Book Club: Creative Living London

It’s always great to get your hands on an interior design book that is full of inspiration and ideas, and Creative Living London has a little twist; all of its featured homeowners may have inspired you already, as they are all creative designers, stylists and artists. The through the keyhole vibe of this book gives the reader a wonderful insight into some of the most beautifully decorated homes in London; full of personality, style and of course creativity it’s a fun display and great way to get inspired. Here are a few of my favourite shots from the book.

Marianne Cotterill’s Home

This dining area in stylist Marianne Cotterill’s home is full of bold style choices and beautifully contrasted elements. The futuristic style of Eero Saarinen’s Tulip chairs and table against the original Victorian tiles are the perfect style clash. I especially love the pastel pink radiator in the background, a fun stylish addition.

While we’re on the subject of perfect clashes, Lisa Eldridge and Robin Derrick’s living room is full to the brim of different patterns that all work seamlessly together, even the gallery wall of paintings and photographs acts as its own pattern in a sense. The two bold fabrics from the rug and sofa shouldn’t work together but somehow do, along with the plush scatter cushions, a multi pattern room technically shouldn’t look soothing and calm, but they managed to nail it here.

Lisa Eldridge and Robin Derrick’s Home

Martin Ferrell’s Home

From busy and serene to minimalist and serene, this simply dressed bedroom is utterly beautiful. The painting along with the petite glass chandelier are an interesting combination, while the crisp white bedding allows them to do all the talking.

Fashion stylist and art director Claire Durbridge and Bob Sakoui have decorated their hallway in a unique and fun way; the geometric painted pattern on the back of the front door adds a sense of humour to the glamorous entryway. The gold assortment of mirrors and the vintage cinema seats with sumptuous berry red velvet creates a standout feature.

Claire Durbridge and Bob Sakoui’s Home

There is a really beautiful sense of bohemian glamour in interior designer Jo Berryman’s home. The single tall cactus in its hexagonal pot next the antique Louis sofa is effortlessly put together. Moving onto the bathroom, its chandelier, roll top bath and seating area are all elements that seem a little too much in theory, but here they all work into a scheme that would seem wrong without every piece.

Jo Berryman’s Home

Jo Berryman’s Home

Neisha Crosland is a wonderful textile designer, and her home perfectly suits her aesthetic. A quick look at her dining room and London might not be your first thought as to where it was located. The Japanese tree mural is simply stunning with the blossom tree framing the outside trees wonderfully. The embroidery on her headboard is another amazing and intricate addition to the house.

Neisha Crosland’s Home

Neisha Crosland’s Home

I absolutely love the effect that these glasses storage boxes and long pile rug create, giving the boxes a textural feel. This cosy bedroom of interior designers Joelle Talmasse and Martyn Gayle proves that you needn’t been deterred by the prospect of an attic room and sloping walls.

Joelle Talmasse and Martyn Gayle’s Home

What really caught my eye in this dressing room was how wonderfully retro it was, and yet still felt contemporary due to the wallpaper. The shining star of this room for me however, is the chandelier which is just a beautiful little touch.

Jo Wood’s Home

Mawi Keivom’s Home

When so many interiors are so serious it’s always great to see one that has a strong element of fun in it, without jeopardising the style and sophistication. Mawi Keivom, a jewellery designer, offset’s her electric yellow wall with a bold embroidered blue and white bedding; the whole look has a soft, romantic feel in a contemporary, atypical way.

David Carter’s Home

There’s a lot going on this narrow hallway in the home of David Carter, an interior designer. There’s a great deal of whimsy, man in the red slippers hanging elegantly on the wall for one. The dark black walls and gold ceiling fit the space well and the pops of colour give it a touch of life.

If I had tried to imagine Zandra Rhodes’s London home, I probably would have conjured up something similar to the reality, but nowhere near as perfectly curated. There’s a real sense of eclecticism to the style going on here, from the collection of vibrant chairs, to the vases with their own stands, it’s both wild and collected as the same time; chaotic and calm.

Zandra Rhodes’s Home

A neon yellow, high gloss finish on tongue and groove floor to ceiling panelling might not sound like a good idea, but after seeing Annie Morris and Idris Khan’s home, the jury’s out and opinion’s starting to change. The look is soften by the use of the rustic wooden sideboard and by reintroducing the colour palette in a piece of art; it definitely makes you want to explore the home further.

Annie Morris and Idris Khan’s Home

Creative Living London is a fantastic book if you’re looking for inspiration and unique ways to approach decorating a home. Full of beautiful images and words, a great buy to add to your collection.

 

Creative Living London is written by Emily Wheeler, photographed by Ingrid Rasmussen and published by Thames & Hudson.

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Book Club: How to Decorate

Back in May 2016, Farrow & Ball released a book called How to Decorate, something of a bible on using paint and wallpaper in your home to create flawless interiors. Written by Joa Studholme, the company’s international colour consultant, and Charlotte Cosby, the Head of Creative at Farrow & Ball, the two are unrivalled in their knowledge of colour and using it in homes. The book itself is filled with examples, tips and suggestions on how to make the most out of your home, alongside are some gorgeous examples that will not only inspire you, but make you a little jealous as well.

Wevet on the walls with Strong White on the woodwork

With a multitude of whites in their palette, Farrow & Ball are keen to show that there is a perfect shade for every home, room and style. Keeping a room feeling light and clean by using white, doesn’t mean having to be boring; here the walls are painted in Wevet, which is old Dorset slang for cobwebs, and Strong White on the woodwork. Both whites have a contemporary grey undertone, and are a beautiful backdrop against which to display your furniture.

One of the main problem we face when using colours in the home is what kind of light the room gets; north, south, east and west, the wrong light with the wrong paint can turn a warm and inviting home into a cold and depressing sight. How to Decorate takes you through which colours and undertones suit which light the best, and with this under your belt you can make inroads into creating a gorgeous home. Below, Card Room Green is used in a garden room, helping to connect the inside and out, and by using such a rich colour the northern light is disparaged away and a warm room is left victorious.

Card Room Green on the walls

I love this image below, it uses on of my favourite Farrow & Ball colours Black Blue which gives this hallway a dramatic and regal effect. The touch of the pale underbelly of both the staircase and gallery break up the darkness, giving the room perspective, whilst also getting pops of colour from the accessories to really give the hallway some life. A quick tip from Joa and Charlotte is by having a dark hallway the rooms leading off it will automatically feel larger and lighter by contrast.

Black Blue on the walls

If you have particular style of furniture in your home, it’s important to translate this onto your walls; pieces of contemporary furniture located in a room with a dated or traditional colour will through the whole arrangement off, so finding a complimentary colour scheme for your furniture is vital. A collection of mid-century furniture is displayed beautifully against the Easy Neutral family of greys, Strong White in the first room and through the divine interior window is Purbeck Stone, while the woodwork is given the dramatic look of Pitch Black, the darkest of Farrow & Ball’s blacks.

Pitch Black on the woodwork, Strong White on the walls in the first room and Purbeck Stone on the walls in the second room

When it comes to big colours, there’s often a resistance to paint a whole room with them, and instead many people opt for a feature wall. But in How to Decorate there are hordes of examples that show how different rooms can take on four walls of strong colour. This bedroom is painted in Nancy’s Blushes, named after Joa’s daughter’s rosy cheeks as a little girl, all the way through, even the woodwork, and by doing this is actually makes the very bold colour seem less intense. The pink is cut off at the picture rail, with the white taking over and continuing to the ceiling, giving the room an interesting balance.

Nancy’s Blushes on the walls and woodwork

These days if you want a dramatic look, the easiest solution is to go for a popular dark shade like a deep blue or grey. If you want to create a theatrical look, but still bring a bright colour in to the mix, this book can give you a few solutions. The now archived Straw colour, is a bold, deep yellow, it gives a nod to traditional interiors, and perfectly bounces off the rich tones of the woodwork.

Straw (archived) on the walls

This room below is just a beautiful space, and fills me with the utmost jealousy. The large doors leading to the garden fill the room with light, so Pavilion Gray has been used to increase this, bar the recess above the doors which has been painted in the beautiful Calamine, highlighting the architectural feature and the collection of pottery.

Pavilion Gray on the walls and Calamine in the recess

How to Decorate is a wonderful book full of wonderful advice and photographs to inspire you to get creative with your own home.

How to Decorate is available to buy at www.farrow-ball.com or in the Farrow & Ball Showrooms.

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Book Club: How They Decorated

How They Decorated is a wonderful book filled with beautiful stories and inspiring images. The book tells the tales of ‘Great Women of the Twentieth Century’ and their incredible homes. As you move through the book, from the homes of nobilities to artists, you’re taken on a journey and though the styles and ideas change with time, one thing that is always present is impeccable and daring taste.

In the hallway, with the sitting room to the side, in Lady Diana Cooper’s London home is an unconventionally located bar with the owner’s portrait placed above for all to see. There’s an inviting sense of informality about this bar that juxtaposes the exuberant nature of the house itself; it brings together an idea of elegance with a dose of playfulness as well.

Another way Lady Diana shows off a relaxed approach to her home is with her faithful accessory, the hat, piled on top of one another, bar one that is placed upon a bust of herself in the centre of a chest of drawers. Lady Diana is quoted as saying, “I like bedrooms best… with a big bed and tiny dog”, continuing the sense of light-heartedness in her style.

Considered the “true queen of American style”, Evangeline Bruce’s interiors were timeless and soulful. Her private library has its walls and cupboards covered in fabric, giving the whole room a gloriously over the top effect.

Sybil Connolly was a celebrated fashion designer, and it’s evident that her love of fabrics filtered through to her home as well. The fabric effect papered walls of her Dublin house is something that practically no person, nor home could pull off, but somehow it turned out beautifully, paying homage to her lifework in one simple, but bold move.

There is something extremely enticing about this overly bejewelled mirror from Gabrielle van Zuylen’s home in Paris; it’s glamour at its finest.

Babe Paley, a New York socialite, had some truly fascinating interiors. This living room that is full to the brim with colours, texture and style is said to have been “the sum of what Babe herself personified – polished, sophistication, and legendary style.”

Another brightly coloured home is that of the writer Fleur Cowles. It’s the kind of home where everything stands out in its own right, and yet perfectly fits together in one flawless ensemble.

These footstools at designer Pauline Trigeres’ home in Westchester County in New York are just beautiful creations; the gorgeous mother-of-pearl inlay looks divine against the bold emerald green tops.

This garden room below is a one-of-a-kind vision that takes your breath away. It belongs to Bunny Melon in Virginia, and everything in it from the trelliswork to the arsenic colour, to the array of pots and baskets forms perfectly together to make a beautiful haven.

The home of Georgia O’Keefe respects the history of its location, New Mexico, as well as reflecting the modernist characteristics of herself and her work. The cool clay walls and long incorporated seating area are met with pops of colourful cushions and green plants, which gives the room a relaxed, understated but collected and assured atmosphere.

This book, from start to finish is a journey through homes and history. It perfectly sums up the idea that a home tells its owners story, and through this book you can see that these women lived great lives, in fabulous homes.

 

How They Decorated is available by Rizzoli

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Book Club: COLOUR. by Abigail Ahern

Recently I’ve been flicking through the wonderful book COLOUR. by Abigail Ahern, since we’re a massive fan of her work and her shop, it was a bit of a no-brainer when it came to doing a book club feature on her.

The book is a colour bible of sorts, but it’s not your basic how-to guide that you see on the shelves. Instead it’s more of a motivational and inspirational push in the right direction for all the scaredy-cats or colour novices out there!

Ahern takes you through her story of colour from her youth to the present, she remembers, “[her] mother, an artist would choose shades for our walls in the same way that she would select colours for her paintings: instinctively, from feeling and observation”.

It’s all about creating an impact, and turning your interiors into a place of joy and creative sustenance, to use colour to your advantage and to create an atmosphere that is both effective and affective.

For Ahern, one colour with the upmost importance is black, she recalls how she played around with shades of white and grey before taking the plunge and going black, “The day I did, magic struck. I fell in love. The intensity was transformative”.

 

COLOUR. has the perfect balance between the gung-ho ‘throw out the rulebook attitude’ and interesting tips and ideas to help make the most out of your space. For example, using a devilishly bright colour on the inside of your cupboard to create a pop of excitement like above.

The imagery in the book is all the inspiration you need to want to throw a huge dollop of paint over those plain walls. What’s more it gives you an idea of how to play around with textures, layers, patterns, and various tones hues of simple colours, so even if a bright splash of colour isn’t your cup of tea you can still create an exciting and affluent interior. As Ahern remarks, “the best news is that boring old magnolia is losing some of its attraction, with more people willing to experiment with different hues, from dark to bright”.

The imagery in COLOUR. are from interiors that have personally inspired Ahern, and are ones that she believes are the best of the best when it comes to colourful walls, floors, ceilings and everything in between.

I think there is a common misconception that bright and bold interiors that retain a sense of glamour and style are often unattainable or very hard to replicate. However, with good taste, steady guidance and patient attitude it’s certainly possibly to create your own private colour haven that oozes with style and grace.

“You do need a dose of confidence when it comes to colour”, says Ahern, but when you have mastered the craft of colour, there is an overwhelming sense Ahern continues, that “colour has given me a home that I never want to leave”.

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Book Club: The Modern House

The Modern House, a real estate company who specialise in the selling of the finest modern homes, celebrated their ten year anniversary in 2015 and so to mark the occasion they released a book with some of the best properties they’ve had throughout their decade of business. The book is a fantastic read whether you love modern architecture or are simply intrigued to get a sneak peek into some of Britain’s most wonderful homes. I’ve picked out some of my favourite homes from the book to share with you.

Doctor Rogers’ House located in London, built by Richard and Su Rogers in 1968

The beauty of this property lies in how the colours of the interior and the colours of the adorning nature integrate so perfectly together. The influence of Californian modernism isn’t lost on the architecture or interior features and yet doesn’t look out of place in its typically English surroundings, there’s a humble attitude to this house that makes you want to run up those paving stones and be invited inside this welcoming exterior.

Doctor Rogers’ House located in London, built by Richard and Su Rogers in 1968

The Modern House features a property on Angel + Blume’s home turf, Cambridge, and one that we know personally. The Laslett House was designed by Trevor Dannatt in 1958 and is owned today by Tim Hayward, the man who resurrected the legendary Fitzbillies.

Laslett House located in Cambridge, built by Trevor Dannatt in 1958

The house is wonderfully minimal and full of natural elements. There’s a beautiful flow of white brick walls, wood flooring and glass panelling that evokes an authentic sense of calm and laid-back sophistication.

Laslett House located in Cambridge, built by Trevor Dannatt in 1958

The next property takes the form of an old converted Pianola factory in north London. Its interiors are reminiscent of ordered chaos with foliage, picture frames and furniture all positioned in the home seemingly unsystematically and yet at the same time with the feeling of thoughtfulness and care. The home is like a blank canvas, the perfect location for an artist to create their masterpieces with just enough personal memorabilia to fight off a spooky clinical atmosphere.

An Art Collector’s Warehouse located in London, built by 6a Architects in 2012

An Art Collector’s Warehouse located in London, built by 6a Architects in 2012

Stratton Park in Hampshire is a fine example of how modern homes can look their best when juxtaposed with older existing architectural features. The house was built over a mansion from 1803, all that remains is the Doric Portico, something that might have been rather a brash display of grandeur if left to its own devices, but with the modern home positioned to its side it becomes more of a whimsical and elaborate garden sculpture.

Stratton Park located in Hampshire, built by Stephen Gardiner and Christopher Knight in 1964

The idea of living in a fort would thrill most children (and some adults) and so proving that you can make a home out of anything, a nineteenth century fort was converted into a home in 2004. The Martello Tower Y in Suffolk is a highly intriguing concept and there’s no doubt that the views from up there phenomenal!

 

Martello Tower Y located in Suffolk, built by Piercy & Company in 2004

Despite its somewhat bulky external appearance the interior of the home is elegant and sophisticated, and its unique features like the original fort structure make a compelling argument for the building’s beauty.

The Walled Garden located in East Sussex, built by Michael Manser in 2002

This home wonderfully incorporates modern American architectural style into the Sussex countryside.  The beautiful glass and steelwork and the adjacent old red brick wall create the perfect contrast that gives this property it’s extra added character.

The Walled Garden located in East Sussex, built by Michael Manser in 2002

Finally, you might remember this lovely house from a blog a few weeks ago, Fog House in London was commissioned by Janet Street Porter in 2004 and is a beautiful accumulation of colour and style.

Fog House located in London, built by Adjaye Associates in 2004

Fog House located in London, built by Adjaye Associates in 2004

The Modern House is full to the brim of exciting properties, amazing inspiration and invites you to spend a few hours dreaming of modern havens.

The Modern House is available from Artifice.

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Book Club: Architectural Digest Hollywood at Home

Gushing over big Hollywood mansions, especially those own by celebrities, has been a guilty pleasure of mine since I can remember. So a book that gives an exclusive look into the world of the rich and famous and their glorious properties is quite frankly a must-have. From old Hollywood starlets to modern-day directors, Hollywood at Home, gives you a fantastic insight into the houses of your idols. It’s the perfect coffee table book to flick through as you daydream about what your own Beverly Hills mansion would look like. I’ve picked out a few of my favourite homes from the book to share with you.

This Italian Renaissance-style mansion located in Malibu belongs to none other than the iconic Cher, and though the property might be considered a little flamboyant for the average Joe, the home is a little more understated than one might expect from the original goddess of pop herself. However, one thing that isn’t understated is that ocean view (which each room has not one but two views of)!

The interiors of the mansion are classic Hollywood style, with just the right amount of leopard print. The combination of the leafy greens, animal prints and renaissance-style paintings create the perfect glamorous setting without being overzealous.

The elements of a dramatic Gothic Revival theme in the design are rather fitting for this home and location, in any other place they might have drowned a house or interior, but in Hollywood there’s a certain amount of gumption in each and every home that gives them the attitude to pull off such outlandish design schemes.

Popping over to the neighbourhood of Venice and to the home of actress Anjelica Huston and the late sculptor Robert Graham. The house is a subtle, sleek and artist marvel and captures the laid-back, modern, sophisticated side of Los Angeles and its surrounding boroughs wholeheartedly.

The house embarks on a mission of originality and flair, even in its foundations. The walls are not just there for shelter, and the windows not just to let the light in, you can tell that each architectural decision has been made with the utmost consideration, creating the perfect artisan bunker, a sculptural masterpiece.

Sunset Boulevard in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles was once the home to Jayne Mansfield’s Pink Palace, until its demolition in 2002. Rarely does a home embody the character and nature of its owner quite as well as the Pink Palace  personified Jayne. Known as one of the original ‘blonde bombshells’ of Hollywood it seems only fitting that Jayne Mansfield’s home be as much of a bombshell as she, although swapping the blonde for her signature pink, the Pink Palace was Jayne’s real estate doppelganger.

From the baby pink shag pile that covers every surface, to the heart shaped, gold leaf bathtub, everything about this room is so wrong its right. It’s the same excessiveness and over the top glamorous nature that had everyone hooked on its occupant, and although you’d probably never dream of installing a similar design in your own bathroom you can’t help but wish you could visit the house and possibly take a quick dip in that tub.

 

While each of the previous homes above capture the essence of a particular style of Hollywood, the outlandish, the sleek and modern, Mansfield’s home represents the overtly decadent and unreasonably luxurious that is only acceptable in Hollywood. It puts style over functionality and glamour over practicality and I’m not sure we’d have it any other way.

 

Architectural Digest Hollywood at Home is available from Abrams Books

All photograph credits to Architectural Digest

 

 

 

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Book Club: Conran on Colour

With a new line of paints, Paint by Conran, it seems only fitting that the design legend Terence Conran write a book about the art of using colours in an interior. This beautifully illustrated book is a masterclass in how to conquer colour in any shape or form, big or small.

Image from Conran on Colour

As Terence Conran says, “there’s nothing like colour to add spice to life and soul to your surroundings”, and this book is an open invitation to become inspired by colour and fear it no more. Conran treats colour like a science with rules and philosophies he has honed throughout his career, sharing his wisdom with the reader by way of examples and advice.

Image from Conran on Colour

The book takes you on a guide with colour by colour steps and shows you how to perfect your home’s colour palette. With hundreds of beautiful photographs to admire you won’t be short of inspiration.

Terrence Conran shows the reader how to use colour in a sophisticated and stylish manner. When it comes to colour, many people are met with the certain hesitation that too much colour, especially in interiors, can become garish and overwhelming, but whether you want to add bold colours inch by inch, or go the whole nine yards and shower your home in colour, Conran on Colour is the perfect guide on how to do colour in the home correctly.

Image from Conran on Colour

This beautiful bathroom is the perfect example of how to play around with colour and how to have fun with it. From the hot pink bath tub, to the contemporary stained glass panelling nothing about this bathroom is ordinary. In fact, it’s the kind of design that would look all wrong on paper, but in reality and with Conran’s Midas touch everything seems to fall effortlessly into place.

Image from Conran on Colour

If bold splashes of colour in an interior isn’t your thing, the book also shows you how to use colour in a subtle way that will complement your interior. For example the photograph above shows how to make colour the focal point whilst still maintaining a neutral setting. The contrast between the bright flowers and vases and the soothingly calm grey hues of the interior is a display of how minimalism and colour can work in sync.

Image from Conran on Colour

An amazing photograph from the book advertising one of the most popular colours from the Paint by Conran collection, Cornflower Blue. The all blue mirage is simple and effective and the hint of retro glamour is the only addition needed to accompany the stylish colour.

Image from Conran on Colour

 

Image from Conran on Colour

Whether you’re thinking of re-decorating your home, or are simple looking for inspiration then purchasing a copy of Conran on Colour is the best decision you can make as it truly is the bible of interior colour.

Buy Conran on Colour from Conran Octopus Publications.

Paint by Conran available from The Conran Shop.

 

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Book Club: The Iconic Interior by Dominic Bradbury

The Iconic Interior 1900 to the present does exactly what it says on the tin. This book takes you on a journey through some of the worlds most iconic and mesmerising homes and interiors belonging to the best and brightest artists, designers, fashion personalities, artisans, architects and set designers of the past one hundred years. This book treats you to an awe-inspiring expedition of the most beautiful homes in the world. If you’re contemplating the idea of redecorating your home but are in need of some inspiration and ideas, purchasing this book is a sure-fire way to kick start a design project as it is filled with a stream of innovative and magical interiors for you to be slowly hypnotised by. If permitted I could talk endlessly about the houses in this book, but I have enforced some will power and have chosen my favourite four homes to share with you.

First is the Sowden House in Los Angeles built in 1926, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. This house was commissioned by painter and photographer John Sowden and takes its main inspiration from Mayan and pre-Columbian culture.

The property looks as though it’s been teleported from another world, or a forgotten time and beautifully encapsulates its sources of inspiration, creating a miniature enchanted land. It looks like the secret lair of a bond villain that belongs deep in the heart of a jungle instead of Los Angeles.

 

Remaining in Los Angeles for the second home on my list of favourites is a house designed for Tony Duquette. The house, called Dawnridge and built in 1949, is a beautiful clutter of clashing patterns and textiles, shapes and styles, all creating a whirlwind of surprising tranquillity.

The phrase ‘ordered chaos’ comes to mind when you’re looking at the interiors of Dawnridge, everything seems both a stylish muddle and systematically ordered in a way that would be hard to replicate.

 

Artist Piero Fornasetti’s home in Milan is featured in the book, and it’s a creatively perceptive modern take on an Italian palace. Fornasetti’s home is reflective of his style as an artist, and just like a beautiful painting, the apartment is a work of art.

The interior flows seamlessly as though it is in a surreal dream-like state, and as Dominic Bradbury, the author of the book writes “the house reveals the deep inventiveness and rich imagination of one of Italy’s most original creative talents, often dubbed the ‘designer of dreams’.”

And lastly, we take a trip to Istanbul to the home of designer Zeynep Fadillioglu. Her home is enriched with an old-worldly atmosphere and is embellished with ornaments and furniture that exuberates luxury, whilst contrasting with the rustic walls and foundations of the house so as not to portray a feeling of decadence and excessiveness.

If you’re looking to get lost in a mesmerising and romantic story of architecture and interiors then get yourself a copy of The Iconic Interior and spend a few hours indulging your imagination and redesigning your interior wish list.

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Book Club: Geoffrey Bennison – Master Decorator

If you’ve ever looked at a picture of a Geoffrey Bennison styled interior, you might be forgiven for thinking that perhaps you have time travelled to the past, into a home fit for no less then royalty. In the new book Geoffrey Bennison Master Decorator, which celebrates the life and work of Bennison, you can truly find yourself getting lost in his magical creations.

 

 

It’s plain to see that Bennison was no fan of the understated or subtle; in fact his interiors seem to grab flamboyance by the horns and magnify it over and over. His is a world where everything is eccentric and everything looks perfectly in place. Like a well researched period film set, the interiors you’ll find in this book are immaculately devised, looking like a fairytale of the luxurious and the lavish.

 

 

If you want to indulge yourself in a book full of wonderfully decadent and spectacularly theatrical interiors, then this is the book for you. Often, we buy interior design books on the basis that we will use them to help us with our own style or our own decorating needs. In some respects this book can do that for you, but for me however, this book is more in line with the book of an artist, for which you use it simply to admire the beautiful masterpieces.

 

Master Decorator walks you through fourteen of Bennison’s best commissions, including three of his own homes. From London and Paris to Marrakech you get a sneak peak into the homes of royalty, with interiors you can only dream of. My personal favourite, perhaps because of my soft spot for my university town, is Bennison’s seaside apartment in Brighton. His interiors in this beautiful flat are ones that I could have only conjured up for my student accommodation. Bennison deliciously mixes up every pattern and every texture into a whirlwind that invites you to spend hours pouring over the details.

 

 

Though Bennison died in 1984, his masterpieces live on and so do his designs. Bennison Fabrics continues to create fabrics and wallpapers based on Bennison’s vision. If you are looking for quality, traditional English country style interiors then look no further.

 

 

Though a little more introverted, they still retain the beautifully elegant disposition of Bennison’s original interiors. So sit back and feast your eyes!

 

 

 

 

 

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A Frame for Life by Ilse Crawford

Ilse Crawford is a designer whose work I greatly admire and I have owned and loved her previous books (Home is where the heart is? and Sensual Home) since they were published. A Frame for Life is her most recent book and is a wonderful insight into her work, the thinking behind the projects and her considered and inspiring views on interior design.

The book contains an introduction written from the heart, and I have to say that I have rarely read a piece about the interior design process with which I agree more. She talks, as an example, of the importance of starting with an understanding of how the inhabitants of a space will use it, what they need from it and bring to it, and how they will interact with it. She then goes on to show exactly the impact this understanding had on various interiors she has designed and implemented in both commercial and residential spaces.

Within the book, there is an interview with Edwin Heathcote probing further into Ilse’s design views and she is marvelously frank and unreserved – her answer to the thorny question posed by Heathcote of “This might sound like a stupid question but is there a difference between interior design and architecture, and if so, what is it?” is inspired.

As well as there being lots to read and ponder in this beautiful book, it is also loaded with glorious images of project work (including Ilse’s own London home) which not only illustrate Ilse’s design philosophy but also provide a visual feast for our interior-loving eyes.

A Frame for Life is published by Rizzoli, 2014

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