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The Selby is In Your Place Todd Selby, 2010
The Selby Is in Your Place was conceived when fashion and interiors photographer Todd Selby began taking portraits of dynamic and creative people—authors, musicians, artists, and designers—in their home environments and posting them on his web site. Nosy by nature, he wanted to see how personal style was reflected in private spaces. Lucky for us, he found his answer in the color-rich and eclectic quarters of a diverse group of subjects, including Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler, Faris Rotter, Andre Walker, and Olivier Zahm, in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, and London. Each profile is accompanied by Selby’s watercolor portraits of the subjects and objects from their homes, and illustrated questionnaires, which Selby asks each sitter to fill out. This book consists of over thirty profiles, many of which have never-before-seen, selected exclusively for the book. The result is a collection of unique spaces bursting with energy and personality that together create a colorful hodgepodge of inspirational interiors.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
February 23, 2011
Oh boy, what to think of this one?
The introduction to this utterly weird work was enlightening in getting me to see the point of it all - mentions of "It's not love or compassion that links together New Yorkers, it's envy" were made, and from that I reckon that a lot of people will miss the point, protest at it "What a bunch of indie douchebags!" and throw it against the wall.
From what I understand, the book attempts to convey envy by making you look at affluent and presumably successful artist's and creative type's houses, to really get a sense of envy towards these people who appear to have such carefree and sunshiny lives.
A warning - at first, you will want to hate these people. You will want to punch the photos of their mugs in the face in the vain hope that somewhere, they can feel you striking them down with all of your hatred.
And yet at about the eleventh time you read it (I counted from my personal estimate from the point my rage subsided) - you begin to accept the possibility that these people might not be the hipster a-holes they appear to be. Because really you don't know them at all.
It's like looking into an IKEA catalog where the houses are actually lived in. The homes seem too clean and visually appealing to be real. But I'm guessing they are.
It's not even the fault of these people, presumably - that they have such dynamic living spaces with charm and the kind of awe that makes you want to live in them yourself. But once reality sets in and you realised you're only 21 years old and unlike the Australian couple in the book who found a happy home to live in, your real home is with your parents because there's a recession on and there's nothing you can do to fix it when you're not on your own feet yet.
But when you look at your own room, it's like a miniature version of what these happy shiny people have. It's not as big - and nothing seems as retro cool as what the people in the book have, but it's YOURS.
At which point you stop crying over other people having better houses than you and accept life just isn't fair. There's probably people in third world countries who would look at photos of your house and think you're a whiny git for complaining about what they consider a palace.
The introduction to this utterly weird work was enlightening in getting me to see the point of it all - mentions of "It's not love or compassion that links together New Yorkers, it's envy" were made, and from that I reckon that a lot of people will miss the point, protest at it "What a bunch of indie douchebags!" and throw it against the wall.
From what I understand, the book attempts to convey envy by making you look at affluent and presumably successful artist's and creative type's houses, to really get a sense of envy towards these people who appear to have such carefree and sunshiny lives.
A warning - at first, you will want to hate these people. You will want to punch the photos of their mugs in the face in the vain hope that somewhere, they can feel you striking them down with all of your hatred.
And yet at about the eleventh time you read it (I counted from my personal estimate from the point my rage subsided) - you begin to accept the possibility that these people might not be the hipster a-holes they appear to be. Because really you don't know them at all.
It's like looking into an IKEA catalog where the houses are actually lived in. The homes seem too clean and visually appealing to be real. But I'm guessing they are.
It's not even the fault of these people, presumably - that they have such dynamic living spaces with charm and the kind of awe that makes you want to live in them yourself. But once reality sets in and you realised you're only 21 years old and unlike the Australian couple in the book who found a happy home to live in, your real home is with your parents because there's a recession on and there's nothing you can do to fix it when you're not on your own feet yet.
But when you look at your own room, it's like a miniature version of what these happy shiny people have. It's not as big - and nothing seems as retro cool as what the people in the book have, but it's YOURS.
At which point you stop crying over other people having better houses than you and accept life just isn't fair. There's probably people in third world countries who would look at photos of your house and think you're a whiny git for complaining about what they consider a palace.
October 18, 2023
Sometimes I like to read about how the other half lives. By which I mean hipsters. And for that, this book is amazing.
Two roughly dressed men stand in front of a wall of VHS tapes throwing papers in to an honest to god indoor trash can fire. They are also wearing hats and sunglasses indoors. Two entirely different men sit, posed, in all white clothing in an all white apartment. Everything is white, down to the fucking cat.
This book is almost too much. You think, "No one actually lives like this. No one can possibly like taxidermy animals that much." But the homes are too studied not to be real. No one could fake the earnest, fervently "artistic" sincerity of this photographic evidence.
Never before have I wanted to buy a coffee table book so badly.
Two roughly dressed men stand in front of a wall of VHS tapes throwing papers in to an honest to god indoor trash can fire. They are also wearing hats and sunglasses indoors. Two entirely different men sit, posed, in all white clothing in an all white apartment. Everything is white, down to the fucking cat.
This book is almost too much. You think, "No one actually lives like this. No one can possibly like taxidermy animals that much." But the homes are too studied not to be real. No one could fake the earnest, fervently "artistic" sincerity of this photographic evidence.
Never before have I wanted to buy a coffee table book so badly.
October 31, 2010
this book could also be titled "Gorgeous Artsy People who Decorate with Really Weird, Creepy Shit"
April 8, 2011
This book is kind of the point of coffee table books - jumping in anywhere is beautiful and interesting and inspiring. Sure, it was annoying that a couple subjects had bogus claims to creative fame, like "muse," but whatever, they had cool spaces and that's the whole point. One criticism - what's up with all the taxidermy?? Sometimes I felt like all the people were "creative" with their spaces in exactly the same trendy, hipstery ways. All the vintage toy collections? Enough! That's one of the only reasons why I wouldn't give this 5 stars - it sometimes seemed like everyone was being different in the same way and that Selby was trying to capture people's spaces just because they were good-looking and cool and "a huge player in the scene" (his words, not mine!). That popularity-contest way of picking subjects seems kind of shitty/boring. It reminded me of a hipster version of how only the popular kids showed up frequently in the "candids!!" in high school yearbooks. But maybe I'm just jealous???? Ha. Individuality did still shine through and I love the questionnaires and Selby's little info bits on the stuff! And most importantly, the photos are gorgeoussss.
March 22, 2026
A mixture of genuinely interesting people & those trying far too hard to be needlessly weird just to feel special. Mostly intriguing; at times, obnoxious.
June 25, 2012
TheSelby.com is a gold mine of visual resource and lifestyle-copping. Slightly joking on the latter, but it is incredibly tempting to copy the interiors and fixings found in the homes of some really interesting, often creative, forces out there.
Extrapolating on what can only be guessed as lucky connections, Todd Selby went/goes into the homes of working/not working famous figures and photographs their awesome homes, weird collections, insanely expensive taste in furniture and lighting fixtures, eccentric tendencies, hearths and children's rooms. Each set is an incredible visual experience, both intimate and giving a feeling of museum-viewing on a specific person and/or time.
It doesn't hurt that nearly everyone featured in the book and on the site are incredibly successful and probably rich. Eccentricities are awesome when you have a decent budget.
This is an ultimate coffee table photography book. Also a necessary reference for all designers. Don't sleep on this!
Extrapolating on what can only be guessed as lucky connections, Todd Selby went/goes into the homes of working/not working famous figures and photographs their awesome homes, weird collections, insanely expensive taste in furniture and lighting fixtures, eccentric tendencies, hearths and children's rooms. Each set is an incredible visual experience, both intimate and giving a feeling of museum-viewing on a specific person and/or time.
It doesn't hurt that nearly everyone featured in the book and on the site are incredibly successful and probably rich. Eccentricities are awesome when you have a decent budget.
This is an ultimate coffee table photography book. Also a necessary reference for all designers. Don't sleep on this!
September 14, 2013
This book is so amazing, I'd never heard of Todd Selby before, but now I'm a great fan of his work.
If you liked this book you really have to visit theselby.com, you can find a lot of more pictures besides the ones that appear in the book. At first I thought it would only be a book about hipster people hanging at their house, but the pictures are really great, the stuff they own is amazing and you actually feel that you know that people. This is the perfect book to have in your living room table.
If you liked this book you really have to visit theselby.com, you can find a lot of more pictures besides the ones that appear in the book. At first I thought it would only be a book about hipster people hanging at their house, but the pictures are really great, the stuff they own is amazing and you actually feel that you know that people. This is the perfect book to have in your living room table.
July 1, 2011
I really liked looking into these people's homes. The photography was interesting and the book came with stickers!
But overall, it did not do much for me. It is just a showcase of hipster bourgeoisie "individuality" and their overly expensive and trendy homes. But I guess that's the reason of the book; to see how the other half lives. I did like the Karl Lagerfeld photos.
But overall, it did not do much for me. It is just a showcase of hipster bourgeoisie "individuality" and their overly expensive and trendy homes. But I guess that's the reason of the book; to see how the other half lives. I did like the Karl Lagerfeld photos.
December 12, 2013
This is not my type of book but i totally love it. Love the introduction and the clever answers. This book introduce you into a world you don't know and it feels good to see it from another perspective.
August 12, 2011
This book is original, inspirational and so beautiful. Love it!! I loved looking inside peoples places. Karl Lagerfeld's library rocks!!
November 15, 2017
So much more than an artsy, coffee table book! I first picked this book up at a book store because I loved the funky cover. I kept putting it down, then going back to it. Finally, after thumbing through it and finding Ms. Woods' amazing canal boat in London, I plunked down full price for it, gladly. (I flashed back to reading Anais Nin's diaries from when she was living on a barge in Paris on the Seine). I've spent hours perusing and peeking into the lives of these artistic, creative, successful folks. I've even stolen many crafty ideas for my own home, like the word "MOON" hung on one person's wall. I painted the large cardboard letters white, then put 3 layers of Glow in the Dark Mod Podge on them and set them above a door where I now have "moonlight" every single night. I highly recommend this book for artsy-fartsy, crafty, curious, creative types who march to the beat of their own drummers. You'll be utterly and completely delighted!! 😍🙆
December 26, 2018
What a cool book! A mini-biography of some truly interesting people with equally interesting homes, this book is full of what I love about what makes a house a home. The photos of everything from the color of the paint on the walls to the collections of *things*, from beach pebbles to fine art, captured my attention. This is a coffee table book you'll actually spend time with and read (the hand-written random Q-and-A interviews were clever, but often difficult to decipher because they ARE hand-written). And I was charmed by the page of stickers at the end of the book. How cool is that?
Add this one to your collection.
Add this one to your collection.
May 9, 2021
Todd Selby is one of the reasons I fell in love with The Internet decades ago. His photography blog of quirky home interiors and short films like Rockaway Tacos made me feel connected to the vibrancy of Manhattan—a sharp contrast and welcome relief to the boring monochrome of Southern California (where I was living at the time). After eyeing it for years, I picked up a used copy of this first book a few years ago & just got around to reading it. The best of his blog condensed into physical pages is a delight, but I felt like Lesley Arfin’s introduction was overly dark and off point. This is not a work of envy, but of curiosity. Not a comparison, but an inspiration.
January 16, 2020
I wanted to give this book 4 and a half stars- and less than 1 at the same time. I don’t think I was the target audience, so often I found it pretentious and lacking in any depth or substance. Though, it was also deeply attractive from a voyeuristic point of view. Not enough nitty gritty though- what’s in the fridge, in the messy closet, under the bed, swept under the rug...
May 8, 2017
I feel as if I have been to forty dinner parties with Todd at the homes of his very likeable friends. Insightful Todd, come over to our place!
November 22, 2019
No....these are moooooostly just rich people/people born into wealth who can afford to have interesting lifestyles. I got no design ideas.
December 28, 2019
inner interior design me loved this. i love quirky homes!
November 10, 2025
I found this book to be super pretentious, but it was still interesting to read from a nosy/collector/home decor and design stand point. I think the best part was the intro.
February 4, 2024
Great coffee table book, a quirky interesting piece to flick through.
January 29, 2011
For those of you not familiar with the Selby's website, this book is exactly the same thing but more of a compilation of favorites. I always like seeing the quirky insides of people's homes and reading the short unusal survey's Todd (creator of the Selby) creats for his subjects to fill out. A lot of time I feel that the realllllyyy weird ones are just weird for weird's sake.
March 12, 2016
What a crazy idea for an odd little book. This is packed full of very unusual people with quite different interiors. It's good for the voyeur in you. And, it might just surprise you and be inspiriring as well.
January 1, 2011
I got this as a gift from a friend and I absolutely love this book! A photographer goes to people's houses and photographs their life. Amazing pictures and inspiring people. What I would give to live in the houses these people have! Fun book.
February 5, 2013
Another fun Selby book to pore through with its lavish and overwhelming layouts and content focus. Not quite as captivating as 'Edible Selby' but still an enjoyable look into the interior dwellings of creative, hipster types around the world.
May 18, 2010
This isn't so much a book you read, but one you can look at over and over again. Love this book and the idea behind this book.
May 31, 2010
Todd Selby: Terence what is the best compliment you were ever given?
Terence Koh: "nice manners"
Terence Koh: "nice manners"
August 4, 2010
Goodness, I loved this book. So much inspiration inside these pages. Love the author, the layout, the photography, the interviewees, etc etc etc.
January 15, 2011
Seeing Elisa Nalin's place, first in The Selby's website, now printed, was better than therapy. I showed it to my mom: "see? I'm normal".
Loved this book.
Loved this book.
October 16, 2010
stealing some interior space design ideas.
February 25, 2011
This book made me realize my life needs a concept as well as a purpose.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews