LaTonya Yvette Reveals How to Make Home a Haven

Plus, a '70s styling idea and the family vacation she takes every year.

Hello! What are your plans this weekend? We’re focusing on simple pleasures, like goofy children and evening walks. Hope you’re hanging in there.

This week, we spoke with Brooklyn-based

LaTonya Yvette

about her new book Stand In My Window, in which she explores what home means to her, as a Black woman and mother. You may remember our tour of Mae House, the farmhouse she designed in upstate New York as a sanctuary for BIPOC folks. “I’m such a lover girl,” LaTonya told us. “I love love. I’m fully this way, take it or leave it.” 

Here, LaTonya shares 10 favorite things, including the necklace she never takes off and a parenting tip that moved us…

1. Decor: I like to support Black-owned businesses as much as possible. Rayo & Honey makes the best signs, which we hang in our home.

2. Beauty: I love a creamy brown lipstick. It feels old-school, very Lauryn Hill, very ’90s. I’ve always loved that decade’s richness in terms of fashion and style, of natural hair and chocolate tones.

3. Easy dinner: Spaghetti with pesto. There’s one particular basil pesto my kids like, and it’s not the one I make! My kids will always eat it, so I serve it at least once a week, no complaints.