I found and brought home two books by Bunny Williams at Half Priced Books today during my lunch break. Ms. Williams is a renowned interior designer and gardener. I Originally went to the store looking for a Martha Stewart book on interior design after watching the Netflix documentary on Ms. Stewart last night. I liked the documentary and it was my first time really finding out what Martha accomplished in her career. All of this to say I was looking for more inspiration for our house that we will start building soon.
I picked up "An Affair with a House" and "Scrapbook for living." Both are easy to read and are full of practical wisdom and beautiful photos.
"Scrapbook for living" really stood out to me for Ms. William's advice on not just decorating a house but making it practical and optimizing it. She goes room by room offering suggestions on style, material, and practicality. One of her suggestions is building shelves in your closet where you can stack your shirts, sweaters, jeans, etc. I would have never thought of that. The book showcases many of her clients homes.
The second book focuses solely on Ms. Williams first home in the northeast. I'm now negotiating changes to the floor plan with Sydney after seeing the screened in porch featured in "An Affair with a House." I experienced the awesome potential they have when in Michigan this summer for work. I smoked a cigar outside unbothered by bugs or rain, loved it. The book covers her main home, a pool house, barn, guest house, and all of her gardens.
Both books also cover maintenance and entertaining. The latter I would like to do more of with friends and family.
Finally, Ms. Williams preaches patience when it comes to building out a home. She left her living room blank for four years while renovating the kitchen and master bedroom. It's nice to hear someone else say what you already know but won't follow. Especially in a world today where it's "buy everything now." I'm reminded of a line from Billy Joel's, "Vienna":
Slow down, you're doing fine,
You can't be everything you want to be before your time.
Comments