Inspiring Books: To help you create a personal space
that empowers you to live the way you've always wanted
"I have found all of these books helpful in learning about design and color— more importantly they inspired me to think about interiors in a new way.
A house is just an empty shell until we make it a home by filling it with color, furnishings, art and special objects that have meaning for us.
Through thoughtful placement of these, we build an environment that enriches us, provides sanctuary and also one that is welcoming to others. They feel it as soon as they enter our space.
I have all of these books in my own library and I hope you will find them as inspiring as I have. I welcome your feedback and any recommendations you have for similar finds."
Debra Gould
Learn more about Debra's approach to interior redesign by visiting Rooms by Design.
There are also many before and after photos throughout this site.
A Room of her Own: Women's Personal Spaces introduces us to the sanctuaries various women have created in their own homes. Whether it's a quiet sewing room, a tent in the garden, or even a corner of a busy kitchen, each woman has found a personal space, for nurturing her body, mind and spirit. The famous (Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou and Ali MacGraw) are included with the not so famous; yet all the women lead very busy lives. Artists, entrepreneurs, mothers— each woman offers a glimpse into her life. Each chapter contains design ideas and creative solutions that we can integrate into our own lives, as we try to cope with the loss of private time and space for ourselves that is a byproduct of our busy schedules.
In House of Belief: Creating Your Personal Style, author and interior designer Kelee Katillac urges us not to become slaves to design trends, but inspires us to find a decorating style that is a reflection of our personal style and creative spirit. Through exercises and examples, Katillac helps unleash the creative and artistic powers that we all possess. She builds a strong case for shaping one's home into a place of inspiration and affirmation. After reading this book in 2000, I immediately took down all the pictures hanging in my home that I had inherited but didn't like, or was tired of looking at. Within days I had moved all my furniture around and made my space more of a reflection of who I was, and not what I thought it "should" look like. My whole mood and energy changed after that.
In The Home Zone, top interiors writers and hundreds of inspirational photographs of real homes guide readers through five popular decorating styles and discuss working with color, lighting, flooring, window treatments and soft furnishings. You'll also learn about space planning and issues specific to each area, from choosing the right bathroom faucet to picking a kitchen layout that works.
In Learning to See, interior designer Vicente Wolf provides real-life advice and over 160 inspiring photographs to open the door on the creative process behind successful interiors, and to open your eyes to the designer within yourself to encourage you to create beautiful rooms that reflect your own taste and style.
Designing With Spirituality: The Creative Touch explores the link between good design and its spiritual reflection. Beautiful photographs of 30 residences in the US, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Bali, and Brazil illustrate how color, form, texture, light and proportion are used to express the idea of home as a place which can truly feed one's soul. I loved the wide spectrum of materials, techniques and styles shown in this book.
Very sensitive to the subtleties of color and how each hue is effected by those around it, Debra was dubbed "as color conscious as Matisse" in a magazine cover story.
To learn more about her approach to color, visit Color By Design.
Photo: Virginia MacDonald
"There are so many amazing books on color. I've listed some of my favorites below. You can order directly through Amazon.ca from the links here and take advantage of their specials."
In Color Schemes, author and renowned paint expert Annie Sloan presents over 30 inspiring themes and 300 color palettes, ranging form the light-filled hues of the Scandinavian landscape to the vibrant tones and rhythms of a Latin carnival and the ethereal colors of the French Riviera. The presentation really helps demonstrate how our perception of a color is so strongly influenced by the other colors around it.
In Colors for Your Every Mood, sumptuous photographs of different rooms, in a wide variety of decorating styles, are accompanied by color wheel basics and an in depth look at how different colors inspire different moods and reactions in people. The goal is to help you determine how you want yourself, your family and guests to feel as they enter and settle in each room in your home. You'll learn which color combinations create calm and soothing moods... which demand drama and excitement... which make a place seem whimsical and carefree. You will discover which colors can change a room from formal to romantic, from classic to exotic, and more. There's even a quiz to help you discover your own reactions to color.
Filled with information that takes the mystery out of how color works in a room. Twenty six amazing interiors are shown with explanations of why each palette was chosen, and how individual colors affect each other and the rooms in which they are used. The color palettes are shown as swatches to provide ready-made color groupings that we can adapt for our own homes.
I was introduced to this book by a Client who had just completed a very modern, but fairly neutral, ocean front home. I was there to design custom runners and placemats for her 12 foot long kitchen table. I immediately fell in love with this book and bought a copy. I warn you, it's hard not to head out to the paint store after looking at the pictures in Color Palettes! The ideas it contains will work in any home, large or small.
While Color Palettes is serene, Tricia Guild on Color is bold. Based in England, designer Tricia Guild is famous for her ability to mix color and pattern. Her company produces fabric, wallpaper and home furnishings. In 200 color photographs she inspires us to go beyond safe, but often dreary, color choices. Her glorious palettes explore the fuller potential of color to lend energy and warmth to an interior. She explores ways of combining and contrasting shades and shows how light, scale and proportion can affect color values. The incredible pictures alone are worth the price of this book!
Search here for additional books on interior design and color:
Visit About Us to learn more about Six Elements and designer Debra Gould.
™Staging Diva and the Staging Diva Logo, Empowerment by Design, Staging by Design, Color by Design, Rooms by Design, Pattern by Design are trademarks of Six Elements Inc.
YES. Send me FREE Monthly How-To Tips, Home Staging and Decorating Ideas
