HOLIDAY BOOK GUIDE - THE BEST GIFTS TO READ

With the holiday season sneaking up any day now (Once Thanksgiving is here - that's it!) - there are so many great choices this year for the DIY and Home Design Enthusiast in your life.  Today, the Fashion and Interior Design world have never been closer.  Chances are, your favorite fashion designs mirror a mood and feel similar to the way you live.   The term "Lifestyle" is used to death - but it is so appropriate.   These books are the latest from some of the most talented interior designers, design experts, food editors, and experts in all things "Shelter".    Choose two or 3 and make a great bundled gift for designer on your list!   Click on authors to visit their website, or click on book jackets to purchase on Amazon.   Also - click Indie Bound to find the local bookstore in your area.   Happy Holidays!

SUSANNA SALK - Decorate Fearlessly

JOAN OSOFSKY - Love Where You Live

BENJAMIN NORIEGA ORTIZ - Suspending Reality

CHRISTOPHE POURNY - The Furniture Bible

MARTHA STEWART - One Pot

DANA COWIN - Mastering My Mistakes In The Kitchen

KATHRYN M. IRELAND - Inspired By

DAVID ROCKWELL - What If?

Love Where You Live - Joan Osofsky shows you how!

Design expert Joan Osofsky has just released her first book - Love Where You Live.   Joan has been helping customers in the Hudson Valley and New England do just that for years with her popular design & lifestyle stores - Hammertown.   The three locations are bursting with fun and stylish items for the home & bustling with devoted clients who regularly visit the stores in Pine Plains, Rhinebeck, and Great Barrington.   *The stores also offer design services - a secret resource to so many of the VIP clients who weekend in these beautiful locals.*

Clearly, Joan loves what she does.   Spending just five minutes with her will leave you inspired, smiling, and readyTHE HAMMERTOWN BARN IN PINE PLAINS, NY to tackle any design project!   I recently ran into Joan at the NY NOW gift show.   It was 9:05 and Joan was on the go - greeting me with a big smile!  ORGANIZED TOOLS CREATING A HIDDEN SPOT FOR READING - PH: JOHN GRUEN

Love Where You Live is a must have for any first or second home, and also an excellent host / hostess gift. LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE - A COZY LIVING ROOM - FOR LIVING - PH: JOHN GRUEN Co-Written with Abbey Adams with photography by John Gruen, you'll come back to this book again and again.

A BEDROOM FOR RESTING AND REFLECTING - LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE - PH: JOHN GRUENClick images to learn more about Hammertown and to get your copy of Love Where You Live now!

BELGIAN INTERIORS - CAFE OR HOME

If you spend any amount of time in home furnishing stores or gourmet coffee cafes then you have felt the latest trend in interior design.  Possibly, you've enjoyed this phenomenon without knowing.   White washed pine furniture sound familiar?  Heavy linen upholstery and slip-covers ring a bell?  The knotty pine communal farm tables have taken the U.S. by storm.   Two companies were ahead of the trend, and actually helped create the trend.  Restoration Hardware & Le Pain Quotidien.COMMUNAL TABLE AT LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN

The West coast lifestyle home furnishing haven - Restoration Hardware has reset the bar for interior designers from coast to coast.   What once took tens of thousands of dollars to acquire items at auction all over Europe, can now be found for a few thousand dollars at a mall near you.   If you haven't been to a mall recently, undoubtedly you have been besieged by catalogs the size of phone books from the newly re-branded RH.  Make that multiple catalogs - Furniture, Outdoor Furnishing, Children's Furniture, and so on.   While the brand was once synonymous with other stores like Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn, nobody is confusing Restoration Hardware with other brands today.

Le Pain Quotidien also achieved success through furnishing - despite the fact that they don't sell furniture.  That's right, this Belgian baker of daily bread, pastries, and brewers of delicious coffeeRUSTIC PINE MANSARD MIRROR AT RESTORATION HARDWARE has changed the way Americans spend time in cafes.   What was once relegated to the Amish in Pennsylvania, has found it's way all over the United States.  While American suburbia has created communities of people who live life behind fences and gates, Le Pain Quotidien is forcing you to actually see your neighbor - even if you won't talk to them. 

In the late 90's, a THE AUTHOR WITH ANTIQUE RESTORER CHRISTOPHE POURNY AT LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN DURING "BETWEEN THE SQUARES" SPONSORED BY 1STDIBS - PHOTO COURTESY OF 1STDIBSdifferent wave of Belgian influence was the biggest trend in NY Cuisine.  Nothing was trendier than "Moules and Frites" aka Mussels & Fries with your favorite pint of pale ale Belgian beer!  Large beer hall style spots like Markt (Formerly cavernous on 14thst & 9th Avenue - now the home of the Apple super store) and the mini-chain BELGO from the U.K that had opened it's first U.S. outpost in the windowless space that is now known as BUTTER on Lafayette Street.   Belgo made a big splash and fast crash -which basically summed up the brief Belgian food trend of the late 90's.  Certainly Moules and Frites still thrive in many NYC restaurants, but as an overall theme - Belgian cuisine fizzled.  This time around it's light and sweet and really hits the spot.  The furnishings at RH are also no nonsense.   While you can't say the brand is avant-garde, it is relevant and beautiful - two aspects that cannot be faked, and oh-so-hard to get on trend. 

So the next time you find yourself redecorating or craving a ceramic pot of coffee - visit an RH or PQ near you!  The man that most probably influence both companies is Axel Vervoordt. 

This Belgian interior designer has a way to balance intricate details with austerity, creating a sophisticated and soothing space.  If you are not familiar with his work, click the book cover to search this and other collections of his best work.