The Way We Live: An Ultimate Treasury for Global Design Inspiration (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Gilles De Chabaneix (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Spectacular in scope yet intimate in detail, The Way We Live transcends the archetypal style book to reveal global connections and patterns in home decoration. This unique body of detailed design inspiration encompasses the full range of options, from climate, location, and size to surfaces, arrangements, and colors. Whether you’re decorating a beach house in Chile or a loft space in Paris, you’re sure to be inspired by hundreds of images from around the world—a Moroccan house that coolly mixes the modern and traditional in elegant interiors; a dramatic arrangement of shells decorating a tabletop in Mauritius; flowers strewn across bare floorboards for a Christmas feast in Sweden. The enormous range of places here highlight connections and parallels of very different habitats in a way both striking and reassuring. The same attention to detail can clearly inform the layout of a dining room in a modest Mexican home as it does an exclusive club in Buenos Aires. This encyclopedic tome, a sublime visual record of how we construct and adorn our living spaces, celebrates our communal experience of the home.

From coastal hamlet to urban center, design expert Stafford Cliff compares architectural styles and decorating details from every corner of the world, whether it is a modest adobe dwelling whose contours complement those of the earth or a skyscraper of glass and steel that contrasts the natural terrain. The ingenuity of each culture shines through in the instinctive use of colors and materials, and in the way the spaces are inhabited.

The world tour of interior design elements and accents is lavishly presented in more than 1,000 glorious color photographs by famed lifestyle photographer Gilles de Chabaneix. Humble yet interesting structures, objects, and settings are all viewed with the same eye as the grandest homes, the rarest antiques, or the most exclusive addresses. From an unadorned Vietnamese sitting room to a bustling Neapolitan street market; a modern London flat to a baroque drawing room in Versailles; an Indian palace to a Chilean café, here is a world where old and new, organic and synthetic, happily coexist. And within these interiors, a myriad of choices and inspirations are seen in the contrasts between stark simplicity and sumptuous embellishment, minimal modernism and rococo splendor, the self-consciously urbane and the authentically rustic, the uniform and the eclectic. Fabrics, textures, and ornamental details reflect the complexity of different spaces and lifestyles, spurring countless ideas for personal self-expression. It seems that the way we live is not always defined by where we live.

Commentary on communal open space, which connects us to one another, and a meticulous guide to sources and materials round out this ultimate treasury. Both beautiful and practical, The Way We Live is much more than a decorating guide—it is a design for living.

About the Author

STAFFORD CLIFF has both written and designed numerous style books, including Greek Style and Caribbean Style, and was a contributor to Terence Conran’s definitive home design guide, The House Book. Formerly the creative director of London’s Conran Design Group, one of the world’s first multidisciplinary design companies, he currently works as a freelance consultant and author. Stafford Cliff lives in London.

GILLES DE CHABANEIX has been one of France’s most prominent photographers of design and lifestyle for many years. His work has appeared in many books and in all of the leading style magazines, including Elle Decoration and Marie-Claire.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400051347
• ISBN-13: 978-1400051342
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive and Sensitive Survey of Peoples and their Habitats, December 5, 2005

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Stafford Cliff has collected images from all around the world and with the help of superb photographer Gilles de Chabaneix has done what few other innovators in design have done - created a book that is, yes, about design, but is equally about how climate, place, ethnicity, tradition, cultural philosophies, and history inform the decisions people make about their living environments.

Not just viewing the gracious homes of the wealthy of the planet (though there are plenty of gorgeous 'palaces' of design to please the most art hungry eye), Cliff views the differences geography makes in dwellings, from spectacular vistas of the sea to the mountains and to the deserts, and how the climates influence the manner in which 'design' is used. As interested in discussing and sharing the most humble abodes with the most lavish mansions, Cliff doesn't miss a beat as he and de Chabaneix journey to places obscure and places of notoriety. The emphasis is always on the manner in which the people of these dwellings adapt and incorporate their living spaces to their environment.

A book that is both sumptuous in design itself and tender in its approach, THE WAY WE LIVE will appeal to both students of design and to those who long to understand the essence of living, wherever they travel. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through the Keyhole, February 7, 2006

By	Valerie J. (West Yorks, UK) - See all my reviews

Have you ever walked or driven past someone's home and wanted to look inside? Looking through this book is a bit like that on an international scale. The book is a beautiful work of art in itself, the presentation top class, the paper quality excellent, the binding great. It is packed with marvellous photographs of interiors, accompanied by descriptive text. What it isn't is another of those boring interior design books, filled with rooms that are painted offwhite, with large mirrors, potted palms and overstuffed sofas. This book is interior design getting real!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich, complex, atmospheric, June 13, 2006

By	Marlene (Jupiter, FL USA) - See all my reviews

I thought this book was exceptional.
This book deals with design in all parts of the world, but much more than this it gives you the feeling of the cultural richness of people who live in these spaces. It is visually beautiful and evocative.
I think the photography is outstanding. The photograper has a real knowledge about light and composition. It is rare, I think, to have so many excellent photos in a single volume. Along with this, the narrative is direct and insightful.
For those interested in design, the book offers many ideas for all types of settings. None of the ones presented are stereotypical or stiff.
The most winning aspect in this book is the realism and beauty that we are able to see around the world. The colorful, serene, and eclectic nature of many settings make this book a delight to read over and over again.