Good Morning Lacquered Lifers! Starting a renovation is daunting. Despite what you may think about someone who does this for a living, the design and management of your own project is always twice as hard as it is for your clients. Why? Because like in anything, you are your own harshest critic, and find yourself second guessing yourself in ways that you don’t with other projects. That being said, during the infancy stages of a project I am always stocking up on new books and magazines to get my creative juices flowing. The most recent arrival? Barbara Westbrook’s Gracious Rooms. 

Westbrook was raised in Virginia, and has spent all of her adult life in Georgia, making her a consummate Southern Lady, and it shows in her decorating. From  lakeside retreats to country houses in the city, this book cuts a wide swath showing you all manner of design scenarios. It also has sections with titles like “Living with Collections,” “Everything in its Place” and “The Ins and Outs of Symmetry,” which offer tips and details on achieving some of the designs put forth in the photographs. Who doesn’t love a good decorating book that includes tricks of the trade?  Westbrook’s interiors have that chic, yet extremely comfortable look, that to this Yankee transplant seems to be something that can only truly be captured by Southern decorators. The title says it all, Gracious Rooms, that is exactly what each of these rooms are. Gracious. Just like all of the great Southern ladies I have been lucky enough to know here in Charleston. 

Click here to purchase Barbara Westbrook’s Gracious Rooms.