When a musician makes it big, an in-home recording studio often tops the must-have list when it comes to home upgrades—but not, as it turns out, for Taylor Swift. On her December 10 appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the pop star opened up about her preference to keep her work outside of the home. She also shared some other tidbits about her domestic life, including her post-performance evening routine from her record-breaking Eras Tour.
Surprisingly, given her prolific musical output, Swift seems to be a believer in a staunch work-life balance. “At home, I don’t want any [music] paraphernalia,” Swift told Colbert. “I don’t want any plaques, I don’t want a studio. I don’t want there to be any evidence that a music person lives here, except for my piano and a guitar, but the guitar is not hung in a prominent place.” The “Fate of Ophelia” singer added that keeping her work separate makes it more exciting when it’s time to record. She explains, “I like it to feel very cozy at home and if I’m going to go to the studio, I go to the studio and it’s like, ‘Special day today, I get to go to the studio!’”
Taylor’s at-home look? “Ghost in a nightgown.” Rune Hellestad – Corbis/Getty Images
Swift also opened up about her preferred off-duty look. Unlike her on-stage wardrobe, which has veered towards bright colors lately, she goes pale, traditional, and romantic: The singer-songwriter dons “an old Victorian night gown” while “shuffling around the house,” she told Colbert. “I prefer to look like if you were to see me in a window I would like for someone to think they saw a ghost.”
As for her nighttime routine, Swift is a Bath Person: On show nights, the Pennsylvania native retreats to her hotel, then gets “immediately into the bath. Mermaid time.” Afterwards, she revealed that she orders “the most amount of room service possible” and signs CDs while watching Dateline to keep her idle hands busy. “My profession is coming up with ideas for stuff, so if I can turn off the ideas for a second, [that’s] very exciting,” Swift explained of that habit.
Finally, when the post-show adrenaline has worn off, the performer shares her bed with her cats, who travel everywhere with her. As she drifts off, she might turn on an audio book. She says, “If you’ve got like, an old rambling, shambles, old British mansion covered in moss or ivy and there’s like, a mysterious relationship, and he may not be what he seems and there’s like, a murder that that has happened in the past but you hear whispers of it.… If you got any of that, I’m going to need to read that. And when I say read that, I’m going to need someone to read that to me.” Of course, with their Rhode Island wedding coming up this summer, reading aloud to Taylor could quickly become Travis Kelcie’s job.