We’ve had some heated discussion here lately about books, and about book covers, as elements in one’s home decor.

So when I found these new cover designs for classic F. Scott Fitzgerald books, from Senior Designer Coralie Bickford-Smith at Penguin Books, I just had to share.

Penguin plans to release the books on November 4th.

Now that’s marketing I can get behind. (via Notcot.)

Fess up: Do [...] Read more »

My walls have never been the place for the blah. If it’s bold, colorful, and graphic – sign me up. And as you know, I’m a fervent DIY’er.

So when I saw Lola Gavarry’s new book, DIY Art at Home, 28 Simple Projects for Chic Decor on the Cheap (Watson-Guptill Publications, 2010), I snatched up a copy.

Gavarry, a designer who creates artwork for residential clients [...] Read more »

I learned about the most fascinating design niche recently, when—through trusty Twitter—

I met Thatcher Wine of Juniper Books. Thatcher specializes in the design of home libraries for homeowners and designers around the country.

We’re not talking the cabinetry here – we’re talking the books.

I asked Thatcher a few questions and I think you’ll enjoy his answers. He’s given me volumes of ideas for my collection.

HomeWorkshop [...] Read more »

What’s best about producing HomeWorkshop.com? The friendships I’ve made with creative, colorful people, and the motivation we share on a daily basis.

Some of the people I’ve become closest to are “designing women.” Not those from that comfy old TV show (RIP Dixie Carter), but real, design and decorating professionals who do incredible work; and talented DIY’ers that turn their homes into striking expressions of [...] Read more »

Here’s the deal. You can put an outfit together, right? So why not apply some of that knowhow when it comes to outfitting your home?

That’s Annette Tatum’s approach in The Well-Dressed Home, Fashionable Design Inspired by Your Personal Style (Clarkson Potter, 2009). Here’s Tatum’s theory: You’ve taken the time to choose styles, colors and textures you love for your clothes. Use that inspiration you have [...] Read more »

Judith Miller has the same affliction I do. Like cat hair to my velvet sofa pillows, she’s attracted to chairs. Adores them.

Before leaving the house, she has to raise her right hand and swear to her husband that she absolutely will not bring home any more single chairs from the antiques market.

My girl.

I heard Judith—one of the world’s leading experts in antiques—relate that tale [...] Read more »

Wallpaper is back; we’ve talked about that in other posts. Clean, contemporary patterns and throwback designs are popping up in spaces of the style-savvy everywhere.

But with the gorgeous array of papers available today, you can spice up more than your walls. That’s what Derek Fagerstrom and Lauren Smith show us with their lively and fun DIY’s in Wallpaper Projects, More Than 50 Craft and Design [...] Read more »

How often do things deliver more than promised? This book does. Billed as a volume to help you decorate temporary digs like rentals, dorms and such, Robin Bernard and Adrienne Nappi’s Decorating to Go, Easy Ways to Feather Your Temporary Nest (Creative Homeowner, 2009) is a dynamite little book for renters and homeowners alike.

Its pages are teeming with design and decorating concepts and DIY [...] Read more »

Some decorating and design books inspire us with professional designers’ rooms and others give practical tips for us to apply in our own homes.

House Beautiful Colors for Your Home, 300 Designer Favorites (Hearst Books, 2008) does both. A truly useful handbook for choosing paint colors, I’ll be referencing it often.

In the book, renowned designers share entries about their favorite colors and those they come [...] Read more »

What would your dream studio look like? Would you build a backyard cottage and place your easel by the window overlooking your perennial beds? Would you carve out a corner of your city loft and fill it with industrial storage and a weathered wood work table? Would you sketch designs at the same desk as you craft your projects?

I find artists studios fascinating. Maybe [...] Read more »

Some of the most striking interiors combine well-worn pieces with new ones, or classic period antiques with modern materials. Picture a Mid-Century Modern Arne Jacobsen chair paired with a contemporary Scandinavian desk, or a weathered, painted-wood cabinet suspended above a sparkling glass vessel sink.

Place cutting-edge stainless steel kitchen appliances beside the rustic planks of an old farmhouse table, or mingle a vintage chandelier and [...] Read more »

My grandparents’ home in Braintree, Massachusetts was brimming with carefully crafted details. I remember the warm wood moldings that encased each room, the refined mantelpiece, and the useful glass and wood cabinets between the living and dining rooms. Grandma and Grandpa’s house was not large, but one could see that the craftsmen who built it had first considered the people who would be living there, [...] Read more »