Creative Walls

A new book title recently caught my interest. Creative Walls is an inspirational guide by Geraldine James designed to help you arrange the collections you treasure to best effect and create elegant displays that give a home character and charm. If you feel daunted my the blank canvas of your bare walls this book will provide you with a ton of inspiration.

Check out the full 22 page preview here.

Update: Holly Becker has written a full book review on Real Simple Magazine's Simply Stated blog.

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Bloggers Become Book Authors

Bloggers taking the leap from the web to the printed page is not a new phenomena but when I hear that some of my favorite bloggers are releasing titles this year I get really excited. I can live without a copy of Shit My Dad Says or I Can Has Cheezburger but these three books will definitely finding a home on my bookshelf.

Jessica Quirk, personal style blogger for the site What I Wore, has assembled a fashion "cook book" to help you create your own recipe for personal style. It will be illustrated by Jessica and released in August 2011. I'm such a fan of her fashion illustrations so I can't wait to pick this one up.

Book #2 I couldn't be more excited about if I wrote it myself. Decorate - 1,000 Ideas for Every Room in Your Home is co-authored by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick and photographed by Debi Treloar. The book will feature the homes of some really inspiring people as well has professional decor solutions for every budget. It has been Holly's dream since childhood to write a book and I can't be happier for her that the dream has become a reality. I just know it will be fabulous. The book will be available this Spring but I've pre-ordered my copy already :)

Grace Bonney's Design*Sponge At Home is loaded with over 70 homes, 50 diy projects, 50 before & after makeovers, floral projects, diy basics (how to wire a light, sand and paint furniture, etc), upholstery basics (sewing couch slipcovers, pillows, etc.), and much, much more. It sounds like the book will be a decorating and design manual everyone should own. Pre-orders will begin in May 2011 and the book with be on stands after Labor Day.

There's one more book that I might have to pick up:

Are there any book releases that you are excited about this year? Are your favorite bloggers authoring them?

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Marie Claire Maison: Colour

I have a book review for you today. I should let you know right off the bat that I was not approached to write this review, I bought this book with my own dough because I thought it looked interesting. Let's get into it, shall we?

Marie Claire Maison: Colour
Bridget Bodoano
ISBN-10: 1844005046
Hardcover, 160 pages


I was doing some fantasy European shelter magazine subscription shopping on Amazon one afternoon when I stumbled across this book. I say fantasy shopping because getting European magazine subscriptions delivered in the US is often pretty expensive. Marie Claire Maison - France is one of my favorite magazine and I love clicking through the galleries on their website. While searching for the magazine I found the hardcover coffee table book, Marie Claire Maison: Colour. The focus of the book is to provide practical advice on how to use color to enhance any decorating scheme. Discussions about how to utilize color are punctuated with beautiful photos from previous issues of Marie Claire Maison.

The first chapter talks about the origins of raw pigments, how and why certain colours complement one another and the effect of colour on space. Other chapters discuss how to successfully use strong shades, historical colours, muted pastels and watercolour tints.

I enjoyed the discussion about the psychology of color but I was really pleased to see that author stress that you do not need to study color in depth to find what colors suit you. The most important thing to remember is that you should trust your instincts and not be afraid to act on your initial response to a color.

If you are a complete novice and working with color terrifies you this book will be really helpful. There is a lot of background information provided including the definitions of important color terms like Hue, Tint, Tone, etc.

And the best part, of course, is being able to flip through the book and drool over the fabulous Marie Claire Maison eye candy. I bought this book used (in like-new condition) which I often do and paid about $9 so I would definitely say it was worth it. I probably would not pay more than about $15 for a used copy of this book. The book was published in the U.K. so finding a new copy may be difficult and expensive.

Hope you enjoyed this review and let me know if you would like to see more of them in the future.