Dylan Landis has an inside track with the decorating pros. Elegant and Easy Rooms will tell you their opinions on everything from how to arrange furniture in comfortable and imaginative ways to how to choose a color to create a certain mood or period (in the 1940's a particular shade of yellow was the most popular). The chapters include: Paint and Color, Walls, Windows, Problem Rooms--Great Solutions, Home Furnishings, The Art of Display, and Telling Details. There will also be an incredibly useful and valuable appendix listing all the best mail order resources for everyone's decorating needs. It will be illustrated with charming, elegant black and white drawings that will further entice you to upgrade your decor.
An enchanting space that’s truly unique calls for a sense of humor, whimsy, and an open mind. From a charmed New Orleans childhood to a successful acting career on Broadway and the award-winning TV show Mad Men to the opening of his popular Big Easy home furnishings boutique, Hazelnut, Bryan Batt has always turned to home design as a creative outlet. To him, the best rooms are unexpected yet refined and, above all, evoke emotion. He doesn’t think twice about hanging oversized decorations from a Mardi Gras float in an elegant dining room or bringing home vintage etchings of sconces when he was actually shopping for real ones. He believes that a vibrant orange wall can be a neutral backdrop for an antique writing desk and earthy accessories, and that an artist’s whimsical bird’s nest sculpture hung in a lavender entryway couldn’t serve as a better welcome into a cozy abode. New Orleans has taught Bryan so much about how to pull together a space that’s fearless and colorful with plenty of panache. With the city as his muse—its strong roots in history, its celebration of tradition, and, of course, the wild festivities of Mardi Gras—he believes that designing a fabulous, livable home that truly reflects a dweller’s passions need not be intimidating. Big, Easy Style showcases rooms that make Bryan smile, with pages of rich photography featuring the work of many designers—and plenty of Crescent City interiors—framed by his own entertaining maxims on color, pattern, collecting, living areas, intimate spaces, and more. Explore rooms he’s personally designed and others that inspire him; from an old-world kitchen imported straight from the heart of France to a luxurious Art Deco media room, these homes are enticing and unique, and through their surprising details, completely inviting. Decorating your home to reflect your personality and taste takes practice and patience and can be a daunting undertaking, but Bryan proposes that we not worry about making mistakes, that any decision we make is better than no decision at all. With Big, Easy Style, learn how to put aside your hesitation and surrender to the wild side of home design for a big statement that’s easy to achieve. "You’ll love his collection of photographs of beautiful New Orleans rooms layered with his design tips and anecdotes of his own design experiences."—Southern Living "[Big, Easy Style] reads like a hard-copy extension of Batt's personality--elegant, gregarious, funny, showman-like. The rooms he's chosen to showcase are painstakingly designed, yet, in that enviable way, appear so easily tossed together."— Susan Langenhennig, The Times Picayune "With great passion and a zest for creativity, [Bryan Batt] and Katy Danos offer thoughtful tips on color, collecting, patterns and much more along the way. Kerri McCaffety captures the beauty of each room in her inviting photographs. I love Batt's unique whimsy style. How many of us would think of placing giant decorations from a Mardi Gras float in a lavish dining room? Or how about hanging an ornate crystal chandelier in the kitchen? Or what about painting a Chippendale-style chair mellow yellow. But they all work!"—Jeryl Brunner, Stylist.com "If you've missed Bryan Batt since he left the set of Mad Men in 2009 (he played Salvatore Romano), catch up with him in a decor ode to his hometown: New Orleans. [In Big, Easy Style], we're treated to his vision of making rooms inviting, festive and ultimately setting the foundation for entertaining, which is what this get-down town is all about."—San Francisco Chronicle "The book is full of Batt's tips. It's like spending an afternoon with someone who you'd like to watch decorate a home."-- Karen Dalton-Beninato, Huffington Post Books
AD100 and Elle Decor A-List designer Timothy Corrigan shares his secrets for creating rooms that are elegant and comfortable, luxurious yet livable. Throughout his career, Corrigan has established a look that is layered and detailed, while always suitable for the way people live today. His distinctive approach encompasses practicality as well as beauty, merging European refinement with California comfort. Here, Corrigan shares homes in which he has defined a new contemporary elegance, including a John Fowler-inspired London townhouse, a Hollywood Regency-inspired Los Angeles Colonial, an art-filled Chicago apartment in the sky, and Corrigan's own Paris pied-à-terre. Corrigan includes advice throughout on how to adapt classic design principles and traditional forms to make them work for busy modern lives. Between each chapter are instructive interludes in which Corrigan outlines the building blocks of successful decoration, with fundamental topics such as scale and proportion, symmetry, architectural details, and working with color.
This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.
When someone says they live in a small house or apartment, the image that comes to mind is all too often negative—cramped, cluttered, or confining. But America’s leading small space designer, Libby Langdon, knows just how to counter that stereotype. In Libby Langdon’s Small Space Solutions, she finally offers a practical, user-friendly guide to decorating small spaces so they look stylish, beautiful, and larger than their actual dimensions. Setting out from the premise that it doesn’t take lots of money to achieve a warm and inviting atmosphere, she delivers practicality and inspiration that’s affordable. Armed with a bit of basic design knowledge and a few of Libby’s tricks of the trade, any small-space dweller can learn how to create gracious, inviting small-space homes that are also functional to a tee. Each chapter addresses the most common problems encountered in a particular space—living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, office, or hall—and presents solutions and sample layouts, as well as numerous color photos showing transformed spaces “before” and “after” that illustrate small-space design tips. Libby also spells out the top ten mistakes people make in small spaces, and provides step-by-step instructions for painting and hanging art. An invaluable resource for apartment dwellers, first-time homeowners, and anyone looking to downsize, Libby Langdon’s Small Space Solutions proves that living with less doesn’t mean living without luxury.
A designer who’s “turned pie crust decorating into an art form” shows how to embellish an ordinary crust—for a creation as beautiful as any cake (Martha Stewart). Everyone knows that serving a pie for dessert makes guests happy. And serving one with a beautifully designed crust that makes guests swoon is even better. Pies can be as stunningly attractive as the most decorative cakes with the use of some basic techniques and the appropriate care when working with pie dough. The recipes and techniques in this book give any home baker the tools to create breathtaking works of pie art. From preparation of the dough to the last moments of baking, all methods are clearly presented using step-by-step photographs. A flat surface, rolling pin, sharp knife, and cookie cutters of different sizes and shapes make embellishing an ordinary pie crust easy. The 25 designs in this book, arranged by three levels of difficulty, range from graphic art styles to seasonal-inspired florals—offering the first guide to creating these stunning works of edible art. “[A] gorgeous cookbook...As the book progresses, so do your skills.” —Taste of Home
Whether you want to create a cozy winter wonderland in your living room, a blooming summertime welcome on your deck, or an autumn refuge by your fireplace, Liz Marie Galvan’s Cozy White Cottage Seasons gives you the inspiring photos, DIY ideas, and fun recipes you need to feel at home on any budget and in every season. Do-it-yourself interior designer and popular blogger Liz Marie Galvan helps you create space to snuggle up, stretch out, or kick back at home so you can focus on what matters most during the holidays and every day. Following the popularity of Cozy White Cottage, Cozy White Cottage Seasons is a beautiful, full-color photography holiday lifestyle book with easy-to-do, practical tips to make your home a welcome haven—from New Year’s Day to spring, summer, fall, and all the way through Christmas. Cozy White Cottage Seasons equips you to: Create cozy celebrations, traditions, and memories indoors and out Repurpose furniture and decor for every season Cultivate your flair for vintage, modern, farmhouse, or a unique style all your own Design a hot cocoa bar—and make other seasonally cozy recipes Store and manage holiday clutter And so much more! In addition, you’ll find fun ideas to celebrate and decorate for: Christmas Thanksgiving Halloween Fourth of July Father’s Day and Mother’s Day Easter Valentine’s Day And any special gatherings Cozy White Cottage Seasons is a great gift for Christmas, birthdays, and Mother’s Day or as a beautiful yet practical housewarming gift. A cozy enthusiast living in an 1800s farmhouse, Liz’s design tips and wisdom have been featured on the TODAY show, Better Homes and Gardens, and Country Living. With decorating tips, fun family traditions, and doable ways to make your home inviting in every season, Liz helps you create a beautiful living space and a grateful heart all year long. Look for Liz's other cozy home décor book full of DIY inspiration, Cozy White Cottage.
Add That Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi to Your Home, Effortlessly Rustic and elegant French décor never goes out of style—and with easy yet sophisticated accessories for your home, these 70 projects will transform your space and add that special touch to any room. Jamie Lundstrom’s projects use easy-to-find and recycled objects, as well as new materials, to bring her French vintage style into your life. Projects span every season and category, from sewing to painting and upholstery, including provincial antique baskets, a fantastique Trumeau mirror, a jolie gold leaf frame, boutique plaster of Paris–dipped flowers and a chic antique chair. Featuring simple step-by-step instructions with beautiful photos to help guide you, these projects can be created in just a few hours or less.
A human-centric guide to solving complex problems in engineering management, from sizing teams to handling technical debt. There’s a saying that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Management is a key part of any organization, yet the discipline is often self-taught and unstructured. Getting to the good solutions for complex management challenges can make the difference between fulfillment and frustration for teams—and, ultimately, between the success and failure of companies. Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle focuses on the particular challenges of engineering management—from sizing teams to handling technical debt to performing succession planning—and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management for leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes. An Elegant Puzzle balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.
Whether you live in a country farmhouse or an urban apartment, find inspiration for every room in your home. Come cozy up with your creativity and Liz's welcoming voice so you can love the feeling of being at home. In this beautiful book of house and garden photography and DIY inspiration, popular blogger Liz Marie Galvan shares: 100 tips and tricks to make your home feel cozy Budget-friendly hints to make decorating affordable Simple DIY projects for every room in your house In Cozy White Cottage, you'll get the help you need to create a space you love coming home to as Liz offers her best home décor and design tips. You'll love Liz's real-life, easy, and affordable ideas to get the most out of your home and discover things like: The passion and productivity that can pour out of an inspiring, functional workspace or home office The conversation and connection that flow out of a warm, well-arranged living room The thoughtful hospitality that can welcome guests, be it for a cup of coffee or an overnight stay The rejuvenation that can happen when we have quiet spaces for reading, prayer, and rest The calming routines and rituals that we can implement into our spaces and our lives The laughter, joy, and learning that can occur in adorable, functional playrooms The life-giving power that beats in the heart of our homes: the kitchen Join the hundreds of thousands of readers and DIY-ers who find design inspiration on Liz's blog, where she shares stories of life with her son, Cope, and veteran husband, Jose, in their 1800s Michigan farmhouse, and her home décor boutique. Cozy White Cottage offers inspiration for every style and makes the perfect self-purchase, housewarming gift, birthday treat, Mother's Day read, or holiday gift. Look for Liz’s other cozy home décor book of DIY inspiration, Cozy White Cottage Seasons.