Dream Design Live

Home decorating and furnishing inspiration from an Elle Décor A-List interior designer and tastemaker. In Dream Design Live, decorator Paloma Contreras goes beyond interior design to show readers how to inhabit their homes in fulfilling and beautiful ways. Divided into three sections, this hardworking book proves that the most appealing interiors are also the most personal ones. Contreras takes readers through the design process and encourages them to seek inspiration from the approach that works best for them. From thinking creatively to improve both your home and your life, to showing you how to turn your dreams into realities, the author reveals how you can take the welcoming space you’ve just created and spend meaningful time there pursuing the activities you love. “With stunning photography and accessible-yet-elegant tips, Dream Design Live fuses interior decorating advice with lifestyle recommendations and demonstrates how living a happy and satisfying life starts at home." ?Traditional Home "In Dream, Design, Live, Contreras . . . explores the design process through the lens of travel, inspiration, and personal style. As such, the tome is both an instructional lesson and a personal story, a great read for the design professional and enthusiast alike." ?Architectural Digest “The 240-page volume goes beyond helpful tips and pretty pictures to show readers how to find a design approach that works best for them.” ?Southern Home magazine

If you feel stuck with no idea what you should do next, lifestyle celebrity and TV pioneer Debbie Travis's new book is for you. Drawing on the tough (sometimes hilarious) lessons Debbie learned in her own leap into a new way of living, and a multitude of stories, tips and ideas to jumpstart your dreams, she's created an inspiring roadmap for change. A few years ago, Debbie Travis realized that she was no longer challenged by her wildly successful TV career and she was so busy she was missing out on the people and things that made her happy. She dared to dream about a whole new direction in life--a plan to turn a 13th-century farmhouse in Tuscany into a unique hotel and retreat for people who need a change as much as she did. And now, after a crazy amount of work, she is not only living that dream but sharing it with others. Her new book draws directly on her own experiences (when she started, Debbie could barely make a bed, let alone run a hotel in a foreign county) and the uplifting stories of personal u-turns shared by women who have come to her retreats. Debbie's "commandments" will inspire women (and men) who have lost track of who they are or what they want to be; who are going through the motions of a career that doesn't satisfy them anymore; who are wondering what to do with themselves now that their kids are gone or their marriage is over. On every page, Debbie shares the tools that helped her transform her life, and her example, her wit and her common sense advice will help motivate anyone who finds themselves standing at a crossroads wondering "What's next for me?"

"Will understands the life-enhancing abilities of colour. He's a true talent with a keen eye." Jonathan Adler This book will take readers on an inspiring journey to discover fifteen decor destinations that each have a distinct and inspired style. From the colourful cool of Miami Brights to the eclectic urban hipster warehouses of Brooklyn and the nautical feel of the Hamptons and Normandy, a diverse mix of decor styles will be explored. The homes will mirror their surrounding environments, and room analysis for every space in the home will show readers how they can recreate their favourite looks and styles no matter where they live. Our homes are a reflection of how we live and nothing impacts on that more than where we live, and the lifestyle we lead. This book will take readers on an inspiring and tactile journey to discover the decorating style that represents their personal style, all demonstrated via Will's personal and evocative travel imagery, charming illustrations and personality-packed homes across the globe. By inspiring readers to look to their surroundings and call on their own travel memories and personal journeys, the book will be the practical yet playful travel companion the reader needs to create their own Destination Decor style.

From the founder of the Instagram feed @TinyHouse, comes a small, chunky inspiration book filled with photographs of the smallest abodes—from vans and boats to tree houses and cabins. A die-cut cover acts as a window onto a simpler world of lighter living and sustainability that never sacrifices function or design. Imagine living debt-free in an environmentally-friendly home. No mortgage, no clutter, and boundless freedom. This is the reality and dream of people all over the world thanks to the widespread momentum of the tiny house movement in recent years. Designed to fit on the tiniest of coffee tables, this book features 250 full-color photographs of the smallest, most efficient homes around the world, with interviews, features, and smart tips straight from the homeowners. From tiny mobile homes in California, Nashville, and Minnesota to a surfer-built tree house in Washington to a school bus that has been converted to a camper in Oregon, this lookbook is packed with big inspiration.

The husband and wife design team takes readers on a guided tour of their elegant farm residence in Ojai, CA—a home full of Patina Style inspiration. Brooke and Steve Gianetti offer an intimate look at their life on Patina Farm, the home they designed with an interplay of rustic and modern European charm. Beyond the gorgeously appointed farmhouse, the Giannettis readers through the sheds, outbuildings and gardens where they entertain and enjoy their miniature goats, sheep and donkeys, the chickens and ducks, and dogs. The entire residence is brimming with inspiration for a beautiful life in the popular Patina Style. “We decided to write this book to share why we decided to create this life and what we have learned along the way. We share how we decided where to live, how to design and lay out our property and how to think about the individual spaces. One of the main nuggets of wisdom that we have learned is that there is not only one way to live this life. The idea of this book is to give you some options.”

Utilizing her simple, nine-step process, the visionary interior designer demonstrates how to create home designs that exemplify style, luxury, and grace that will stand the test of time, combining common-sense instructions with innovative design ideas, practical advice, and 250 full-color illustrative photographs.

The room is dim, the chairs are in perfectly lined rows. The city planner puts up a color-coded diagram of the street improvement project, dreading the inevitable angry responses. Jana loves her community and is glad to be able to attend the evening meeting, and she has a lot of ideas for community change. But she has a hard time hearing, and can’t see the diagrams clearly. She leaves early. It’s time to imagine a different type of community engagement – one that inspires connection, creativity, and fun. People love their communities and want them to become safer, healthier, more prosperous places. But the standard approach to public meetings somehow makes everyone miserable. Conversations that should be inspiring can become shouting matches. So what would it look like to facilitate truly meaningful discussions between citizens and planners? What if they could be fun? For twenty years, James Rojas and John Kamp have been looking to art, creative expression, and storytelling to shake up the classic community meeting. In Dream Play Build, they share their insights into building common ground and inviting active participation among diverse groups. Their approach, “Place It!,” draws on three methods: the interactive model-building workshop, the pop-up, and site exploration using our senses. Using our hands to build and create is central to what makes us human, helping spark ideas without relying on words to communicate. Deceptively playful, this method is remarkably effective at teasing out community dreams and desires from hands-on activities. Dream Play Build offers wisdom distilled from workshops held around the world, and a deep dive into the transformational approach and results from the South Colton community in southern California. While much of the process was developed through in-person meetings, the book also translates the experience to online engagement--how to make people remember their connections beyond the computer screen. Inspirational and fun, Dream Play Build celebrates the value of engaging with the dreams we have for our communities. Readers will find themselves weaving these artful, playful lessons and methods into their own efforts for making change within the landscape around them.