When we met Molly Guy of Stone Fox Bride three years ago at our first shoot for The Glow, she was a new mama to then-fifteen-month old daughter Sunny, and living in a three story Brooklyn Brownstone filled with tapestries, teepees, and flower crowns. Fast forward to our most recent shoot, in collaboration with our friends at Stokke, when the landscape of Molly’s life as a woman, business person, and mother has changed dramatically. Her fashion start-up is thriving, complete with a book deal and collection of wedding dresses that exemplify the bohemian anti-bride aesthetic she has successfully cornered the market on. Then early last year, she welcomed her second daughter, Coco, into the world, adding more magic and mayhem into her life. One glance at Stone Fox Bride’s beautiful, often times hilarious, Instagram and it’s clear why Molly is so easy to fall in love with. Her fierce honesty about the intense highs and lows of being a working mama of two makes her instantly relatable. In both her parenting approach and her home decor, Molly gravitates towards honesty and authenticity, like her collection of vintage Moroccan rugs, gallery walls filled with sentimental family photos, and much-loved Stokke Tripp Trapp chairs, which she uses for everything from breakfast bonding time to art sessions. Here, we spend a delightfully calm afternoon with the Guy gals as they let us into their vibrant, laughter-filled life together.
At home with …Stokke x The Glow | Molly Guy & kids
To be a good mother means...
“First and foremost: to find and give love deeply to your children, to own your mistakes and to get to know who they are intrinsically, instead of who you want them to be.”
“I try not to have too many things. Don’t get me wrong, I love a wild, cluttered home (I grew up in a 100 year-old house in Chicago full of chotkes and closets and a big basement full of bikes and trikes and a clubhouse and boxes of all books and folders, etc), but as New Yorkers living in a two bedroom apartment, the more stuff I have in my home, the more nuts I feel. So unless I love it and there is a place for it, I don’t bring it into my life. I try to instill the same concept in the kiddos. Open space and clean sight lines is like a warm psychic compress. Having a housekeeper every other week is key too.”
Stokke Tripp Trapp Chair in Soft Pink with a Blue Star print cushion
“I gave birth to Sunny naturally, no drugs, in early May, and I recovered right away and spent the summer in my sun-drenched apartment with the windows wide open doing nothing but staring into her eyes and breastfeeding. Total opposite with Caroline. She was breeched, so I had a planned C-Section during a blizzard in early March, and recovery was painful as hell, not to mention the weather was freezing cold and I had a two and half year-old to look after at the same time and going outside was not at all an option. The whole thing was bloody and brutal and not very much fun. It took a couple months for me to get into the swing of it all and actually start to enjoy the sweet little baby I was holding in my arms instead of viewing her as an impediment. Sorry, Coco Bean, if you happen to come across the blog in the year 2031.”
Which aspect of your parenting are you most proud of?
“How much fun I have with my kids. How I genuinely enjoy their company. It’s harder than it sounds; in order to be totally present, I have to turn off my phone and turn all my attention to the two of them. Not easy while running a small fashion start-up and there’s always some sort of crisis to manage from afar.”
Wallpaper: Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété
And which aspect would you like to work on?
“My temper! I can really fly off the handle, especially when my older daughter gets really defiant, or when she hits/bites/pinches the baby. I totally started to scream at her in Whole Foods yesterday; it’s really not a good look. The #BrooklynMom stereotype is this absolutely Waldorf-style peaceful zen caretaker who speaks in warm hushed tones and is infinitely understanding — NOT ME!”
On Molly: Stella McCartney jumpsuit
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Soft Pink with Blue Star cushion, Natural with Retro Cars cushion, White with Beige Stripe cushion, and Hazy Grey with Hazy Tweed cushion
“I try not to talk about peoples’ appearances at home—at least, as a virtue. But I don’t keep my kids away from fashion; quite the contrary. It’s as valuable a medium as any art form, once you divorce it of all the nasty baggage that surrounds the industry. My other daughter is obsessed with fairy tales and princess dresses and all things happily ever after: whenever I’m flipping through Vogue or T at home, she’ll crawl on my lap and tell me stories about the gowns she loves and why. It’s a cool exercise in imagination. For the latest SFB gown collection, we did all the dress fittings at my apartment, right before her bedtime, and she was right there in her pajamas, next to the fit model, while the whole team was pinning and hemming and sketching. She has a very good eye.”
On Molly: Stella McCartney jumpsuit
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Soft Pink with Blue Star cushion, Natural with Retro Cars cushion, White with Beige Stripe cushion, and Hazy Grey with Hazy Tweed cushion
Pom-pom wall hanging in Sunny and Coco’s room, by Dana Haim
“I’m kind of a dork about controlling my environment: I burn a lot of sage and palo santo and light a lot of candles and do my best to put everything back in its place. But don’t be fooled, it often looks like an oversized hamster cage of hell, especially Sunday nights, full of messy newspapers everywhere and tons of toys and dirty dishes…”
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Soft Pink with Blue Star cushion, and Natural with Retro Cars cushion
Rug from ABC Carpet & home, large floor pillows were made with a Morroccan wedding blanket Molly got on Ebay, while the pillows on the built-in bench were made from old textiles she found in India and Peru
Morning routine:
“I wake up when the baby starts screaming, grumble to myself, then head into the girls’ bedroom for cuddles. Sunny tells me about her dreams (they usually involve a pink elephant), then we head into the kitchen for breakfast and NPR.”
Wallpaper: Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété, paper mobile
On becoming a mother of two:
“I actually don’t remember what I expected, but I knew it would be a shitshow of sorts. The whole past year and a half has been kind of a blur, to be honest. Surviving the newborn phase with a toddler in tow is an exercise in staying in the day, to be sure. Letting go of expectations, being gentle on myself and surrendering to the crazies is only way I’ve survived.”
“I’d like to think I have a lot to do with it, but the truth is, I believe Sunny is pretty much the same essential calm being she was the day I pushed her out. I do my best to keep the vibe in our home low-key, but she’s definitely been really grounded and open since she was an hour old.”
Pillows: made using a Moroccan wedding blanket Molly found on eBay
“My husband and I try to go out just the two of us on Saturday nights—dinner and a movie, ice cream cone and a stroll around the neighborhood, super mellow.”
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Soft Pink with Blue Star cushion, Natural with Retro Cars cushion, White with Beige Stripe cushion, and Hazy Grey with Hazy Tweed cushion
Birth wisdom:
“Just to let go of any expectations about having some peaceful epidural-free water birth full of #nofilter pictures that you can post on Instagram and brag about to your friends.”
Stokke Sleepi Crib/Bed, Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété wallpaper, vintage Moroccan rugs, Dana Haim pom-pom wall hanging
“Birth is insane. At one point, when I was in active labor with Sunny, I was screaming so loudly and so delirious with pain that all I could do was yell a wild mantra about how I didn’t want to see Steve Buscemi (he lived down the block from the hospital), and with Coco, it was a truly sterile surgery, I mean literally—in the prep room I was in a blue shower cap and scrubs. NOT the bucolic Ina Mae Gaskin style orgasmic delivery.”
Pillows: Vintage, and birth announcement pillow by Uncommon Goods
“Honestly, I was just so grateful both times I gave birth to have insurance and hospital care and to know I was in good hands. Literally during my C-section I was crying and thanking my doctor again and again, just so grateful that I had all the resources to have a safe birth. I mean, 830 women die from pregnancy, or childbirth-related complications around the world every day.”
Gallery wall in Sunny and Coco’s room
“I’m definitely not the kind of mom who is on all fours building Lego castles and stuff; I’m usually in close proximity with my kids, but doing my own thing, like reading or something. My mom was this way with me, too.”
On Molly: vintage Lee overalls
Vintage Moroccan rugs
“If I don’t exercise regularly, I get pretty crippling back pain and sciatica, so I do my best to get to pilates/yoga/the gym 3-4 times a week. It’s kind of a blessing, because it keeps me fit.”
On Molly: vintage Lee overalls
Stokke Sleepi Crib/Bed, Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété wallpaper, vintage Moroccan rug, and lavender floor pillows Molly had made using a vintage quilt
“I have an amazing nanny (shout out to Mikey), who showers the kids with love, art, books and holds down the fort by being mellow and high vibrational.”Sunny and Coco’s family photo-filled wall, and rack of dress-up clothes and costumes
Favorite family ritual:
“Shabbat dinner on Friday night. We light candles, thank the ‘wild spirit of the universe’ for our home, health and abundance, recite the Hebrew prayers, have a proper meal (roast chicken, salad, challah), and go around the table saying our ‘rose’ and our ‘thorn’. It’s a ritual that’s been in my family for generations. I did it every Friday growing up, and so did my parents and their parents. It’s a great way to get grounded, power down the devices, and clear the air of the past week’s wild juju. Probably sounds like New Age voodoo, but it’s actually super sweet.
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Soft Pink with Blue Star cushion, Natural with Retro Cars cushion, White with Beige Stripe cushion, and Hazy Grey with Hazy Tweed cushion
“Beauty is so subjective, not to sound like a greeting card, but I try to keep the conversation open. Conventional beauty is such a bore, honestly, whenever the girls are watching a Disney Movie I kind of pipe in every now and then and tell them to imagine the princess with Alopecia or with lots of wrinkles or maybe even as a boy, and wouldn’t that be so beautiful and cool. Anything just to keep them expanding their notions of what pretty is…Anyway, for all we know, they’re both going to grow up to be trout fisherman in head to toe LL Bean, all: ‘Ew mom you’re so lame for subscribing to this heteronormative world of superficiality…'”
On Molly: Stella McCartney jumpsuit
“I try to give Sunny a lot of space to be bored and explore and expand her imagination—it’s all about personal space, as far as I’m concerned. I think it’s that old introverted writers’ temperament.”
Stokke Tripp Trapp chair in Natural with Retro Cars cushion, vintage Moroccan rugs, Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété wallpaperand lavender floor pillows Molly had made using a vintage quilt
Full hands, full heart
On Molly: vintage Lee overalls
Stokke Sleepi Crib/Bed, TK wallpaper, vintage Moroccan rugs, Jardin creme by Nathalie Lété wallpaper, and Dana Heim pom-pom mobile
Click images to view slideshow
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