It was two years ago when I came across Emma Blomfield’s interiors book, Home. The Elements of Decorating. I dubbed it the book to have when styling your home, as it gave visual guides on the best ways to place furniture in a room to set up a house.
Emma has recently published her second book, Keeping House. I of course had to add this book to cart because I do love an interiors book. I dub it the manual for styling your home to suit your lifestyle.
The book is a work of art with gorgeous illustrations by Juliet Sulejmani.
This second book dives into how to style and decorate spaces in the home for how you will intend on using them. It gives tips and tricks on making a house homely so it feels like yours and is personalised to your lifestyle.
There are two sections in the book: Sanctuary and Celebration.
Sanctuary explores the way one lives, dines and sleeps in their home. It tells you what you should have in each space and how to decorate each room to make it ‘your home’.
Celebration offers practical tips on decorating and eating and drinking in ones’ home. It gives practical tips like how to arrange a cheeseboard and how to set up a table for a dinner party.
What I love most about this book is Emma’s encouragement to use what you have to create your home. The images are a guide, offering readers a way to implement the same ideas in their own homes using décor they already own.
Each room or zone in the home is given a run down on what it needs for furniture. There are recommendations on which items should be splurged on and which items can be saved on by making budget buys.
There are tips on creating vignettes and how to style each area of your home for multiple purposes.
I knew most of the information in the book from reading interior blogs and my own experiences styling my home. Entertaining comes naturally to me, so putting together a mini cheese platter doesn’t overwhelm me, but for others, this book can offer guidance on how to create a visually pleasing platter.
There is a skill to putting things together so it looks cohesive. Emma’s tips and the illustrations act as a guide to inspire.
What I love about this book is it captures everything I know and more into a tangible manual which I can flip through for inspiration. Emma offers the information in an easy-to-read guide. A thorough read of this book will give you confidence in styling your home and throwing a party, without the overwhelm.
This book is an ideal gift for someone moving out of home for the first time or a new home owner who doesn’t have a lot of money to style their house.
If you love interiors and entertaining at home and want to refer to something tangible instead of your Pinterest boards, you will enjoy this book. If you have no clue how to style a home and can’t afford a stylist, this book is for you too.
I bought my book from Kmart, but it is available from most book shops. You can buy yours here.
I will also be giving one away during the week. Keep your eyes peeled for that giveaway.
Disclosure: There are affiliate links on this post. Should you choose to purchase an item, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
