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It’s Here: My Second Book is Out Today

MAD ABOUT THE HOUSE How to decorate your home with style

mad about the house the book
mad about the house the book

I hope you will forgive me some indulgence today. It’s a little like a birthday because, as you may be aware, today is the day that my second book is officially born. It was a twinkle in my eye almost from the moment I set the blog up six years ago and, you could say, it has been almost as long in the gestation. But from today it goes out into the world and is available to buy – from all good bookshops as the saying goes. I do wonder what books are available in the bad bookshops….

Now I thought perhaps I would take the opportunity today to explain a little bit about how this book came out and what I wanted to do with it. Because it seem to me that most books of this nature are the so-called coffee table books, which means they are all about the pictures and no-one really cares about the words.

hall stairs in the mad house image by James Balston
hall stairs in the mad house image by James Balston

And I was damned if I was going to write 40,000 words for people to flick through while oohing and aahing at the images. Not that pictures aren’t important, but for my book I wanted to two to have equal weight. And then there is the question of taste. While I hope, and have aimed to make, the words relevant to everyone whether they live in a village or a villa, a flat or a house, a cottage or a penthouse, the wrong pictures can immediately put you off buying, or even looking at a book.

I know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but we all do. So that was the first dilemma. I wanted a book that would appeal to everyone in its design but would also be as much as about the words as the pictures.

In short I needed to reinvent the coffee table book. My lovely agent Jane Turnbull agreed to take on the task and I can’t thank her enough for believing in this project. She represents Kevin McCloud and Prue Leith (among others) and it was amazing that between the likes of them with their massive careers that she wanted to take on the likes of me.

And so we came to Pavilion who were also totally up for the idea of reinventing the coffee table book and creating a book that, well, was for reading and not just for being the filling in a coffee and table sandwich.

And so the idea of illustrations was born. I felt drawings were more democratic and less likely to put people off. I felt they would work to highlight the words and vice versa. I had, as you can imagine, a very clear idea of what I wanted and Abigail Read helped with that enormously. I wanted black and white drawings with splashes of muted colours. Nothing too heavy, nothing too primary. And that is what she has done.

But the design came after the words. Forty thousand of them – did I mention that? The book is a sort of How To Guide. It’s about finding your style, choosing your colours and planning each room in a logical fashion. The questions you need to ask, the honest answers you must find that will help you room by room, decision by decision turn that pile of bricks and mortar into a home. Your home. So that by the end you too will be Mad About The House.

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you have already ordered it you might already have your copy. Or it will be winging its way to you. As always I would ask you to leave your comments and thoughts in the boxes below. But be kind. It’s a birthday. And while you do that I’m off to see Jane to eat cake.

And here’s the link to buy again….

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

24 Comments

  1. Ordered a copy of your book yesterday, which is due to be delivered tomorrow. Very much looking forward to reading it and get lots of inspiration!

  2. Very many congratulations upon the birth of book number 2. The drawings are especially attractive.

  3. Congratulations! … I’m going to order and take a peek … sounds like a book with style and purpose … and, if your blog is anything to go by, must be written like you’re talking to a good mate who will inspire you but keep your feet on the ground. Heaven. Thanks Kate.

  4. Congratulations Kate! I look forward to the book. Mine will cross the ocean and be delivered early April.

  5. Enhorabuena!! May your future be full of a plenitude of sales and great reviews! (The second is a given: you write fabulously.)

  6. I ordered it today. Can’t wait! Thank you for your blog, I really enjoy it and you’re so normal and non-annoying.

  7. Hi Kate,

    I just bought your book on Amazon UK and getting it shipped to the US. Can’t wait!

  8. Congratulations! I was wondering when this will be available in the U.S. I pre-ordered through amazon, but when I took a look today it said it was unavailable! Yikes! Love your blog…I love waking up to it first thing in the morning!

  9. Received an email notification that mine is being delivered today. Canny wait. Congratulations!

  10. Congratulations- what an incredible achievement and you should be so proud of yourself. I love your blog and will be heading out to buy the new book!!!

  11. Congratulations! This is so exciting. Love the idea of illustrations. I get the feeling this is going to be a must-buy for anyone and everyone with an interest in interiors this year.

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