21 Questions with… Apartment Therapy Founder Maxwell Ryan

A pioneer in the blogosphere, CEO and founder of Apartment Therapy Maxwell Ryan started his interior design site way back in 2004 to help readers create organized and beautiful homes, while offering up DIY tips, home tours and trend information. He’s since launched a complementary site, The Kitchn, as well as a number of books. We asked the lifestyle expert our burning questions.

1. When I get dressed in the morning I think… about who I’ll be seeing that day and if I have any business meetings that require me to dress more “powerfully!”
2. I usually wake up around… 6:00 a.m. every day.
3. I could never leave my home without… my glasses, phone, wristwatch and wallet…nothing else really matters.
4. If my days had one extra hour… I’d read a good book.
5. If you looked at my desktop you’d see… a lot of monitors from my two desktop screens to my iPad and iPhone.
6. The last thing I googled was… Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late album that came out in February and I’m listening to now.
7. My biggest design pet peeve is… people who don’t cover their windows or who hang their art too high!
8. I’m excited for summer because… I get to wear less clothes and eat outside. It’s so much easier to move around and get out of the house in the morning.
9. My favorite home decor brands include… IKEA, Alessi, Matteo, Hickory Chair, DwellStudio.
10. When I walk into a home space the first thing I notice is… the lighting and how it smells.
11. I would never be caught wearing… sweat clothes!
12. You’d never find this in my home… brightly-colored plastic kids’ toys or polyester curtains.
13. On a typical Saturday night I… cook a great dinner at home with friends or have dinner with friends at their home.
14. Everyone should splurge on… sheets and towels.
15. The best gift I ever received was… drawings from my daughter or my mother.
16. My favorite host/hostess gift is… fleur de sel with a ceramic bowl and spoon to serve it (and our newest book Apartment Therapy: Complete + Happy Home that will publish in the fall).
17. My guilty pleasure is… Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with hot fudge.
18. When I’m stressed I… rearrange my home.
19. The most memorable place I’ve ever traveled is… Turkey!
20. The most treasured home decor item I own is… all my artwork, which is by family and friends.
21. The best advice I ever received was… “Bite off more than you can chew and chew like mad…”