Candace Bushnell

Tastemaker Series

Candace Bushnell

Author & Journalist

New York City has always been both a muse and a character in your work. What continues to draw you to the city, and how does it influence your creativity and rhythm of life today?

I’m very social and New York City is filled with people who like to go out. There’s always something going on—art openings, store openings, fashion moments, film screenings, and collab dinners are just a few events off the top of my head—there’s a constant swirl of activity. And it’s really about the people. Every time I go out I meet at least one person with a great story and/or I learn something new. I consider myself a social anthropologist, so I find the city so inspiring. It’s a creative, ambitious town and that’s what I write about.

"I love to unwind in a wonderful bed with fabulous, quality sheets like SFERRA's. I think a bed should be like a cloud. Soft and cozy. I love down comforters, pillows and mattress toppers. My bed is like a nest."
– Candace Bushnell

As a storyteller, you appreciate that details matter. Are there particular textures, scents, or objects in your home that spark nostalgia or creativity?

Books spark creativity. I always try to have as many book shelves as possible in my house in the Hamptons and in my apartment in the city. Not only because I need a home for my own books, but because I’m constantly dipping into certain classics that I find inspiring for what I’m writing at the moment. In some ways I still live in a paper world, with my old-fashioned paper dictionary and thesaurus.

I do like color. I’m very drawn to pinks and some prints. I like reds, navy blues, light blues and gold. I also have several objects that I collected or came back to me, like some of the gifts I gave to my mother. I inherited them when she passed and I also have some things that belonged to my grandmother. I like the past. I like a link to the history. I like things that tell a story, or inspire a story.

I also love to have some fresh flowers around. I do see them as a luxury, though, so I don’t always have them. But when something good happens, I will splurge.

Sleep is central to well-being and creativity. What’s your bedtime ritual like and what helps you truly unwind at the end of the day?

I love to unwind in a wonderful bed with fabulous, quality sheets like SFERRA's.

I think a bed should be like a cloud. Soft and cozy. I love down comforters, pillows and mattress toppers. My bed is like a nest. I read a novel—it could be anything from a classic like Vanity Fair—to something I grabbed at the airport in my way to Dubai, like the Surrogate Mother—and then I snuggle in and sip on Sleepytime tea.

At SFERRA, we believe true luxury is timeless and personal. How do you instill living beautifully in your writing, your home, and your everyday life?

It’s about embracing your own creativity and bringing that to life. You don’t need a lot of money, but you do need a creative impulse to put things together and try them out. It’s about mixing and matching, good quality and craftsmanship. When I was a kid, I grew up in the era when people believed it was best to have one really, expensive handbag as opposed to several of lesser quality.

I also grew up in a family that really embraced antiques. We would spend weekends going from one antique store in rural Connecticut to another. We were in search of that miracle find—that one really quality piece that everyone else had overlooked. That had a big impact on me because I still love antiques. I rather have something old as opposed to something new.

In the end, it’s about having a philosophy about taste that you bring to all aspects of your life.