Top Interior Designer’s Tips for Keeping it Clean

I ran into someone tonight who I have not seen in over two years. I felt a hand on my shoulder at a business function and turned around to see a familiar face. There was something radiant about her face; something glowing. As we spoke she told me of the adventure the past two years have delivered to her life.

Interesting to me was her story of a visit to a meditation retreat in India and how it changed her life. Planned as a one month visit her time there stretched to over 10 months. She spoke of her clarity, her knowledge that this was the right place for her at this time in her life.

She meditated, worked, learned and is now confident that the same clarity of purpose is guiding her to new adventures. I came away from the conversation refreshed and challenged. It is refreshing to hear someone so connected with a confidence about their reality. This same confidence is also challenging.

It begs an examination of my own reality, about the things I prize. It asks about my commitment to these things and why I do what I do. In someway it prompts a bit of internal house-keeping. The only way to successfully construct a building is to start with a good foundation.

Seems to me the only way to build a successful life is to find clarity of purpose. Be clear on the concept of your life and don’t waver. Seems like a nice clean way to begin the second month of 2008.

Best Interior Designer: Tips on Hosting a Cocktail Party

I’ve been skiing the past 5 days and to help keep me upright and others around me safe I enlist the services of a trainer who helps me learn to be a better skier. It’s working, slowly, and I enjoy the process and the practice. Something we were speaking of this past week echoes in my mind this morning and I want to share this concept with you.

I find it interesting how many people (that I speak with) don’t entertain in their homes at all. For a long list of reasons they never share their homes with people in their life. Call it fear; call it insecurity; call it laziness?

There may be many reasons, but the net result is that people lose the opportunity of playing the role of host, which in my opinion, is one of the most thrilling adventures one can set out on.

Hosting guests in your home allows for a powerful connection to take place. Guest and Host, both having their responsibilities, interact in ways never imagined. Both parties win and you are then ready to begin planning your next entertaining event.

Here are tips for jump-starting the Host Within!

1. Start small. You don’t have to host the entire office staff. Keep it small. I like 6 people as it give each guest five opportunities to engage in conversation.

2. Keep is simple. You do not need to serve a sit-down dinner to 36 of your nearest and dearest. Plan a simple cocktail hour at your home before going on to dinner. This could not be a better idea. The numbers are small, the time frame is compact and the evening has another destination, which takes great pressure off you.

3. Enlist the help of your friends. Let your closest friends know what you are up to and ask for their help. Whether they assist by attending or by helping you gather the guest list, it is always stress reducing to know that you are not alone in the adventure.

4. Have fun. If you don’t enjoy your party no one will. I understand the risk you take in opening your home. I can only share with you from years of experience (all accomplished on a shoe-string budget) that if you can enjoy yourself at your own party you won’t trade the experience for anything, ever.

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Seating the Dining Room Table

I hate a Dining Room Table that doesn’t encourage conversation. So with that thought in mind, imagine my Dear Gatherer of Hospitable Knowledge, the sensation a guest in your humble manner encounters when seated at your dining table. First, let us not forget the honor that such seating and the preceding invitation carries.

To be a guest in a home is a weighty matter and carries with it rights and responsibilities. Despite volumes written on the subject many can’t fathom, and most likely never will, the subtle nuances attached to their role as a guest. Suffice it to say that you have bestowed on this mere mortal the high honor of suffering through your blossoming efforts at hospitality.

They have navigated the mine-field of a cocktail hour, managed to neither offend nor be offended by the random cast and crew you have gathered for this high and holy event. And now, Oh High Priest (or Priestess) of this temple of social interaction is the moment which all moments anticipate. Now is the culmination of all masterful maneuvering. Now is the time when said guest is delivered to the High Alter of Entertaining; The Dining Room Table.

Set with ceremonial precision by temple Virgins, the table itself is a feast for the senses. Laid with linens, crystal, china, silver, flowers and items of personal expression, the table lays a backdrop for the scintillating conversation and witty repartee dutifully delivered by your chosen guests.

How easy it will be for these rivers of ribaldry to flow when your guest can easily see and communicate with a wide range of fellow guests. Nothing dampens said flow more than being stuck in the middle of a long narrow table with your options for a worthy partner in this game of engagement shockingly limited.

Pray to the gods of hospitality for the blessing of the round table. Your glories as a guest are always greatly enhanced when you are looking into 7, 9 or 11 pairs of eyes (hoping there are not glass shills in the crowd) rather than the combed or coiffed silhouette of your two dinner companions.

Interior Designers in the OC: Book Review

Wherever you go you will find it. It is one of the beautiful, inescapable parts of life on this planet, however it is possible to become so involved the distractions of daily life that you skim right over it; not so much ignoring it which implies a conscious decision, but more the bliss of the ignorant.

Wallowing in great ignorance it is possible to move through one’s day and seen great chunks of one’s life without the awareness of its subtlety and power. The illusive element that I refer to is “color.”

How often have you had a conversation with someone and then not been able to recall the color of their eyes or the shade of their tie or blouse? Color is always present. The real question related to color is “are we ready to actually see it?”

If color is of interest to you, then may I introduce John Pile’s book Color in Interior Design. If you are a homeowner and wish to learn more about color and all that it involves then this is the book for you. If you are a student wanting to build your body of knowledge related to color; then this book is for you.

If you are a design professional and you would like to keep a book in your library as a quick and easy reference guide; then this is the book for you.

The author has a long history of producing quality educational volumes which make the subject matter attainable. For all interest levels, Mr. Pile delivers information in a way that is educational without being heavy-handed or cumbersome. Pick up this volume and see how much you learn.

Top Interior Designer: Random Thoughts

Some moments take your breath away. Coming off the chair-lift, turning slightly and seeing valleys of white laid out as far as the eye can see takes my breath away. Cresting a sand dune and catching a first glimpse of whitecaps crashing on the shore takes my breath away.

Picking up a squirming, wiggling little ball of a puppy; holding them to your face and feeling the sweet warmth of puppy-breath takes my breath way. Watching one I love move across a crowded room takes my breath away. Hearing someone speak the truth in a difficult moment takes my breath away.

The soprano’s high note at the end of the first act can take my breath away. A beautifully crafted chapter in a skillfully written book can take my breath away. Things big and small have this effect. I find that I can’t predict the response. I can’t always guess when it will happen and I think that the surprise is what makes these moments so delicious.

I never expected the view from the top of that ski run to be so beautiful. I am surprised by this truth and my breath is suspended for a split second. The candy coated sweetness of the puppy’s breath was not planned so my genuine delight causes the breath to pause and that moment to be elevated to a special place. Breathless Moments.

Being instrumental in crafting moments like these breathless moments is part of what being a great host/hostess is all about. Taking what you have (which includes your imagination) and crafting special surprises for your friends and family is what will set you apart from other hosts or homeowners.

Give the gift of beauty to your guests in the form of something surprising. Take their breath away. Enjoy the moment together. That is a beautiful thing.

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Cleaning Tips

If you are living anywhere near a radio, television, computer or newspaper these days you may find yourself inundated with information. Whether it is political, economical, and social or education-based, there is information flying past us at an ever-increasing rate.

Some days I feel buried by it almost as if I were drowning. When this happens I try to revolt. I cancel a subscription or turn something off, usually with a big huff as if this will resolve my overwhelmed feelings. Like a child tossing a tantrum I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Then the sun comes up and I log-on or tune-in or pick-up, and suddenly, I’m where I was the day before.

Need a feeling of accomplishment? Need something you can act upon and that will deliver a great feeling of gratification? Then I suggest we take charge of a corner or a cupboard or even a drawer and clean it up!

1. Pick the project. If you don’t have a clear goal or objective how will you ever know if you have achieved anything? Pick one closet, cabinet or drawer. Be clear and decisive and then write the target down (a white board or Post-It-Notes are great for this).

2. Set aside time. Pick a 30 minute period of time and mark it on your calendar. You’ve just made a date with yourself to succeed.

3. Take stock of what you need. Do you have the supplies that you will need to realize your goal? If not, then plan a trip to the store to fully stock your project.

4. Gather a team. Sometimes the worst part of a project is doing it alone. Find a partner and make it fun. Put on your favorite music and enjoy yourself.

5. Reward yourself when the task is complete. Sometimes just achieving the goal is not enough. If that’s the case for you give yourself a reward that will motivate you and then get to work.

Interior Design Firms Los Angeles: Entertaining Tips

1. Start Something New. Maybe your girlfriends need a “Girl’s Night at The Movies.” A neighborhood buffet once a season would help establish friendships on your block or in your building. Have fun and think outside the box.

2. Keep it simple. You don’t have to cook everything to have a great dining experience in your home. I began doing “Meatloaf Thursdays” and I have everyone bring something. I provide the entrée (Bill Blass’ meatloaf recipe has become a favorite) and friends contribute to the rest of the menu.

3. Be consistent. I like to give my friends (new and old) something they can depend on. I considered my calendar and decided that once a month I would set a Thursday evening aside for a casual, easy evening with friends and I’ve stuck by my commitment. We all look forward to this new tradition.

4. Be considerate. Don’t plan big events on school nights. Don’t assume friends will be in town for big holidays. Communicate and consider times when calendars are not full and create a niche for your “something special.” If you plan something for a week-night, start early and promise everyone that you will toss them out the door by 8:30pm. Who could refuse?

5. Create a signature gesture. I decided that homemade chocolate-chip cookies would be my signature for “Meatloaf Thursdays.” The evening is always ended with a plate of warm cookies; they are easy to make (freeze the dough and bake as guests arrive) and lets my friends know how special they are to me.

Interior Design Firms Los Angeles: Tips on Lighting Your Home

Gentle Reader, as we scamper down the path of history and look quickly at the evolution of dining, two things stand out. One: we have forgone the quaint expectation of using our hands as dining instruments (praise be!), and Two: we have evolved our technical capacity for illumination far beyond the tar dripping torches and quivering chandeliers found in the dining halls of 16th century Europe.

Not to say that we cannot learn from our early (and by certain standards crude) ancestors in the area of illumine: so let’s place two concepts on the table for consideration:

1. General Lighting. Think giant hammered iron spectacles suspended high above the dining hall (circa 1507) with hundreds of knobby candles plopped down on its sturdy steel arms casting uneven light around the great hall.

Unsteady light was cast from high above, coating the room with a blanket of
dappled honey colored light. Fine for avoiding a walk into the side of the dining table, but less successful when trying to find the eye-hook on your chain-mail frockcoat.

2. Task lighting. With specific tasks at hand specific solutions where needed. Seeing what was set before them on long banqueting tables required a light source much closer to the user. Candelabra (torches on stands) came into being.

Moving from one location in the fortress/castle to another required halls and passages be lit, so torches were slung from wall brackets and placed at helpful increments down those long, dank, dark hallways. Inviting, maybe not, but at least you weren’t running into walls, knights or the wrong end of someone’s sword.

Feeling very much the scholarly sleuth I will now suggest to you, Dear Receiver of Illumination, some practical suggestions to light your way:

1. As a rule hang your chandelier 36” above the top of your dining table. Generally this allows for a successful relationship between the elements. You look good as you want to be seen in the best light possible. Your guests should glow beautifully, though they should never look as good as you.

The table (your creative masterpiece) should be washed in enough light to make Caravaggio weep. Yes, selecting a perfectly sublime chandelier helps. Finding one with the proper number of candles for the room size is important.

Shearing over the chain a beautiful cord sleeve continues to help the cause but, at the end of the day if you’ve hung the chandelier so high that your guests have to strain to catch a glimpse, don’t be surprised when they topple over in their chairs as they try to appreciate your great antique acquisition. You might as well have bought that lacquered brass number form Guido’s Lighting and Appliance Store and called it a day. SHREEK!

2. One word on candles; yes. Use them often and everywhere. Pertinent to this conversation use them on your table. Combined with dimmed light from your marvelously hung chandelier the light from candles on your table make for the most beautiful dining experiences. Have you ever wondered why everyone in Merchant Ivory films looks so damn great? It’s the candlelight.

An ugly mud fence looks remarkable in candlelight. Imagine the compliments your sour old Aunt Gertrude will land (not to mention her unwavering gratitude and, no doubt a prominent spot in the will) when her ugly old puss is washed in the loving and forgiving light of candles; all part of your magnificent entertaining tour de force.

Top Los Angeles Interior Designer’s Book Review

A point of view or perspective carries a potential of great power. Convictions attached to and supported by one’s point of view can drive decisions and shape the unknown. A ripple achieved by one stone and still water reaches far. Shifts in reality so subtle as to be missed in the moment carry implications and time is their caretaker.

As a constant companion, they inevitably disclose their truth. Lives are touched, grazed, nudged and bruised. Lives spin, real, weave and stumble. They attempt to right themselves and take the first steps in their newly shaped experience.

For the opening scene alone I recommend to you a book published in Germany in 1985 with an English translation the following year. Written by Patrick Suskind and translated by John E. Woods the book is titled Perfume.

The story has little to do with our typical subject matter. The book, however, offers a description of life in 18th Century France, which I have carried with me since I first heard the words of the opening scene read aloud to me at a dinner party 10 years ago.

My point of view changed substantially as the meaning of these words struck home. Like a paintbrush vanquishing an outdated, unrealistic scene, Suskind’s descriptions of the day-to-day realities of 18th Century France painted a crisp and precise new view. This view is the unrelenting backdrop for a gripping tale that will leave you breathless. Find the book and see what I mean.

Good Advice from one of the Top Interior Design Firms Los Angeles

Two-way streets are a wonder. From a vantage point above street level, observing the choreography that unfolds as multiple lanes of motorized masses sail past each other. It is amazing; sometimes heart stopping, but always a dance of human and technological daring. Somewhere in this waltz of wonder is a lesson having to do with the yin and yang of life.

It is true that what goes up must come down. It is also true that energy expended must be restored in anticipation of the need for future expansion. So when we think about the effort and energy expended when we entertain we must, from time to time, attend to our needs so that we can best care for those whom we invite into our home.

One of the best readily available methods each of us has to recharge our inner life is to connect with our core of friends and family. You will be amazed at how energizing this time can be; by strengthening these most important relationships we strengthen every facet of our life. Take some of these suggestions and then use your imagination to build better and stronger relationships.

With your children:
-Movie night with each child.
-Bake cookies or brownies together
-Read together

With your spouse or partner:
-Sign up for something together; ballroom dancing, cooking classes or learn the art of massage together
-Explore a local winery together
-Plan a hike or select a local park for a quiet stroll.

With Relatives or Friends:
-Visit local museums
-Join or form your own book club
-Volunteer with a local charity group.

Pet Peeves of Interior Design Firms Los Angeles

I hate uncomfortable dining chairs!

Okay children, gather round. I’m going to read you a story. It is a monumental story of love and loss; a story of war and peace, of life and death strung through generation after generation each struggling to find their way through this tempestuous land… and while I read these 927 pages to you I’d like for you to perch your boney little behinds on these wooden pallets, with no back support, and which teeter on 3 legs.

While you do that, remember you should be well dressed, engaging and communicate well with those around you. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it. Well of course not. I would rather have dental surgery than sit through such a tedious exercise. But how many brunches, luncheons and dinner parties have I suffered in chairs selected (if not designed by) the Marquis de Sade himself.

In reference to his inevitable nap during Sunday morning church, my grandfather used to say that the mind can only absorb what the seat can endure. As the morning sermon droned on, grandpa’s mind lost the battle to his “seat of learning” and the requisite nap (much to the delight of his grandchildren) was born.

So all the fabulously fashionable festivities knowingly packed into your next fete’ will fall on dulled brains if you haven’t made certain that other weightier (theirs, not ours) body parts are gently caressed, pampered and cushioned.

Consider if you will the merits of the upholstered dining chair. When faced with the prospect of rigid plastic (thanks to our modernist masochistic mates) or tufted cotton velvet….which would you choose?

To answer this question, Dear Recumbent Reader, I beg of you one thing; forget for a moment your status as a card-carrying modernist, professing in zealous tones the virtues of form over function.

And acknowledge the general description of the dining chair in which you were last seen so lost in the heady weave of wine, epicedia and conversation that you lingered (without personal risk or injury) far into the night?

I could try guess of your experience, all day long, and not get anywhere; however, my personal experience is that the dining tables I linger at with the greatest easy and comfort are those blissfully supported by comfortably upholstered dining chairs.

Book Review from one of the Top Interior Design Firms Los Angeles

Time, I am convinced, has become the ultimate luxury. To have time; to make time; to find the time; all carry a risky richness born of a scarce commodity and demand which far outpaces the supply. Often I move through my day only conscious of the fast disappearing minutes before my next commitment commences.

When the unforeseen occurs and a dose of this rare elixir offers itself, you’re a fool if you don’t make the most of the moment. Recently I leveraged the unexpected as best I could by roaming through my little collection of books. Blessed is the person who finds what they are looking for.

Surprised is the person who finds something wonderful while just ambling along. I fall squarely into the later category having come across a book I have not opened in over ten years. Time has been good to both of us. The book is still delightful and I’m still standing without visible means of support.

Of great interest to me are manners, which are trotted around in public these days with the implication attached that all is well in the world. Whether this is the case or not, we will discuss at another time. For the precious moment at hand I would suggest to you a book titled Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table Manners by Margaret Visser.

The author turns an intelligent and witty eye toward the table and delivers a delightful exploration of the nuances found when we gather for a meal. The Rituals of Dinner explores every aspect of our eating rituals and, in doing so, helps us understand the possibilities for pleasure and the dangers, which at times, these exchanges imply.

Throughout the history of humankind, table manners have been one way of keeping the peace and of domesticating some of the wilder aspects of human behavior. It offers us a window through which we observe not just how, but why we act as we do. Worth reading from beginning to end, the author saves a postscript for those still interested titled “How Rude Are We?” You may be surprised but you will not be disappointed.

Best Los Angeles Interior Designer on Facing Fears

“What are you afraid of?” was the question lobbed to me by a fellow guest at a recent dinner party. Initially my mind was blank. I had spent the day with lacquered boards strapped to by feet, hurling myself down the shear face of a mountain and for a split second I actually considered the possibility that, with 46 years of experience safely tucked behind me, I was fearless.

My delusion did not last long. Slowly the list began to trickle through my brain. Never a torrent, but definitely not a drop or two; I would say comfortably a trickle. And not the big earth moving, live altering, boogey-man-in-the-closet type of things; no my list was a trickle of the mundane.

But it was my list and they were my fears and in an interesting way I was proud of them. I don’t believe pride can swell when there is no sense of ownership. These were my fears. I’ve worked to pare the list down to the mundane trickle passing before me. Who wouldn’t be proud? Right?

Aside from the fear, which I’m guessing will always be with me, I’m thinking today about a sense of ownership. Consider the things in our lives, which if pushed, you would rank of significant value (implying a cost to you which could be understood as ownership) to warrant additional energy to maintain. Friends? Family? Job? Home? Relationships?

My Grandfather told me many years ago that we are defined by the decisions we make. What do you own today? What are you placing value on and deciding to do about it? Understanding clearly the answers to these questions may help each of us shape our day, week, month and year into something of which we are proud.

Interior Designer Rooms: Good for Your Health

Have you ever been gripped by the desire to climb to the top of the nearest tallest building and scream at the top of your lungs “I TOLD YOU SO”! If your answer is yes, then you will understand my emotions on January 1, 2008 when I held in my hands the New York Times and read the words “Excessive clutter and disorganization are often symptoms of a bigger health problem.”

In an article titled A Clutter To Deep for Bins and Shelves, Tara Parker-Pope explores the realities related to the mess (extreme) which an estimated 1.5 million or more Americans live in daily.

Please understand that Ms. Parker-Pope and I are not speaking of the disaster area otherwise known as your teenager’s bedroom (which if you’re really lucky will either vanish or relocate when said teenager shuffles off to college), but rather of the type of clutter which can be defined as compulsive hording which takes over one’s living, dining and sleeping spaces in a way that harms an individual’s way of life.

Do yourself a favor and read the article. I found it fascinating to learn that the thing which I find so nurturing and reassuring (“a place for everything and everything in its place”) and which I readily encourage people towards at every turn might be beyond the reach of some, save for the help of psychiatric as well as design professionals.

Maybe my grandmother’s dictum that “a tidy room is the sign of a healthy mind” wasn’t so extreme after all.

Now clean up your room!

Free Online Recipes from a Los Angeles Interior Designer

I rang in the New Year in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Snow accumulated on the ground at a delightful rate and my skis spent very little time in their locker.

Mountains of powder, forests of snow-weighted pine and fields of dancing Aspen were irresistible. Following a full morning of competition between my limited abilities and the mountains timeless aptitudes I was hungry.

Stein Eriksen Lodge’s Chef Zane Holmquist’s “Wild Game Chili” became my favorite and it’s my pleasure to pass along this wonderful winter recipe.

Stein Eriksen Lodge
Wild Game Chili
(makes two gallons)

1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds buffalo, diced in 3/4″ cubes
2 pounds elk or venison, diced in 3/4″ cubes
2 pounds wild boar or pork, diced in 3/4″ cubes
2 pounds onions (4-5) medium diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1/2 cup pasilla chile powder
1/2 cup New Mexican chili powder
2 cups coffee, brewed
2 bay leaves
36 ounces tomato juice
6 12-ounce cans diced tomatoes
4 1/2 cups beef stock or three 12-ounce cans of beer
1/2 gallon water

Mix all dry spices together and use half the mixture to season the meat.

Heat the oil in pan (it can’t get hot enough). Brown meat for 10-15 minutes in the pan. Add onions, garlic and saute’ for 3-4 minutes. Add coffee, tomato juice, bay leaves, diced tomatoes, remainder of spice mixture, stock or beer, and water.

Simmer for 2-3 hours, until the meat is tender. You may have to adjust the consistency with more stock or beer and check the seasonings. Garnish with sour cream and green onion before serving.

Enjoy with a great red wine like 2003 Rejadarada Novellum from the Toro region of Central Spain. It is a full body packed with spice and dark fruit specifically clove, anize and dried plums. It is rich and tannic with a finish that lingers.

How (not) to Create Interior Designer Rooms

I hate not having a place to set a drink or book. Think of it this way, Dear Blazer-of-Stylish-Trails, it’s like landing a dinner reservation at that fabulous new restaurant everyone in town is clamoring to get in to (you snagged the last reservation just before Christ’s return).

You get all dressed up (and I mean really dressed up) and drive across town only to discover they don’t have parking. I don’t mean they just don’t have valet. I mean no valet, no little lot-in-the-back, no homeless person offering to watch your car for 10 bucks on the streets in this “up and coming neighborhood.” I mean nothing.

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Why it just takes all the Choo out of your Jimmy’s! It’s just not right. It’s inconvenient. In thoughtless and, well, you’ll show them. You’ll just never come back…

Now, Dear Students of the Sublime, as Socrates surely must have pined to the young eager minds gathered around his classically draped visage (think Madame Gres), “So do ya follow me, kids?”

The point of this wee digression is to never be a thoughtless host and never inconvenience a guest (unless it’s part of an over-arching, potently evil, socially punishing plan to right some long-standing wrong that was done against a weaker creature in your swirling circle of acquaintances and acquisitions… and if this is the case then you must come sit by me).

What type of inconvenience exactly? By allowing guests to navigate through the mine-field of chatter, platters and libations (also known as your Living Room) only to alight on your smartly upholstered (in the French manner, no doubt) 18th century canapé.

That’s when and where your guest realizes the only surface available to balance the Flora Danica plate, so generously offered by your catering staff, and your Baccarat highball glass filled to the brim with Jack’n Coke (courtesy of their own demons and just a touch of enablement by your hot-n-bothering bartender) is their own lap.

Yes, the same lap that is already burdened with their Judith Leiber clutch teetering on the strained skirt of their optimistically sized Dior cocktail suit. The look of horror on their face would bring tears to the eyes of the most heartless FEMA Field Director.

It’s a simple test. Wander randomly through you home. Spontaneously sit and reach. If all you find beneath your sweaty palm is the air that we breathe then get thee to a shop, gallery, flea market or tag-sale and fill the void with a smart, stylish table of sorts.

Book Review from one of the Top Interior Design Firms Los Angeles

Life is not always fair. Life is not always easy. But life is what we make of it regardless of our circumstances. The joy and happiness witnessed in the lives of those have been given little seems severely contrasted by a lack of thankfulness demonstrated in the lives of those with much. Regardless of material surroundings, it appears that thankfulness is what propels one to a joyful and beautiful life.

With these two extremes of heart and condition available, it is rewarding to cross paths with a life lived fully in the celebration of beautiful possibilities. Bunny Williams’ career as a celebrated interior designer has spanned 30 years. Her body of work has been well chronicled in the pages of major shelter magazines.

Her refined taste and attention to detail has earned her the reputation as one of our nation’s leading tastemakers. Her book An Affair with a House (written with Christine Pittel) allows a rare and instructional look at the evolution of an 18th century New England house.

Following Ms. Williams and her husband John Rosselli through the ups and downs of bringing a derelict property back to life, this book not only shares with its readers the results of refined taste, but a commitment to a spirit of place and beauty which comes from sharing your home with friends and family.

At once a practical and inspirational guide, An Affair with a House offers readers many options. From broad pictorials of the gardens to detail shots of the interiors, the photographs inspire. The text doesn’t fail to deliver insight, wit and wisdom from a one of our country’s great lover of homes.