About Abbey

As a design historian, novelist, and mother, I bring together different ways of seeing and understanding how our material world shapes who we are and how we live

Photo by Lyndsay Hannah

I'm Abbey Nova, and I've spent years exploring the stories behind the objects that define our daily experiences. As a design historian, novelist (and long ago, documentary filmmaker), I weave together different ways of seeing and understanding the world around us. Since 2006, when I founded Design Scouting, I've shared discoveries about everything from 19th-century silver patterns to hand-painted grocery signs, celebrating how the things we live with matter.