Architectural Digest: What city do you live in?
Eva Mendes: Los Angelesâbut we travel so much! Right now, I am in London, but I try to bring a little bit of home anywhere we go, so I always have my certain things that make it feel like home.
Have you brought the sponges along with you?
Always.
How would you describe the style of your home?
Wabi-sabi. Nothing is thrown away because itâs broken. Maybe an appliance, but certainly not, like, a vase. We donât drink, but when people come over and thereâs a wine spill, itâs just an instant memory. I have this really cozy round swivel chair, and one day my dog Hugo, whoâs passed, was left at home a little too long and he just ate it. And I will never have it redone or reupholstered. Your house can then have so many stories that it tells.
Do you have a favorite gadget or appliance?
An IQAir purifier. It is huge; it is not attractive. And it took me a while to make peace with that. But itâs an amazing air purifier, and itâs big because it has so many filters. I also use it as a sound machine at night, so it does double duty for me. But it is really, likeâ¦.
Like R2-D2 size?
Totally. And almost like R2-D2 vibes. I kind of had to play a game with myself and be like, âYeah, itâs from the future,â to make it cool, because itâs not my [thing], but itâs an amazing product. I couldnât live without it.
What is your bedtime ritual?
It changes. My little one just turned eight, and then I have a nine-year-old. I think itâs because we travel so much, they need us at nighttime. And itâs not always the case; some nights are more extreme than others. I just know that they wonât need me for that much longer. So I really give in to their bedtime requests. It could be reading books, it could be giving them a late night snackâI know thatâs against the mom rules, but sometimes theyâre like, âMama, Iâm still hungry!â Theyâre going to grow up. In five years, theyâre probably not going to want anything to do with me.
Whatâs your favorite room in your house and why?
Kitchen, for the obvious reasons. Thatâs where memories are made. Food is so emotional. And in my kitchen, [the kids] do homework and we talk. Itâs the heart of the home, for sure. But I love my bedroom. I donât have too many things in it, because I don’t want to wake up or go to sleep with lots of scattered things. The books I have next to my bed are curated, because if itâs a dark book that Iâm reading, I wonât read it at night. I create my safe space in my bedroom; I really love it there. Just soft colors, soft fabrics. And then the dog sleeps with us, and the kids end up sleeping with us. Itâs just really relaxed and chill.