them for myself and reference them constantly to this day. The binding makes every project feel special. Every time I’ve filled a binder and place it on the shelf with the others, I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment. And they only get prettier with age.
I liked the look of these so much that I started using them for storing my personal photographs. Those live in my home in Connecticut. I love putting them together, whether it’s photos from a trip to Egypt or family holidays I’ve taken over the years. I prefer it to photographs on my phone, which I rarely look back at. Whenever my nieces and nephews come over for Christmases or summer vacations, they pull them off the shelf and start thumbing through them.
I’ve amassed about 40 binders, both personal and professional. They get a beautiful patina, especially if you’re handling them as often as I am. They’re collectible; there’s a permanence to them. I can pass these on to the next generation. When I’m gone, my hope is that my nieces, nephews, and family will have the binders to remember their childhood.
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