POST January/February 2015

ut don’t be afraid to get rid of shit either.
Purge. Purge and bring a few things into it.
Because the few things that you love, you’ll
always love, and they’ll always work in a
space. They just will. It’s interesting. … I have
clients that can dress impeccably but are really
intimidated doing their house. And I just don’t
see what the difference is. It should be the
same.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
I’m going to cry. … It was from my father.
He said—he said a lot of things. Be humble, of
course, was his big thing. But it was that there
are two types of people in life, the givers and
the takers. Be a giver and surround yourself
with givers, which is so black and white,
because there are also takers with potential to
give.
That’s pretty sweet. He was wise.
He was wise. I grew up a lot after he died
because my biggest fear in life was losing my
father. And then it happened. Eight and a half
years ago. And then it’s like you have to grow
up. What are you going to do? You appreciate.
You learn. And you grow.
What about your own personal space?
I don’t need that much actually. It’s my
dogs, my comfy shoes. How much do you
really need? My few weird things. My father’s
scissors, a couple pictures, some good art. I
like that about myself. I could like a $15 find
as much as I could like one of the masters. It’s
weird.
It’s not weird. To me, there’s a soul in everything.
It’s funny, because I remember my first big
house. My first splurge. I remember my father
came over, and he, of course, had a sleepless
night. My mother was excited because it was
pretty, and she was happy for me. But my dad
just thought it was unnecessary. And now I
understand what he was trying to say. But at
that time, in the ’80s, it was this sense of more,
more, more.
Consumption.
Yes. I remember being exposed to more
and being able to have more, but really never
having any time to enjoy it. So I kind of
missed out on a lot. But I remember coming
home and having the Mercedes convertible
and the Mercedes station wagon in the garage
and being exhausted and being embarrassed of
the Mercedes convertible, because I appreciated
it aesthetically. I had always been in awe
of them, but once I got one, I think I put like
six miles on it or something. It just wasn’t me.
So I’d open the garage door, and think, “OK, I
got that out of my system.” You have to figure
those things out as you go.
Were you hard on yourself?
I was brutal. I was brutal because I hate
waste, because I’m my father’s son. But I
also like nice. But nice can be a lot of different
things. I’m just as happy driving my little
goofy Ford Transit around than driving my
(Mercedes) G wagon, you know? Sometimes a
little happier actually.
Yeah, because you’re invisible.
Exactly. I don’t like a lot of attention. It’s
back to being a kid and being invisible. I’m
really the same.
Jonathan Rutherford Issue 9 January / February 2015 | POST 21