Inside the Home of Brooklyn’s Most Well-Informed Shopper

When it came time to furnish her 700 square-foot apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Clémence Polès knew exactly where to look for inspiration: her own website. Since 2015, the marketing consultant—a French native who’s lived in New York for the past six years—has conducted interviews with stylish women in cities across the world, asking them to offer personal recommendations on everything from books to brunch locations, from hair products to, yes, home furnishings. Clémence publishes the conversations on a site called Passerbuys, sharing not only each woman’s tips, but a glimpse into her living space and daily routine, too.

“It started as a passion project,” she explains. “I wanted more than Yelp or a magazine editor to help me navigate my life in New York City. I wanted to know who my recommendations were coming from.”

In the case of her king-sized Floyd platform bed, the recommendation came from New York Passerbuys subjects Eva Goicochea and Fariha Roisin. Her custom sectional, from Interior Define, was a suggestion from Brooklyn-based director Yael Raviv. Her glass coffee table came from a 2017 Passerbuys collaboration with West Elm.

But as with all of her interviewees—whose profiles feature close-up photos of favorite books, cosmetics, and knickknacks—Clémence’s personality shines brightest in the space’s smaller details, many of which reflect her long-standing love of art and movies. (After a brief stint working in the film industry, she quit for fear that it might ruin her enjoyment of the craft.) Her bookshelves hold a collection of French movie magazines, for instance; above her bed, there’s a framed poster for Éric Rohmer’s 1982 film A Good Marriage, purchased on eBay. “I have a 65-inch television and a big sofa for a reason—movie nights!” she adds.

If anyone can appreciate the charms of a home’s most unassuming bits and bobs, it’s Clémence, who has now interviewed more than 200 women in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London, in just four years. “There’s something quite intimate about seeing people's homes,” she says. “It's been fascinating to observe how people live in their spaces, and what they choose to surround themselves with. It’s inspired me.”

Scroll on to see more of what she’s chosen for her own space, below.