What I Published in January 2023

Photo by Kelly Dawson

A few years ago, when I was just starting out as a freelancer, my friend Ann gave me some advice. “Now that you’re learning how to be an outdoor cat,” she said, “make sure that whenever someone gives you the chance to be an indoor cat, it’s a really good offer.” Well, at the end of December, I decided to become an indoor cat. Apartment Therapy offered me a full-time deputy editor role for the brand, overseeing all of its verticals. 

I’ve been working to some degree for this company for four years, and one of the editors is a good friend. I feel supported by the team, energized by the work, and excited about my responsibilities. So it’s no wonder I decided to take my skills inside. 

For the last five years, I’ve written about 400 stories over the span of each of those 12 months. It’s a big number, a wild number, and perhaps an unsustainable one. I already proved to myself that I could stay motivated, keep looking for more bylines and more connections, forever building a ladder of my own design. I’ve been published in a lot of places. (Still, when I’m feeling sad, I’ll think, “Kelly, you’ve been published in The New York Times,” and suddenly feel better.) I’m writing this down not for you to know, entirely, but for me to acknowledge — for me to pat myself on the back and exhale. 

I love working for myself. I’m good at being an outdoor cat. I think having a disability has made me welcome challenges, entice them, relish in squashing them. I enjoy seeing how far I can push my limits, and I’m satisfied by crossing personal goals off a list. But at the same time, I was missing brainstorms that didn’t involve my own thoughts. I was starting to notice how stuff I once found hard could now be accomplished on autopilot. I hadn’t met anyone new in a while. I felt like it was time to slow down, time to control my creativity within typical office hours. I was ready to see what this one job, rather than a handful of jobs, could unfold. 

When I told one of my close friends I was going to become an indoor cat, this is what she said: “Good, maybe now you’ll have a life.” How’s that for tough love?

I’m lucky that Apartment Therapy isn’t making me shut down my business completely, and that I will still be contributing to other publications rather regularly. But freelancing has a way of taking a lot out of anyone, even those of us who love it. I likely won’t be publishing this series in the same format in the future, but I do hope to do something with it in time. For now, here’s what I published in January:

Real Simple: A Well-Considered Layout Maximizes This Small Kitchen

Real Simple: This Kitchen Renovation Is Full of Secret Storage and Old World Charm

Travel + Leisure: This Idyllic Town in Canada Has Water So Clear, It Looks Like the Caribbean

Dwell: A Surprising Venice Beach A-Frame Reaches Its Peak Potential

Dwell: These Pint-Size Prefab Cabins Are Now Available in the USA Starting at $37K

Arch Digest: A Historic Upper West Side Apartment Remains Untouched, and That’s the Best Part