Surfing is a freaking way of life. If you’ve ever met a hardcore surfer, odds are you wanted to swap lives with him, or at the very least become his BFF. That’s because these guys and gals live and breathe the lifestyle— from the way they style (or don’t style) their hair, to the beach “shacks” they call home.
And there’s an important lesson we can take from watching them live: All we really need to survive is a passion and a cozy shack to call home.
That’s the reason we love Surf Shacks ($60), a new book put together by the surf-centric blog Indoek and publisher Gestalten that chronicles some of the most visually pleasing homes of legendary surfers. Some are spot-on what you would imagine a surfer’s shack to be; a Hawaiian hut with a medley of boards stacked against the wall, hidden under a bungalow of drooping trees; others are a little less stereotypical.
But what’s surprising is that some of these shacks take tenancy in New York City, Japan, and cabins at the precipice of national forests.
Ryan Lovelace, a board shaping legend, for instance, sets up camp in a converted bus. (We even get a glimpse into the cave the former CEO of Surfrider Foundation calls his casa.)
As the forward to the book says, every space has a unique tale.
Whether you’re ‘in’ to the surfing lifestyle or not – I mean how could you not envy these dudes— the book is an anthology of clean modern design, mixed with heightened personal flare. It’s dripping with aesthetic genius, and mind boggling how these surfing pros are simultaneously some of the best interior designers we’ve ever seen.
And that’s due to the fact that all these guys have their own style, on and off the board.
What you also learn from taking a look inside the living spaces of these wave riders is that the majority are artists at heart. Their homes are not random or ransacked, but purposeful and exploratory. Throughout the pages, the mix of photos with anecdotes and conversations wraps around you and in an instant you see these surfers as visionaries of their own time.
It’s rad.
We’re also shocked nobody thought to do this earlier. If you think about it, hardcore surfers spend 80 percent of their time on the water. That’s because surfing is the ultimate labor of love. The other 20 percent of the time, they’re home resting their bodies for another 3am wake-up to catch the swells.
Their homes become an extension of their passion— like any true artist.
Honestly, Surf Shacks is more than a coffee table display book. The full color, 288-page hardcover is a wormhole into the power of having and practicing a passion. Through these surfers’ record collections, backyard gardens, and painting studios we not only see unique personalities, but pieces of our own deep-down desires.
If this book doesn’t make you want to say “F it all, I’m moving to the coast, learning to surf, and living in a shack,” well you need to reassess your priorities, brah.
