By Martha Mulholland

I was possessed to make out this list when I looked through a couple of recently published design books I have and realized they are essentially identical overpriced coffee table books: They each feature the same rooms of the same houses, evoke the same feeling of slightly innocuous unassailability, and invariably show the same kind of high brow, ethno/mid-century meets traditional/Louis whatever brand of eclecticism so virulent in the Domino design era. So I set those titles aside and focused instead on the books in my library that I found truly inspirational and unique. Though they may not cater to my personal taste, they present some very unusual spaces or some timeless motifs, and are worth revisiting in your home.

Every Room Tells a Story, Nest Magazine

This is the hardbound incarnate of my favorite shelter mag of all time, Nest magazine. The thing I loved about Nest was its all-around unconventionality. Michael S. Smith and Miles Redd were supplanted by the performance artist Leigh Bowery, the design collective Fort Thunder, and the occasional baronial English country house, complete with eccentric heir, tartan, and dust. Not only does the book feature the same kookily irreverent graphic sensibility of the magazine, but it catalogues some of Nest’s best stories from the magazine's brief life. It takes the reader through each issue, offering a small glimpse at what lies inside. If you’re hooked on the book and want to know more, out-of-print issues of Nest can be obtained on ebay.

A House is Not a Home,  Bruce Weber

This limited-edition book of photographs by Bruce Weber is not a book of interiors in a technical sense, but rather a collection of images that convey the essence of the subject’s personal space. The book features a wide swath of creative people in their home environments in a non-traditional (and of course beautifully captured) way. Weber takes us inside C.Z. Guest’s closet, Paul Bowles’ Tangier bedroom, and Georgia O’Keefe’s personal sanctuary, Ghost Ranch, in the New Mexico desert. This is a great, inspirational book to have on hand for a rainy day to dream yourself away to a prettier place. Used copies can be found at amazon.com

The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration, Norma Skurka

This book, published in 1976 by former Times H&G editor Norma Skurka, features both modern (by 1970s standards) and traditional interiors that I have rarely seen printed in other design books. Skurka compiles a sampling of the work of the 70s best-known decorators, including Parrish Hadley, John Saladino, Angelo Donghia, etc. The format is pretty straightforward shelter book “drapes by so and so, sofa upholstered in linen from such and such, vase Ming dynasty blah blah blah,” BUT the interiors are just amazing. The 70s seemed like such a polarizing period in the design world, and yet looking at this book and then looking at a current issue of any design magazine, you see the same themes, somewhat watered down or updated, today. These photos show the undistilled version of classic Park Avenue traditionalism (heavy Orientals, matched chintz, damask and toile galore, and elegant grandma neo-classicism) followed by some very groovy contemporary spaces, both beachy bohemian ones full of caning and kilim chaises, and very slick, neutral, Lucite-and-steel Euro modernism. A great volume for a vintage collector or someone seeking to revisit the origins of what is trendy again.

Interior Alchemy, Rebecca Purcell

This book, by the incredibly talented former visual director for ABC Carpet and Home and catalogue stylist for Anthropologie, is a beautiful and accessibly DIY manual for “found style.” Purcell is not for everyone—she loves layers, piles, collections and objects that show their age—but her advice for how to achieve the look of the lived-in home, or to live more creatively in your space, can be applied to almost any décor. She breaks the book down into decorative styles, including “expedition,” “attic,” and “alienated,” and then describes how to achieve each of these looks. She talks about how to age metals, make tassels, perfect draping and create a chandelier out of beads, baubles, buttons, and the like. The interiors featured in the book are whimsical yet haunted, moody and obsessive, but truly unique to any I have found in another book. A must-read for anyone who wonders how store windows and catalogues can have that dreamy, transportive effect on the viewer—here’s the trade secret straight from the source.

4 Comments