This month, Business of Home takes a look at three design books that caught our eye: the first survey of the sleek residences by McClean Design, a fun design guide from the color experts at Farrow & Ball and a debut monograph from celebrity favorite Jeff Andrews.
MCCLEAN DESIGN: CREATING THE CONTEMPORARY HOUSE
In flipping through the first monograph dedicated to the work of McClean Design, it quickly becomes clear why the SoCal contemporary design firm has been the go-to for everyone from Calvin Klein to Beyoncé. McClean’s residences are as sleek as they come, with extensive glass facades, water features and in-home amenities that range from movie theaters to gyms to Champagne vaults. The book shows how company’s aesthetic has become entwined with a certain idea of L.A. living. (Rizzoli)
The showstopper: The book dedicates the bulk of its pages to houses with sweeping views of the Los Angeles skyline, but it also saves room for a stunning project in British Columbia that appears to materialize out of solid mountain rock.
Sidenotes: Illustrations of the architectural plans are included with each home, showing how McClean used multiple levels to get the most out of the often oddly shaped lots around the Hollywood Hills.
FARROW & BALL: RECIPES FOR DECORATING
Decorating is a lot like cooking—as much an art as it is a science. That’s the idea at the heart of the new tome from Farrow & Ball. Written by the brand’s color curator Joa Studholme, the book compares the process of creating a home to cooking a meal, sharing “recipes” for rooms. It’s a testament to the effect that the perfect shade of paint can create and serves as an excellent showcase of Farrow & Ball’s curated range of colors. (Mitchell Beazley)
Choice quote: “Many years ago I began to think about how paint colors are like ingredients in a recipe. They need to be combined and balanced, just like ingredients are when being made into a culinary dish, to create something that is far greater than the sum of its parts.”
Sidenotes: Part one of the book, titled “Case Studies,” explores color palettes with names like Upstate Oasis, and Light-filled Brownstone, and gives readers a color pairing cheat sheet of sorts. It’s a helpful guide that elevates the book from eye candy to a real resource.
THE NEW GLAMOUR: Interiors With star quality
If McClean Design is on one end of the spectrum of L.A. glamour, Jeff Andrews could be the other, where sleek minimalism is replaced by the luxe and bold. In his first book, Andrews goes deep into his design process for each project, even spilling the details on working with celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian, her mother, Kris Jenner, and Kaley Cuoco. With maximalism all the rage, Andrews provides valuable insight into the intricacies of the trend, focusing on the proportion and balance it takes to make a maximalist room work. (Rizzoli)
The showstopper: As fun and extravagant as Andrews’s interiors can be, it was refreshing to see the restraint he showed in the California beach house on page 130, letting the glittering views of the Pacific Ocean do most of the wooing.
Choice quote: “Within the context of interior design, many think of elegance as buttoned-up formality—rooms that are meant to be seen, but not truly used. To me, the opposite is true: an elegant room is aesthetically beautiful and put together, yes, but it also has to be livable.”
