Book review - The Meghan Method

There is a new book out by Meghan Carter called The Meghan Method that I wanted to give a shout out here. First, because she included desire to inspire in her list of blog resources. :) Second, because I think this book is fantastic for those who need some help when it comes to decorating their home. Meghan lays it all out for ya. She helps you figure out what your goals are for the space (she has lots of helpful sheets on her website you can print off to help with this), then she helps you create a plan and drawings of how it will look, and finally she has all kinds of tips and ideas on how to make the space come to life - with talk of budget, timelines, and pulling it all together. What I thought was very smart was that Meghan's book takes you through all these steps with a few rooms she designed. Below are some examples of the drawings she did for an office, as well as the final product. You can purchase the book here.

  

  

Reader request - built-in shelving for fireplace

This reader request was sent in a while ago by Kristina: My mother is really struggling with adding a wall of built in shelving around her fireplace in her living room. I told her I would try to find some inspiring reference photographs. She wants to add a wall of bookcase shelving around the (brick) fireplace, hoping to put the TV above the fireplace. I suggested some double doored cabinets to put the DVD player surround sound etc. The room has HIGH ceilings so the bookcase wall would go all the way up, pretty vast. There is also a slanted ceiling, which is driving her crazy. I suggested a decorative round piece on the top shelf to tie in the slant. Any pictures would be helpful!! I am so glad Kristina added in that last sentence because despite looking at hundreds of photos of living rooms, I could not find any photos that were perfect for her mom's dilemma. Instead I grabbed all sorts of photos simply of built-in bookcases/shelving around fireplaces to hopefully help with ideas - and for anyone else looking to provide storage around a fireplace.

the selby
design*sponge
Jerry Jacobs Design
Nathan Egan
Colombe Stevens
Warren Heath
Dana Wolter

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The best of Metropolitan Home

Hey folks - there's a design book I got my hands on recently that I had to tell you about. It's called Design 100 (Filipacchi Publishing 2010), and was created by former features editor Michael Lassell of the now defunct magazine Metropolitan Home. The book features 100 houses, apartments, lofts or rooms that were created by the best designers and architects of our time and each holds a title, such as "Most Meditative Master Suite”, "Best Modern Makeover of a Historic House" and "Hottest Shot of Color in Miami". I really enjoyed it and was really curious to see what homes would be featured under each category. Below are 4 spaces from the book - if you'd like to know what these were the best of, you'll have to go buy the book (which you can do via Amazon). ;)

New book by Richard Powers

Excited by the the latest book from Richard Powers and Dominic Bradbury to hit the shelves - New Natural Home published by Thames & Hudson with French & Hungarian editions also available. "New Natural Home is a far reaching survey of some of the most enticing and eco-friendly homes from around the world. These are houses that are beautiful, well designed, flexible and that will inspire greener ways of living. Combining practical information, wide ranging texts and beautiful photography, New Natural Home is all about the next generation of pioneering, seductive and sustainable houses." If these teaser shots are anything to go by it looks gorgeous! You can grab a copy here.

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Icons captured by Michael Wee

One of my favourite books is 50/60/70 Iconic Australian Houses: Three Decades of Domestic Architecture by Karen McCartney (past editor of Inside Out magazine) with photography by Michael Wee. It is a joy to carefully turn its pages and dream of living is some of Australia's best mid-century homes by Harry Seidler, Peter Muller, Roy Grounds, Peter McIntyre, Russell Jack, Robin Boyd, David McGlashan and Neil Everist, Enrico Taglietti, Neville Gruzman, Bruce Rickard, Hugh Buhrich, Ian McKay, Iwan Iwanoff, John Kenny and Ian Collins. Now for those of you who can't get a taste of these domestic masterpieces in your own copy of the book here is a chance at a little sneaky peek. I happened upon the photographer Michael Wee's website and there in the midst of an outstanding portfolio were images from the book. Michael's work is just as incredible as these remarkable houses. If you are a devotee of mid-century design I cannot recommend this book enough. 

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