Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living [Hardcover]

Ronda Rice Carman (Author), Martha Stewart (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: April 16, 2013

Ronda Rice Carman, founder of the popular lifestyle blog All the Best, takes readers on a guided tour through the houses of renowned designers, who share their thoughts on gracious living and how they bring their professional philosophies home. Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living presents the personal living spaces of fifty distinctive design leaders, including Charlotte Moss, Celerie Kemble, Ashley Hicks, Barry Dixon, India Hicks, Vicente Wolf, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Kevin Sharkey, Suzanne Rheinstein, Rose Tarlow, Jay Jeffers, Michelle Nussbaumer, Jan Showers, Alex Papachristidis, Madeline Stuart, Matthew Patrick Smyth, Colette van den Thillart, Malcolm James Kutner, Ken Fulk, Scot Meacham Wood, Bunny Williams and more. These select dwellings range from chic apartments and luxurious estates, to charming country homes. 

From the homey historic English hunting lodge of Nicky Haslam and the glamorous Beverly Hills home of Hutton Wilkinson to the serene Sag Harbor retreat of Steven Gambrel, each page is filled with inspiring design, entertaining ideas, and imagery that invites readers to explore the idiosyncrasies of design while infusing their own homes with individuality and flair. The book's conversational tone and practical tips from these experts provide a referential approach to creating a highly personal place. From favorite sheets and pillows, how to create impromptu dinner parties, to the decorative details that bring a room to life, each designer's meaningful advice will inspire one to thoughtfully consider their own distinctive home.

• Includes more than 300 full color images
• Features ideas and advice on design, entertaining, decorative details, and more
• Offers a glimpse into the personal living spaces of fifty distinctive designers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Showing the desirable homes of a variety of American interior designers, it is refreshing and full of ideas which you too might be happy to come home to." -- Australian Vogue Living

In her debut book Ronda Rice Carman shares the design philosophies and stories behind fifty chic spaces of the decorating world's top players. -- Elle Decor

"Each page is filled with inspiring home design, ideas for entertaining, and imagery that invites readers to explore the idiosyncrasies of design while infusing their homes with individuality and flair." --Houston Lifestyles & Homes

About the Author

Ronda Rice Carman is the founder of All the Best Blog. All the Best has garnered press from around the globe, including Fox News (named one of the top ten design blogs in 2010), Traditional Home, ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, domino, Southern Living, Real Simple, RUE, Home Plus Scotland and numerous regional, national and international newspapers. All the Best Blog is renowned for it's insightful interviews and profiles with industry icons, entrepreneurs and global tastemakers. Ronda is a contributing writer for  Huffington Post, New York Social Diary and a reviewer for the prestigious Mr. & Mrs. Smith Hotel Collections. A Texan by birth, she now lives with her family in Scotland and divides time between the United Kingdom, the United States and the window seat of an airplane.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (April 16, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847840093
• ISBN-13: 978-0847840090
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1.2 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture > Interior Design
  • #1 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > Home Decorating & Design > Interior Design > Decorating
  • #1 in Books > Arts & Photography > Architectural Art & Design > Buildings

More About the Author

To contact me or learn more about All the Best Blog please visit my website: www.allthebestblog.com

Ronda Rice Carman spent 15 years in the world of marketing and nonprofits prior to founding All the Best Blog in 2007. A lifelong love of design, travel, and food - along with a growing collection of books and magazines - was the catalyst for establishing All the Best

What started out of necessity has become an expansive lifestyle blog visited by thousands of regular readers in over 100 countries. All the Best Blog has garnered press from around the globe, including Fox News (named one of the top ten design blogs in 2010), Traditional Home, ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, domino, Southern Living, Real Simple, RUE, Home Plus Scotland and numerous regional, national and international newspapers. All the Best Blog is renowned for it's insightful interviews and profiles with industry icons, entrepreneurs and global tastemakers.

Ronda is a contributing writer for Huffington Post, New York Social Diary and a reviewer for the prestigious Mr. & Mrs. Smith Hotel Collections. A Texan by birth, she now lives with her family in Scotland and divides time between the United Kingdom, the United States and the window seat of an airplane.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Designers At Home, Personal Reflections on Stylish Living , By Ronda Rice Carman April 20, 2013

By Janus A Lazaris

Format:Hardcover

As an Interior Designer myself, I may have too many design related books (at last count over 200). Designers At Home, will be one book of the books I pick up to read and review over and over again. For me the author has created an easy format in which I can gain inspiration and quickly feel connected with the 50 designers featured in this new release. The short features on these tops designers allows access to their personal style as well as their personal thoughts on what design is to each. I have met a number of the designers featured and have purchased their books but enjoy the way Carman has presented this design community...I can revisit the designers I know but also have an overview of great design today. The book is well written (as it should be by someone who writes such a successful award-winning blog, "All The Best"). I enjoy the photography for inspiration but feel the real treasure in this book is the simple design elements that each designer brings into their home...something we all should do.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Designers At Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living April 20, 2013

By The Hidden List Blog

Format:Hardcover

This book shot straight to the top of my interior design favorites! It's full of visually stimulating images that will transport you into the homes of fifty of the most admired interior designers in the world. Carman's format of a brief over-view of the designer's aesthetic and four tips for "making an entrance, a beautiful bed, flowers and fragrances and entertaining thoughts" is fun to read and I found myself taking the handy-sized book to bed for late-night reading and tucking it into my tote for reference throughout the day. This is a book I'll treasure forever!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book! April 17, 2013

By Marvin Jarvis

Format:Hardcover

The book is well written and loaded with gorgeous images of some really amazing homes that belong to some of the nation's top interior designers. It provides a wonderful glimpse into the way that these tastemakers and designers actually live in their own spaces, and has lots of interesting tidbits on favorite fragrances, entertaining tips, how to dress a bed, and how to create spaces that reflect one's personality. A MUST HAVE for any design aficionado.