Interview with Former Trib House & Home
Editor Elaine Matsushita

Home is Where the Art Is, photo by Elaine Matsushita.

Writer Elaine Matsushita left her post as the Chicago Tribune House & Homes editor this April and founded The Snoopster, a Chicago-based home decor blog that goes inside people’s homes — famous people’s homes, artist homes, everyday people’s homes — and reports back… with pictures.  Elaine also covers area sales and events, interior designers and their projects, and solves reader design dilemmas.  I asked her recently about how she left the Trib, and what she thinks about the future of shelter writing. Check out The Snoopster launch soiree today in Hubbard Woods — more info here.

Why do you like writing about interiors — and more importantly, why do you think it’s important?

I get excited about interiors, I’ve come to discover, because it’s not only delightful to see beautiful spaces but also because homes are filled with such interesting human stories.

You left the Trib in April.  With so many shelter magazine — not to mention journalist — casualties in the past year, I have to ask — were you another victim of media layoffs?

Yes. I followed one of the best reporters/writers at the paper, who was also a House & Homes staffer, Karen Klages.  She left the Trib in February.  Then, in April, two other House & Homes staffers left the paper in the same round of layoffs as me.

What trends have you seen come and go since you started at the Trib?  What are you sad to see fall out of favor?  And what are you happy to see go away?

I started at the Trib in 1990 and became the editor of the Home section in 1994.   Trends: well, i saw us swoon for clean-lined contemporary looks, dark wenge woods. Around the same time, many others were (and still are) lusting for anything mid-century modern.

Touches of urban-chic baroque and global aesthetics… but i think people now are turning to recycled or repurposed pieces, things that show off their years with pride.  And mixing them in with their contemporary and mid-century pieces.  I’m happy about that. i think it’s the perfect marriage — something old, something new. something borrowed…

Writing about homes and interior design tends to focus on eye candy of the well-to-do.  But you’ve been at it for a while, and so I’m sure you’ve seen some people living fabulously on tight budgets.  Does anyone in particular come to mind?  Anyone you’ve covered in the past, for the Trib, or elsewhere?

Recently I knocked on the door of artist Derek Erdman.  He lived on the second floor of a former bakery.  It was a really raw, open space but Derek is blessed with his artwork, a great eye for garage sale offerings and an appreciation for things-in-their-place and space.

I also recently visited artist Jenn McGlon in Naperville. her home was filled with her collections from Etsy other artisans and estate sales.  Because of her talent for staging little vignettes and display, her collections didn’t overwhelm.  Instead they brought a great charming joy to what might otherwise have been just another modest suburban home.  (Her home will be featured on The Snoopster soon.)

What are some of your favorite budget design resources in Chicago?

Brown Elephant in Andersonville. Salvation Army just off the Kennedy, just north of Ohio.  IKEA, of couse. Target. Home Goods. (It’s not Chicago-specific, but Craigslist.) And, The Snoopster is working on setting up a Wishing Room page where readers can post things they’re looking for, others can come to their aid.  I’m hoping soon this will be a place where folks can find a good deal — or something unique they’ve been hunting for!

So many newspapers are cutting back on “fluff,” and design magazines are folding all over the place — what do you think is the future for people who write about interiors?

Well, obviously, I believe in the internet.  I also believe there will always be choice in print.  The Tribune no longer has a dedicated home section, but there is plenty of great home content in the new “Sunday” section, courtesy of Cindy Dampier and a lot of talented Trib features writers.  And though we’ve lost some great mags that I was a fan of (Domino, House & Garden, etc.), we still have choices.  And if we continue to support those that are still standing, we can help ensure that we’ll still have choices down the road.