At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour with Alexx Duvall

A home isn’t a home without family—and Stella isn’t Stella without our team. Meet Alexx Duvall, Stella’s head of marketing & ecommerce. A photographer and designer with an artistic eye, Alexx is drawn to the vintage and handmade, the sustainable and ethically sourced, and always goes for quality over quantity. Join us for a tour of her new Brooklyn apartment.


Entrance

We moved into this apartment in November. We were living in a 450 square foot apartment before this, which was fine—until the lockdowns started. I was already primarily working from home, but having us both home 24/7 for weeks at a time really illustrated our need for a change (AKA a bigger space).

When we began looking for our new place, the entrance to this building really had me before we even saw the apartment. The courtyard is home to some koi and a turtle I affectionately call “lil buddy.”

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall


Living Room

My partner and I joke that we styled this room so that our cat, Meoweh, would look good anywhere in it. Both of our animal’s favorite spots are on our faux fur throw. It's a mysteriously hard to photograph piece —but I love the texture it brings to our couch.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx DuvallAt Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

I’m currently burning Birch & Blossom. I’m usually a winter candle all year kind of gal, but Birch & Blossom hits a midnote between dark earthy woods and early springtime air that just works for me. The bud vases are from my favorite garden supply store Jamali (highly recommend), and the wood block on our coffee table is a gorgeous cutting board that our friend made for us for Christmas. It was originally given to us for practical use, but after much consideration we’ve decided that the board is too pretty to actually cut on, and so it sits on our coffee table where we can enjoy looking at it instead.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

In planning out this apartment, I really tried to make each little corner feel like a restful space. I got this acrylic chair a few years ago because I like how little visual space it takes up, and I love the Belgian linen pillow from Libeco for the same reason—it’s light, airy...subtle. Above the chair and my giant philodendron selloum is a light box my partner made. The shape is steel knockout from another one of his projects, so the fact that it’s my moniker “XX” for Alexx is just a happy coincidence.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

The side table next to our couch is a collection of items that I think of as a little altar. I usually meditate in the morning—I enjoy lighting a candle or burning incense as an indicator of time, and the spiral beeswax candles from Stella are perfect for this. For incense I love the water set I bought from Genara, but am also super excited about our new arrivals from L’objet—Oh Mon Dieu No. 69 will likely be joining my collection soon. On the floor is a Birch Cocktail Tray— I got this idea from Mischelle, who also does this for her cats, to protect our floors from messy pets eating.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

For our dining table I’m using the Pacific Placemats from Libeco. They are easy-care and hide stains well (I drink and often spill red wine, so that’s important for me) and I also love these brass coasters from Stella. I had been eying them for a while, and just finally bought them. Taper candles are a personal favorite item for me. Our candelabra was a housewarming gift for our last apartment from my best friend's mom. It's one of my favorite accessories I own. Over the years wax has built up on it, and I love that. It reminds me of all the memories shared with friends and family over the ambiance of candles. Beeswax tapers are my go-to: pictured here is the plain beeswax set, but I’m newly in love with the spiral sunrise set as well.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx DuvallAt Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

Our credenza was a side of the road treasure that my partner found and refinished. It was missing the top drawer so we retrofitted it to be a wine rack. And by we I mean he, I’m not handy at all.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

A few other favorites in our living/dining room: my collection of candles in various fun shapes (Sitting Goddess candle from Genara, Baby Won't You Light My Fingers? Candle from DadaDaily), our record playing set up (between the two of us, we have a fairly large record collection), and my authentic sake set that my friend had her mom find and send me from where she lives in Japan!

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall


Kitchen

My coffee machine was a gift to myself this past year for my birthday, and it’s probably the best purchase I’ve ever made. Since standing here making coffee is how I spend the first moments of my day, everyday, I’ve taken extra care to make it a place that I feel happy being. Something I love about plants is how they make themselves at home. This jade plant was rehomed to me when my best friend moved to LA. It's quite happy growing over the machine toward the window.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

If you haven't caught on yet, I really love Libeco linen. The library stripe napkin set is so pretty and airy, and goes with my yellow kitchen wall (Pablo Honey from Backdrop) quite well.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

 A few other favorites in my kitchen include: Jennifer Fisher Spicy Salt (could not go a day without it), the “Bliss” magnet that we bought in Portland from Olander Earthworks, and obviously, plants everywhere.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall


Bedroom

Sheets: Linen again. Did I already say that I love it? But you’ll be happy to know that the blanket at the end of the bed is cotton: the Bakuba Throw. This blanket adds some much needed texture to the bed, but the real reason I bought it is because I love yellow—it’s such a happy, sunny color. Our ceiling is painted Novelty Wave from Backdrop. I think it helps the room stay cozy with the high ceilings and mostly light colored details.

At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall

On my nightstand is the Pewter Elephant Ring Holder—just a fun piece that there's no good reason to not have.

A few other favorites in our bedroom: my Vita light from Soltech Solutions (we have a north facing window, so this light makes keeping plants happy easy). The monoprints behind our bed and our ceiling light fixture were both gifts, but somehow things worked out and they just tie the room together.

 At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall At Home with the Stella Team: Apartment Tour Alexx Duvall