As part of an ongoing series exploring the personal spaces, must-have tools, and coveted home purchases of favorite authors, artists, and culinary authorities, Sherman recently opened up about the items that anchor her daily life. Balancing a rich history of architectural appreciation—including her thoughtful restoration of a 1960s modernist home in Pasadena, California—with the bustling realities of family life and city living in a turn-of-the-century Brooklyn brownstone, Sherman’s selections offer an intimate look at a life deeply attuned to the interplay of design and utility. From high-end Dutch ovens to pragmatic children’s storage solutions, her home inventory reflects a rare harmony between high design and functional, lived-in practicality.
The Last Thing I Bought For My Home
For a professional cook and designer, kitchenware is rarely just about utility; it is often an extension of personal expression. Among Sherman’s most recent acquisitions is a piece born out of a high-profile design collaboration: the Staub x Clare V. Le Dutch Tote. Retailing at $195, the enameled cast-iron pot features a distinctive decorative kiss knob on the lid and comes accompanied by a custom carrying bag. For Sherman, the purchase was an irresistible impulse buy driven as much by aesthetic charm as culinary ambition. With characteristic humor, she admits that she hopes simply owning such a striking piece of cookware might finally manifest casual dinner party invitations to eat at someone else’s home for a change.
Complementing this decorative culinary piece is an upgrade to a kitchen staple she considers indispensable: a Vitamix blender equipped with a stainless steel container. While the traditional high-speed blender commands a premium price tag, Sherman views the investment as thoroughly justified. By outfitting her machine with the $250 stainless steel pitcher, she has transformed an already essential appliance into a virtually indestructible workhorse capable of handling the heavy demands of her creative kitchen endeavors.
The Household Item I Keep Reordering
Daily rituals often ground creative work, and for Sherman, maintaining a consistent sensory environment is paramount. Among the items she routinely restocks are the luxury hand washes from the brand Sisters. Having placed glass pump bottles in every bathroom as well as directly beside the kitchen sink, Sherman maintains a steady supply of these formulations. Most recently, she replenished her stock with the custom "Salad" scent developed in collaboration with the brand. Featuring an aromatic profile composed of shiso, Sichuan peppercorn, and mimosa, the $36 hand wash bridges the gap between utilitarian necessity and sensory indulgence.
The Storage Solution and Entertaining Essentials
Life with children in a historic home requires strategic organization, and Sherman has found a tried-and-true solution in a remarkably unglamorous place. The IKEA Trofast storage combination with boxes, priced around $180, has accompanied her family across coasts. Originally deployed in their Pasadena garage to manage art supplies and miscellaneous gear, the light wood-stained pine frames and durable plastic bins are now stacked in the children’s craft room of their New York City residence. While the system lacks traditional high-design pedigree, Sherman swears by its unmatched efficiency in keeping domestic chaos at bay.
When it comes to entertaining larger groups, Sherman relies heavily on the fruits of her own professional labor. Her Salad for President Dressing Mix Variety Trio, priced at $15, serves as a cornerstone of her hosting arsenal. These instant powdered dressing mixes allow her to whip up flavorful, crowd-pleasing dressings at a moment’s notice—a crucial capability when feeding varied gatherings of both children and adults who demand complex flavors without fuss.
Small Upgrades and Daily Wind-Downs
Small architectural and mechanical adjustments can drastically alter the daily rhythm of a home. Sherman points to two specific upgrades that she considers game changers for kitchen ergonomics. First is the standard garbage disposal, an amenity she notes makes returning to a traditional, drain-sludge-collecting sink impossible. Second is a Tap Master installation, a foot-pedal-operated valve system that allows users to turn the kitchen faucet on and off with a gentle tap of the foot, eliminating the need to touch handles with messy culinary hands.
As day turns to evening, Sherman’s wind-down routine centers on physical recovery from hours spent standing and working in the kitchen. She relies on an OPTP Silver AXIS Foam Roller, priced at $40, paired with a durable Manduka yoga mat to facilitate a thorough end-of-day stretching practice. This intentional physical recovery routine helps mitigate the physical toll of professional cooking and creative labor.
Under-the-Radar Design and Visual Inspiration
Sherman’s appreciation for glass and tactile art is evident in her discovery of Sirius Glassworks, a Canadian enterprise known for producing exquisite blown-glass tumblers and vases. Having acquired a couple of the Naked Nassau rock glasses—retailing at $60 each—during a trip to Toronto, she notes that the handcrafted drinkware elevates even a simple glass of water into a deliberate aesthetic experience.
Visual inspiration for her home and design projects often comes from unexpected print sources. Among her favorite coffee table books is the exhibition catalog dedicated to the work of artist Carol Bove, stemming from her prominent Guggenheim Museum exhibition. Priced at $75, the volume serves as a constant touchstone for Sherman, who cites Bove’s sophisticated command of color, material, and texture as an enduring creative spark.
While Sherman admits a current infatuation with butter yellow paint—expressing mild apprehension over whether the cheery hue might represent a fleeting interior design trend, yet desiring it too intensely to care—her overarching design philosophy leans toward timeless investments and unexpected accents. Among her recent gift choices are homemade cakes baked for neighbors without occasion, alongside high-end children’s apparel like Makié chiffon bloomers, which she prizes for their enduring elasticity across years of wear.
Though practical realities dictate much of her day-to-day kitchen layout, Sherman harbors ambitions for the iconic industrial aesthetic of the USM Haller modular furniture system. While she jokes that she is far too functional a cook to utilize a USM setup in the kitchen as some avant-garde designers do, she remains captivated by the sharp, architectural look of the brand’s modular storage configurations and bookshelves, which retail upwards of $4,728.
Closer to home, Sherman’s interior selections successfully blend high and low elements to create spaces that feel both curated and lived-in. In her brownstone, a modest $1,030 Ca’ Casanova Murano glass chandelier sourced from eBay provides a delicate, feminine counterpoint to the historic architecture, sitting comfortably alongside the home’s original turn-of-the-century crown molding without feeling excessively ornate. Finally, anchoring the living space is a bold green Quilton sofa from HAY. Boasting a cheerful and vibrant hue that manages to effortlessly harmonize with its surroundings, the sofa has quickly established itself as the visual anchor of the room, drawing steady admiration from visiting guests and completing a home that continually balances artistic pedigree with the warmth of everyday life.
