3 Books to Help You DIY Design
We know how much is out there. The best and yet the hardest part about being a designer is knowing what is out there (and not being able to have it all). Possibilities are endless and yet continuing to grow, so when you’re designing your home, it is important to be confident in yourself and your style.
When you’re out shopping for some décor, it’s hard to put your blinders on to the things that don’t really have a place in your home (whether that means there isn’t room for it or it’s completely out of the ordinary, both are valid issues). Understanding the needs of your style can be the difference between confident interior and confusing interior.
“But how do I get confident about my decorating?”
I’m getting to it!
When I’m in doubt, I usually refer to a handful of books on my shelf but here are three that have done the most justice for me and I find myself looking back to every time I’m making a decision for my home.
MAD ABOUT THE HOUSE: PLANNER BY KATE WATSON-SMYTH
There are three different books for “Mad About the House” but I will be specifically talking about the planner which you can by on amazon by clicking here. This is a good book for someone just beginning to move into a new home or for someone that has lived in their existing home for a while and want a change.
Since it is a planner, it has helped me with planning out each room in my home. The book contains lists and graph paper for 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining room listed. I think my favorite aspect of each section is “lust, love, and loathe” which they describe as the “kiss, marry, kill of design” as they so eloquently put it.
Very similar to how we choose materials for you, we get an idea for your likes and dislikes and do what we can within your budget. If there is something that is outside my budget when I re-do my bathroom, it’ll be a lust item. However, if I save $200 on a vanity for my bathroom, I could start examining my list of “lusts” to pick from.
Also provided are grids in each section to plan out the layout of the room you’re redesigning. This way, once you came up with the layout idea that would work best, you can have it on paper to execute it a little easier and you’re not tearing apart a room and moving a couch six times from one side of a room to the other!
STYLED BY EMILY HENDERSON
This is just a generally fun book which you can buy on amazon by clicking here. You can tell how passionate about design Emily is while reading this or her blogs on her website, which you can access by clicking here. She’s willing to share all the tips and tricks to use to make her home “magazine ready”!
It can be hard to understand your needs when it comes to all things involved in styling a home, your home! Which is why Emily breaks it down for you.
In the first few pages of this book is a style quiz. You go through the questions, add up your points and see how well it matches your style. If you find yourself debating between two of the choices, I wrote both choices down and added up different possibilities.
For example, the answers are lettered “A” through “F” and I would write down the first answer in a row and the second answer in a second row. Then I added my answers between the first row for one answer and the second for another answer. Both were accurate but one is definitely more visible in my space.
Emily Henderson is all about confidence and that is important to have to avoid the mess that could come along when designing 3 rooms that now have 3 different feels and none of them really belong, do they?
The blog on her website is as equally fascinating, engaging, and interesting as her design skills and tips! I try making it a point to see what she has been up to lately when I think of it. I love that each design is unique but still just as fun as it was in the last!
LIVING WITH COLOR BY REBECCA ATWOOD
This. Book. Is. So. Great! Find the book by clicking here!
I love color, so this is obviously a matter of opinion. Throwing in colors can be stressful. The slightest difference in the blue you pick can make or break your goal.
This book goes over the basics of the color wheel and “do’s and don’ts” of complimentary colors as well as how you can choose the right color for you in your home based on how you interpret colors.
I know, it sounds very science-y but it can really go far when you’re faced with the decision in a room. This book does include a “science-y” page or two which you can skip if you like but is actually very interesting to read!
Coming from an artist, understanding colors is important in that of making your home the comfortable place you dream of it being. If you’re looking for a serine “cloud-like” feel in your home, what colors would probably be best for you? Soft blues and purples? If you’re looking for an engaging and inspiring studio room, how do you go for that idea in your head to the room in front of you? Are reds and yellows the way to go?
You can explore all the possibilities with every color of the rainbow and how to use them! This book in itself is very inspiring to me and can send me down a rabbit hole at times, but it is well worth it to get new ideas in my head to use for a later time.
To conclude the spiel, these are only three books that I’ve got for my home. I also frequently enough take a trip to Barnes and Nobel to take a look at the section where you can find all books like this to look through inspirational books like “Wild Interiors” by Hilton Carter to get a little inspiration in the brain!