Must Have New Fall Design Books!
(A favorite bookshelf from one of our client projects, featured in my first book- photo by Michael J. Lee)
The one accessory that clients rarely have enough of when we are trying to photograph their spaces for publication are books. There have a been a couple times we have needed to edit bookshelves down, but usually we have to bring in stacks and stacks of our own books to flesh out a space, especially one with lots of built in shelving. And while we may love your tattered series of paperback Twilight books or Harry Potter as much as the next gal, we’d prefer NOT to shoot those :) Beautiful coffee table books are worth investing in not only for the delightful subject matter inside, but also as decorative objects. A home is not a home without books!
For the project above we had a truly alarming amount of shelf space we needed to fill. Like, jaw dropping. And the client did not have a tenth of the books needed to fill the space properly. So we went to a local used book store and bought ALL THE BOOKS. Literally, all the violet colored ones and then some. There are great shops on Etsy that sell vintage books by spine color. When you have SO much space to fill not every book will have meaning and that’s ok. Picking up some beautiful old books is good for the environment and gives your space some patina. Look here, here and here.
And with a bevy of new design books coming out this fall (some by friends of mine-yay!), I wanted to share some of the ones I’ve been coveting or already have seen (I’m looking at you “Down to Earth” and Travel Home– both magnificent!!!)
SHOP THESE TITLES BY CLICKING ON COVERS:
Browse:
Added several of these to my Amazon wish list. Great recommendations, thanks Erin!
I have Travel Hme in front of me, and so good! I’m also waiting for Down to Earth to arrive.
sad–do you see how ridiculous this is–books for people that don’t read?
That isn’t AT ALL what I said. People read mostly on Kindle now and don’t have as many books as they used too- so yes, lots of people need to buy books to fill their shelves when they have massive built ins. Check your judgement before commenting.
Agree with Erin’s comments. I am an avid reader, and just so much easier to read on my device. But I definitely buy all the magazines and all the design books, because some things are just better in print.
Agreed, Erin. Built-in shelves need books. In fact, every home needs books. I don’t mind reading fiction or non-fiction like biographies on my Kindle app but there is no substitute for the delight of a beautifully illustrated coffee table book. I also like reading the classics and the experienced is enhanced by reading a leather bound volume. Thank for your wonderful blog. You have given me lots of great ideas.
Unfortunately there are lots of folks who are not readers, about a quarter of the population. Kindle or no kindle. I prefer to hold almost all books in my hand to read. Research has shown that reading on a kindle or the like device is not the same as having the actual device. Print books are better at conveying and aiding one in remembering information. A study reported in the Guardian last year found that readers using a Kindle were less likely to recall events in a mystery novel than people who read the same novel in print. A few books can be just fine on shelves, read or not. But on the majority of shelves of a non reader stacked with books? Not really living authentically, and what fun is that? How about personal collections, beautiful wood boxes, statues, imported porcelain, blue and white, celadon, baskets and so much more that would reflect the actual lives the people live. I really do not care for the idea that books can be solely decorative. They offer so much more than that and I dislike them being relegated to bookshelves simply for their colored bindings. When I designed for a client their collections became an inspiration point, and if books were important, then yeah! I like what you did with the books on the shelves however.
Timothy Corrigan: The New Elegance .. is another must have design book for the fall. I wholeheartedly agree that a home is not a home without books. As usual, your posts are wonderful and informative.
Erin – check out Alex Beam’s op ed in today’s Boston Globe!