New books to covet

I have come back from my travels with an Amazon wishlist as long my arm... I fell in love with so many beautiful books whilst I was away - but I must say I was quite impressed with my self-discipline, more due to the size of my suitcase than the strain on my wallet! Anyway... here are a few I am desperately coveting...

I am secretly hoping some amazing design book publisher (Taschen, are you listening?) wants to send me a whole lot of new books to review. ;)

New New York interiors - Taschen (photos above)

Went to the Taschen store in Soho and was completely blown away... such stunning books, and incredible prices. How do they manage to price their books so reasonably? This New New York Interiors book very nearly came home with me. (My boy talked me out of it, quite rightly). It is full of eclectic, bohemian (yet of course somewhat extravagant) interiors... You know, that kooky/classy look that always seems to typify apartments that belong to supermodels? Swoon.

The Design Hotels Yearbook 2009 - Gestalten

We spent 6 blissful days in Bali at the very end of our trip, and were lucky enough to kind of accidentally end up in a completely incredible hotel - it's not often you arrive at your accomodation and it looks even better than it did in the pictures! ANYWAY, we also found out when we got there that it was a member of the Design Hotels group - so lucky for me there was a copy of the Design Hotels Yearbook 2009 in our room! I spent every spare moment flicking through it - and now I REALLY want a copy of my own!



The yearbook is a fabulous book which showcases 170 of the world's best designed hotels. Lots of boutique, smaller hotels are featured - and it's not just about lavish extravagance... the focus is more on unique design details and character-filled spaces. There's also some fantastic insightful profiles of some of the creative minds behind these establishments, such as designer/hotelier Marcel Wanders.

PS) Design Hotels also have a fabuous website - beautiful images of all their hotels, plus a series of short films entitled 'made by originals', which profiles some of the designers and hoteliers whose hotels are featured... beautifully shot and put together. Truly worth a visit!

crEATe - Gestalten

I am the first to roll my eyes when it comes to 'trend forecasting'... but... reknowned UK trend forecasters The Future Laboratory actually do know stuff. Their new book, entitled crEATe, is all about eating design and the current experimental trends in food design and hospitality. And of course my favourite lady Marije Vogelzang is featured... !

PS) The Future Laboratory website is also definitely worth a browse...

Brooklyn Modern - Rizzoli


I have been wanting Brooklyn Modern forever... but of course actually being in Brooklyn made me want it even more! It's a gorgeous book, filled with images of some of Brooklyn's most interesting homes.... OH and 2 more reasons to fall in love with this book - Lena Corwin's stunning brownstone home in Fort Greene is featured (the perfect-est home in the world, seriously), and also Grace Bonney contributed a passage on Brooklyn's design renaissance!