Caroline Gidiere, Marcus Mohon, & Beth Webb

Gidiere's design aesthetic is a modern take on traditional interiors, using contemporary and antique furniture with backdrops of joyful color and pattern to create spaces that are both new and classical--florals, botanical prints, rush baskets, tailored stripes, well-stocked bars, books, and comfort abound. The decorator not only presents her decorating capabilities but also shares her talents as a hostess, giving ideas on how to live and entertain in her inviting rooms.

Gidiere's style is sophisticated and charming, taking cues from such accomplished Southern designers as Charlotte Moss, Richard Keith Langham, and Celerie Kemble. The book is organized by the ways in which a home is planned and utilized: Social Life is centered on entryways, living rooms, and dining rooms--spaces that are designed to receive and welcome others. Private Life focuses on bedrooms, libraries, and studies--the sanctuaries of our day-to-day existences. Family Life reviews kitchens, breakfast rooms, dens, and playrooms--places that are the heart and soul of the house. The Good Life celebrates how a home can be used for hospitality and entertainment, inside and out. And, finally, My Life shows how Gidiere interprets the art of living well in her own home. Each section offers in-depth information on topics that include setting the table, keeping houseplants, stocking a bar, outfitting a guest room, and entertaining outdoors. Gidiere's aesthetic salutes interior design of the past, while interpreting it for our lives today.

This debut volume presents several extraordinary homes, ranging from a stone-clad villa in Austin to a casual seaside retreat to an art-filled family compound, each of which gracefully balances high style with easygoing comfort. Mohon draws on the heritage of the Mediterranean world to fashion living environments that transport their occupants to an enchanted realm far removed from day-to-day concerns. Intimate foyers beckon from behind carved wooden doors, dining rooms boast dramatically embellished chandeliers suspended above sleekly simple tables, and sitting rooms entice with luxurious blends of color, texture, and furnishings both modern and antique.

Included are many of Mohon's exquisite watercolor sketches, which are integral to his design process. Their poetic sensibility infuses every room, translating them into spaces that exude romance. Mohon also shares a wealth of design ideas that resonate with today's personally expressive sensibility. Sophisticated and full of patina, these interiors are sure to delight and inspire.

Webb is an internationally recognized interior designer admired for her exquisite, light-filled residences. Her second book features homes from across the country, from Sea Island, Georgia, to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Inspired by her previous experience as an art dealer, Webb designs beautifully composed spaces. She believes in the power of light, and shadow, in creating atmosphere; a pale, luminous wallcovering may be balanced by the presence of antiques, or a chapel-like white bedroom may segue into a deep gray sitting room. As important is a sense of hand: the feeling of glazed earthenware, a worn oak farm table, the softness of fine linen. Webb is also motivated by the pursuit of joy and the power of beauty--she makes sure these are rooms for living, for gathering with family, for refuge.

Accompanied by guiding inspirations from art, landscape, history, and travel throughout, Webb shares fourteen serene residences, from her own home in Brays Island, South Carolina, with its pavilions of wood, stone, and glass nestled under a canopy of ancient oak, to a gabled, storybook Arts-and-Crafts inspired Kiawah Island residence on the edge of the Atlantic.

A celebration of home as sanctuary, Webb's new book instructs and inspires readers to embrace the beauty that is all around us.