At Home with Chanel Lewis

Chanel Lewis moved back to DC almost 5 years ago from Portland, Maine after feeling called back to the city where she went to undergrad at Howard University.

She’s lived in her Fort Davis Park home since 2023 where she’s embraced the fact that she is homemaker–a term that she feels sometimes has a negative connotation for women but ultimately speaks to her ability to be intentional when designing a space and make it feel lived in. 

Her current home is a physical manifestation of that intention and together we spoke about how her relationship to plants has contributed to the space she’s built and the memories it contains.

Chanel with her rubber plant

Chanel admits she was nervous at first about having plants, understanding the work they require and how each plant requires unique care. Despite her initial apprehension, she chose to embrace plant life anyways, feeling that the benefits would outweigh the labor.

Chanel with her Fiddle Leaf Fig

“To be connected with the outside world inside.. I feel like I have a direct connection with a different life form. It’s a way to care for something outside of yourself”

Chanel with her Pothos 

Chanel’s current plant collection predates her home, having moved with most of them from Maine. Her oldest plant is the pothos that her aunt gave her a clipping of, which she now loves to pay forward by gifting cuttings from the same plant to her friends.

Chanel's Pothos cuttings

“I believe in community care. DC exhibits that but there’s more opportunities for us to do that across the board. The world depends on us being more community minded in order for us to survive”

In addition to her houseplants, Chanel and her partner have also gotten into gardening– growing vegetables and harvesting fruit and leaves from their fig tree. 

Chanel with her Spear Snake

When asked what plants she may have her eye on next, she replied that she’s more interested in tending to the plants already in her possession rather than adding new ones. A testament to the intention and care she exhibits both in her home and her community.