Book launch day

So here we are after what feels like months of waiting, this very evening in Anthropologie my new book Decorating with Style is launched. Anyone who is coming this evening is in for a treat. There is a bar, a mini master class by me and then Anthropologie are leaving the store open especially for us to mingle, yabber and wander all over their fabulous store until 8.30.  Cannot wait.Something I wanted to cover this morning is something I do a lot – visual trickery. When I walk into a room or a store for that matter I want to be moved, I want to feel something. If you can’t feel the drama or you’re not stimulated or tantalized then the room is suffering from a rather common disease - drab room syndrome! Do not panic there is a cure and it’s a simple one at that. Visual trickery – it’s all about tricking the eye and I do it through light and through mirrors. Lighting (second most transformative thing we can do to a room) helps me cast a cinematic glow in my interiors.  I use a multitude of table, floor,  ceiling and recessed wired with dimmers to create depth of field and shadow so that my rooms are washed in the warmest of glows. I also don’t eliminate shadow, corners of rooms blur out into blackness creating intrigue and depth. Top top top tip that one, never eliminate shadows they are so important/ Second trick – mirrors. Perfect for manipulating depth, perfect also for puffing up the importance of a room – especially if you super size them it gives a room an instant exclamation point.  Available in any size, color or finish they do the best job of elevating a room to another level. It wasn’t until I put two supersized convex ones over the mantles in my studio that I was finally satisfied with the space. It took it to a whole other level, the trick is to never buy anything just to answer the problem – stretch your imagination if you have to wait to find that perfect something (a mirror, a light) then wait. Kelly Wearstler says ‘never settle for something you wouldn’t give a rave review’.  Bravo to that. My pad with a supersized mirror in the lower ground floor reflecting the garden.  No matter what room you go in there they are, propped, hung whatever which way they add instant intrigue [caption id="attachment_4397" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Photography Graham Atkins Hughes[/caption] To all those coming to the event this evening I very much look forward to meeting you – see you at 6.30 xx