This week we are reviewing the latest interiors books releases including mine! As I may have mentioned this comes out next Thursday but if you feel like pre-ordering that is always enormously helpful for authors as the more pre-orders the more promo the sites will give it and the more visibility it has. Here is a video of it so you can see how it works.
The pages are divided into three sections: small home, work from home, rented home and colour-coded by room so you can configure them to what you need to know about. This way you can learn about decorating a small, rented kitchen, or creating a temporary office in a small bedroom.
But it’s also important to note that the advice in rented works for those who might be saving up for a big renovation and want some clever, temporary ideas that won’t break the bank. And that even large houses have small rooms. And that even if you don’t work from home any more you may have children who need a place to study. It is, I hope, truly a book for the way we live now. The link to order is here.
Also in the programme, we look at the joyous book that is 70s House by Estelle Bilson. Subtitled A Bold Homage To The Most Daring Decade In Design, this is just fabulous. It’s not just the pictures, although they are gorgeous it’s also packed with information and ideas. Did you know the first garden gnome brought back to the UK is now worth £1m? The history of shag pile carpets and where to source vintage colour glass for collecting.
Next, if it’s information about renovation then the architect Laura Jane Clark is your woman. Most recently seen on the hit TV show Your Home Made Perfect, Laura is an architect for real people. She won’t tell you you can’t have two basins because it will ruin the line of the room. Or that you must give away all your coats because to hang them in the hall would be messy. She is the queen of real life and real homes and all the storage they need. The book is full of diagrams and advice on what she considers the three key elements of a home – flow, light and storage. The Handbook of Home Design; an architect’s blueprint for shaping your home, is a must-have for anyone who wants to improve their home.
Finally, Interior Design Masters, a practical guide to decorating your home, by Joanna Thornhill, is more than just a book of the series. It’s a sort of encyclopaedia of interiors. Look up by period; Georgian, Victorian, 70s, or by style floral, geometric, art deco, Perhaps you want to know about panelling, flooring, and lighting. There are masses in here. It’s a solid reference book that will always be useful rather than a curl-up and read from cover to cover.
Thank you once again to Corston Architectural Detail for supporting the show. Do check out their range of sockets and switches, handles and hinges and lighting for both bathrooms and outdoors. Both Sophie and I have used their products in our own homes.
Was thinking about the comments you made about 30% of the housing stock being underoccupied. Not sure how that is calculated, is it purely by bedrooms so a couple in a tiny 2 bed would be ‘underoccupied’ since they only ‘need’ 1 bedroom? Or is it by floor area and if so how was it decided what is acceptable per person?
I’m not sure that I agree that it will no longer be a status symbol to have a large property. Firstly, a large house (£350K is an above average sized house in most of the country) allows you to pass on more of your estate to your children. Secondly why would you downsize and pay a load of money for less space? I think multigenerational living will become more popular (like the Italians) before that happens.