Editor’s Letter: Making Space

It’s been a pretty special month at PHOENIX HQ. Not only has our new print edition, the Space Issue, finally landed on our desks – and I tell you, she’s a thing of intergalactic beauty – but we’ve only gone and won an award.

Best Overall Consumer Digital Magazine, no less, from the guys at Folio, who have been recognising excellence in magazine editorial and design for 20 years. It’s a wonderful nod to the passion and skill of all our contributors – not just the core team here in the office but the brilliant writers, designers, artists, stylists and photographers who make up our wider creative community, and of course the inspiring people we feature (this month’s cover star, British Olympic gold-winning field hockey player Sam Quek, is a prime example).

So our workspace is buzzing, but our homes are getting an extra dose of love, too. With the nights drawing in, the weather worsening, November feels like the perfect time to stay in and build up our energy for the party season to come (the Space Issue launch party was a notable exception). So this month I asked fashion entrepreneur and vintage guru Carmen Haid, to kick off a new series called A Room of One’s Own.

In this new feature we’re asking some of the country’s most creative and stylish people to give us a glimpse into their favourite domestic space, and explain why and how it has become such a haven. With Haid exposing her eminently chic Notting Hill eyrie to our prying eyes, it’s really inspired the rest of us to up our interiors game.

You’ll find some gorgeous products in our November Hotlist designed to add a dose of magic to your home, from House of Hackney ‘Cocodrilo’ napkin rings to a pair of glinting Decadorn bookends in this season’s favourite mineral, rose quartz. And once your space is pimped, you can pop our monthly playlist on the Sonos and indulge in some of the rebalancing at-home beauty treats from our Counter Intelligence selection: a special edit dedicated to detoxing tech-addicted skins and souls.

Add a home made dinner of stuffed mini-pumpkin – plus of course a sweet-smelling copy of the Space Issue, with its 268 pages of fashion, science, art, interiors, music, philosophy, pop culture icons, real world characters and more – and you won’t want to step outside the door.

Except, y’know, FIREWORKS.