Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic: Accessorizing


Jonathan Adler - 2010
    Crafting sentences as dexterously as he does ceramic vases, Adler takes us on a whirlwind tour through gorgeously styled interior. Organized by type of furniture (bed, bookshelf, dining table, dresser, table), Adler divulges all the tricks and tips needed to artfully arrange anything in one’s home.

The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough


Sarah Nettleton - 2007
    One response to high levels of complexity and overstimulation is to look for yet another gadget or closet organizer to simplify our lives. But the answer lies somewhere else. The road to a simpler more satisfying life begins with a clear-eyed examination of the choices we are making for our time--and that includes choices about where we want to live.The Simple Home presents six paths to simplicity, each illustrated by human-scaled, unadorned homes with straightforward floor plans and forms. These are open, light-filled homes (with rooms or spaces that are often multipurpose) that express their beauty in their utility and practicality. Simple homes are low maintenance and often green, designed for homeowners who wish to embody a different set of values in their housing choices than the run-of-the-mill starter castles littering the landscape.The 6 Paths to Simplicity: 1. Simple is Enough 2. Simple is Thrifty 3. Simple is Flexible 4. Simple is Timeless 5. Simple is Sustainable 6. Simple is Refine

Decorate: 1,000 Design Ideas for Every Room in Your Home


Holly Becker - 2011
    Written and compiled by Holly Becker, founder of the hugely popular design blog Decor8, and Joanna Copestick, acclaimed lifestyle writer, this intensive home dcor program combines beautiful inspiration with nuts-and-bolts how-to for stunning results. More than 500 gorgeous color photographs provide motivation while line illustrations, checklists, shortcuts, and floor plans make it easy to get started. For those looking to make the most of their home and create stylish interiors, Decorate is the start-to-finish resource to keep on the bookshelf for years to come.

House Beautiful Style Secrets: What Every Room Needs


Sophie Donelson - 2017
    House Beautiful Style Essentials: What Every Room Needs is an inspiring and hardworking handbook that shows readers how to create the rooms of their dreams by revealing what “every room needs.” Chapters like “Every Room Needs a Hiding Place” provide clever ideas for storage and organization, while sections like “Every Room Needs Something Shiny” give examples of how reflective surfaces can enhance and enlarge any space. Simple yet elegant advice from some of the biggest names in the interiors world is paired throughout with stunning photography of the best and most beautiful rooms featured in the magazine. From a room’s overall look and color down to its smallest details, House Beautiful Style Secrets provides tips, tricks, and secrets on how to cultivate a comfortable home and uncover the potential of every living space.

Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update Show Your Home Some Love


Sherry Petersik - 2012
    With two home renovations under their (tool) belts, 5 million blog hits per month, and an ever-growing audience since the launch of "Young House Love" in 2007, Sherry and John are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Whether an experienced decorator or a total novice, on a tight budget or with money to spend, any homeowner or apartment dweller will find ideas for his or her own home makeovers here. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.Packed with 243 tips and ideas--both classic and unexpected--every project pictured was exclusively executed for the book (so there are no photos that you've already seen on the blog). With more than 250 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Adding a little wow factor to your home has never been more fun!

Never Stop to Think... Do I Have a Place for This


Mary Randolph Carter - 2014
    Mary Randolph Carter's newest book indulges our desire to surround ourselves with belongings that impart beauty and meaning to our lives. Whether you are passionate about flea market thrifting, have a collection of pedigreed antiques, or simply find inspiration among the castoffs in your attic, this book is a tribute to making artful interiors with your acquisitions.With her trademark style and love of heirlooms and beautiful old objects, Carter delves into the interiors of real-life tastemakers (antique dealers, fashion designers, artists, and boutique owners) to explore how our homes are the perfect canvas for our self-expression. In these pages, Carter curates a variety of unique interiors, from a couple who restores and displays antique textiles and china to an anglophile with an incredible library of vintage books to an artist who lives with the old photos and maps he uses in his work to an antique dealer known for having multiples of everything. Carter muses delightfully on the universal desire to acquire while imparting her philosophy and tips for living creatively and integrating our passions stylishly into our decor. Chock-full of ideas and inspiration, this book exalts in the beauty of bounty and is sure to delight Carter's legions of fans.

A Frame for Life: The Designs of StudioIlse


Ilse Crawford - 2014
    Studioilse, the award-winning design studio founded by Ilse Crawford, bridges the worlds of interior design, architecture, and product design with the philosophy of putting the human being at the center. Fascinated by what drives us and makes us feel alive, Crawford says: "When I look at making spaces, I don’t just look at the visual. I’m much more interested in the sensory thing, in thinking about it from the human context, the primal perspective, the thing that touches you." Featuring Studioilse’s work to date, from private residences to hotels, restaurants, and retail projects, this book illustrates the effectiveness of design grounded in human needs and desires. Layering materials and textures, combined with her understanding of human behavior, Crawford’s designs are sensual and accessible. A forerunner of the holistic design movement a decade ago, her humanistic approach has now become the norm. This volume illustrates why Crawford’s design philosophy is so seminal—her work has influenced not only a generation of Dutch and European designers, but also Americans due to her acclaimed Soho House New York. With new photography and essays by Crawford and design critic Edwin Heatcote, this inspirational volume is sure to be one of the most important design books of the year.

Three Birds Renovations


Erin Cayless - 2019
    Today, with many incredible house transformations under their toolbelt, they're a power trio turning neighbourhood ugly ducklings into swans.If you lust over images of beautiful homes but feel stuck when it comes to your own space, these 'birds' have your back. The book is packed with gorgeous details from their projects, friendly words of encouragement and more than 400 reno tips to help you avoid budget blow-outs, manage trades and timelines, and style without stress. Whether you're starting small or going all-in with a whole-home reno, this is destined to become one of the most useful books you own.Turn your reno dreams into reality!

Elements of Style: Designing a Home a Life


Erin Gates - 2014
    Drawing on her ten years of experience in the interior design industry, Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous professional photographs and illustrations with personal essays about the lessons she has learned while designing her own home and her own life—the first being: none of our homes or lives is perfect. Like a funny best friend, she reveals the disasters she confronted in her own kitchen renovation, her struggles with anorexia, her epic fight with her husband over a Lucite table, and her secrets for starting a successful blog.Organized by rooms in the house, Elements of Style invites readers into Erin’s own home as well as homes she has designed for clients. Fresh, modern, and colorful, it is brimming glamour and style as well as advice on practical matters from choosing kitchen counter materials to dressing a bed with pillows, picking a sofa, and decorating a nursery without cartoon characters. You’ll also find a charming foreword by Erin’s husband, Andrew, and an extensive Resource and Shopping Guide that provides an indispensable a roadmap for anyone embarking on their first serious home decorating adventure. With Erin’s help, you can finally make your house your home.

Bohemian Modern: Imaginative and Affordable Ideas for a Creative and Beautiful Home


Emily Henson - 2015
    The Bohemian Modern home is a place where creativity, individuality, and a wild mix of color and pattern meet in a modern environment. Whitewashed walls and polished concrete floors are brought to life by vibrant Moroccan rugs and wall hangings, wicker chairs draped with tactile throws, and a veritable jungle of house plants—clustered in pots, hanging from the ceiling, and even growing on the walls. The style certainly gives a nod to ’70s chic, with its use of shagpile rugs, Swiss cheese plants, and macramé, but it stands firmly in the present day by boldly contrasting those elements with sleek modern art on the walls and bold pops of color. Emily Henson starts by taking a look at the different facets of the look: pattern and color, textiles, handmade pieces, living with houseplants, and collections and display. She also offers up styling tricks to use at home and ideas for recycling and reuse. Next, a series of case studies take a closer look at Bohemian Modern homes and the people who live in them. From a restored barn on the breezy Moroccan coast to a former parking garage in the Netherlands that's been converted into a flexible family live/work space, Emily shows that any home can have Bohemian Modern style.

Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design


Christiane Lemieux - 2011
    As the founder and creative director of DwellStudio—which is famous for its brightly colored, graphic textile designs for home furnishings—designer Christiane Lemieux challenges tradition in a quintessentially American way, championing a fresh, unconventional approach to creating a beautiful and comfortable home. Lemieux emboldens readers to push aside stuffy, professionally-designed décor, showing them instead how to infuse their own personality into their home.  Undecorate profiles twenty homes from all over the country, revealing their owners’ love of imperfection and penchant for surprise and unusual juxtapositions while inspiring readers to follow their own whimsy and practicalities in their personal spaces. An anglophile creates an English manor in Hollywood, mixing British flea-market finds with midcentury furniture. A car fanatic turns a vintage Airstream trailer into a master bedroom and situates it in the middle of a vast industrial loft in downtown Chicago. A couple transforms a log house in Nashville, Tennessee, by blending their modern and eclectic styles with the home’s rustic charm. Though the designs differ widely, the spaces all express an open-minded attitude. Some homes embrace their contexts, while others transcend them. All are shaped by instinct and imagination and share innovative ideas that readers can use to organically and elegantly create their home to match their lifestyle and tastes.  Lemieux gets to the essence of the homeowners’ distinctive styles, pinpointing the transformative ideas, thoughtful details, and useful solutions that make each home memorable. With more than 200 full-color photographs, Undecorate will both inspire and guide homeowners to a new outlook on home design.

Downtown Chic: Designing Your Dream Home: From Wreck to Ravishing


Robert Novogratz - 2009
    Describing their signature style as a sophisticated but bohemian mix of high and low, new and old, they offer their realistic advice on how to create original, warm interiors with ease. One part practical guide, one part inspirational volume on creating a look for the home, the book pairs humorous anecdotes about the pitfalls and pleasures of renovation with a treasure trove of decorating tips: how to use both boutique and flea-market finds; how to inject lots of personality into a room affordably; how to decorate kids’ rooms so they appeal to children and adults; how to easily rehabilitate outdated furnishings; and many more. In each of the ten projects featured—which include a townhouse in New York City, a country house in Massachusetts, and a beach house in Brazil—before and after shots document the agony and ecstasy of any renovation project, as well as revealing the design duo’s vision and remarkable ability to see through the most awful of spaces to the amazing home that lies within.

Made for Living: Eclectic Interiors for All Sorts of Styles


Amber Lewis - 2020
    Delivering tips on refreshing a room with new paint (including finding the perfect white), mixing textiles and pillows, and blending neutrals, Amber's beautiful, California cool will help you transform your home into one that's elegant and timeless--a look you'll want to keep for the long run.

Flea Market Chic


Liz Bauwens - 2012
    And in traditional decorating schemes, fleamarket chic is a key part of the mix: faded textiles, weathered furniture, mis-matched china, and the occasional flamboyant lamp or work of art are all part of the charm. Of course, Fleamarket Chic is about saving you money, along with recycling, upcycling, and repurposing. But it’s also about a sense of history and place, about individuality, and creating a home that reflects your life and personality. Every piece in a Fleamarket Chic interior has a story: the colorful pitcher you found at a garage sale, the vintage telephone you reclaimed when a favorite aunt finally bought a modern handset, the little chair you found in a county junk store, or the old trash cans that have been converted into fashionable zinc planters. In Fleamarket Chic, we’ll show you how to spot the clever find in a pile of junk, where to look and how to negotiate, how to smarten up (and when not to smarten up) second-hand items, and how to re-discover and re-use things you or your family already have.

Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home


Russell Versaci - 2003
    In Creating a New Old House, architect Russell Versaci shows you that it is possible to design and create a new house that looks and feels like it has always been there. Versaci explores how architects, builders, and craftsmen are reinterpreting the traditional American house. Through photographs and engaging text, discussions of history and craftsmanship, and sidelong glances at the workings of real old houses, Versaci explains how traditional houses go together and what gives them their unique design appeal. Features 17 new, old-style houses -- from colonials to farmhouses -- from all over the country Versaci identifies Eight Pillars of Traditional Design that create a solid foundation for combining authentic, traditional design with livability to create homes that feel old yet work for the demands of modern family living.