Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast where life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor CHRISA.
Rossbunt and gallery owner Liz Legit. This podcast focuses on
the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with taste makers,
and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style. You
can stroll one street at a time. Boulevard Beat proves
(00:29):
the one you should take. Chris, Today we're talking about
something deeply personal, incredibly nostalgic, and surprisingly powerful in the
world of design, and that's books. It's not something you
think of as a staple like a nightstand or a
sofa or architecture, but books play such an important role
(00:53):
in design and I'm a sucker for them. I love
buying them and having them and using them and looking
through them, and so I'm excited to talk about this today.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yes, you know, in design we talk about not only
staples of design, not only those sort of quintessential design elements,
but we talk about collections a lot. And I think
for so many people, books are probably the first thing
they collected, because a lot of people had a book
collection maybe before they were even born through a baby
shower or something of that nature. So I think it's
(01:24):
probably our first experience of being a collector is with
a book.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You know, even just the nostalgia growing up with books,
and you know, how do you remember using them when
you were a child.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, I think there's you know, always those precious moments
of your bookshelf, and I think for kids' books, anyway,
you have this book belongs to you know. Now they
have all of these fancy stamps and everything. Back in
my day, it was just sort of handwritten Chris Michelle
Rossbund that this was my book. So I mean, I
think that again, kids have their favorite books, and you
(01:57):
know there are bedtimes, story memories and sitting on your
parents' lap or grandma and Grandpa's lap and having a
book read to you. It's obviously such an important fundamental
of a child's growth. So again, while we think of
them now as you know sometimes design tools in our industry,
(02:18):
your first introduction to a book I think is always
very a precious moment.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
They really are precious moments. And I know, as a
mother of three, there's some of my favorite times is
at bedtime and putting the kids to bed and the
stories I love. And it's even fun to see how
the kids evolve and the stories that they they gravitate
towards and why they love them. I'm right now in
a little unicorn era with my five year old. I
can't read enough unicorn books and all the fun of those.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It's funny too, how you know, kids from a very
young age, they have their favorite book because they have interest,
whether it's unicorns or fire trucks or whatever it is.
And I think any of us who have ever been
around kids or read to kids, it's like that book again.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I know, like you have, there are books you have memorized.
It's amazing. So I have a book from when I
was little, and I should ask my parents for sure.
I was probably, you know, like seven and eight, but
I checked the same book out for weeks or years,
I'm not really sure. But it was this small, little
it was only like four by eight inches, so it
was small, but it was about fish, and it had
(03:24):
pictures of fish, and then it was almost kind of
like a little encyclopedia of fish. And I for some
reason loved that book. I've so many pictures of my
childhood with this fish book.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, I have a similar story from our school library,
from Glendell Elementary, there was a book and it wasn't
a small little book. It was a big book format wise,
but it was called The Great Tidy Up. And it
was about a little girl who had a very messy room.
And I can't remember if she was threatened by the
parents to clean her room. But at the end the
(03:54):
illustrations show this beautiful room where everything is in its place.
So maybe that's what sparked my love of organization. But
I think, you know, back when there were library cards
and you had to write your name down and do
it that way, I think my name was on that
book quite a few times.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So wonderful. Are you a reader now? Do you still read?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
I don't read fiction of any kind, and I you know,
there are so many times when people have invited me
into book clubs and for the purpose of reading fiction books,
and I just don't really read them. I wish I did,
because I skial left out sometimes because everybody's reading this
great book. But most of the books that I read
(04:35):
are like business driven, they're travel related. There's something where
I'm learning something. But I never sort of let myself
escape into a made up story, probably because real life,
it turns out, is some entertaining enough. Yeah, yeah, definitely,
But those are the types of books I read.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I just recently got together with a book club again.
Just the last two years. I probably didn't read for
about ten years, just like life with the little kids,
And when I started reading fiction again, I had forgotten
how much I absolutely love it. It is fun to
just kind of take your mind to somewhere else and
just kind of zone out. And I really tried to
cut TV out of my evening as well, so I've
(05:15):
found myself trying to read a little bit in the
evenings too. But I'm with you. I also I do
like to read books just to educate as well. I'm
always kind of have on my nightstand a different little
book that's just educating myself on how to be better
in business, in life, and just as a person. And
I'm also not like a kindle reader. I like the
hard book, which is probably why I love design books,
(05:37):
is just just to be able to pick it up
and flip through it and look at it and just
be embraced in the book versus just you know, hopping
on a kindle or an iPad to read.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So that's where I'm a little different. I'm not a
kindle person. I don't read with my eyes. I read
with my ears. So I love the technology of audio
books because I'm a big biography person. I love a
memoir more than anything. Probably I listen more because I
can do it in the car. I do it on
(06:07):
any sort of trip, if I'm in the car, on
a plane, when I'm picking up around the house. It's
very much like the podcast experience that you can listen
and do something else. So while I don't do a
kindle and I don't do paper either, I really am
more about listening. But the problem with that is I
don't have a hard copy than of every book I read,
(06:29):
especially with the memoirs, where I really would like to
and I you know, I suppose I can go back
and buy them, but I would really like to look
on my shelf and know that I read this book
and that book.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I'm the same way when I'm in the car if
I'm not listening to a podcast. I do listen to
audiobooks too, and I do I find myself I do
better with those more of the memoirs, Like you said,
or if it's a different type of self help of
something I learn better listening versus trying to read it.
I just fall asleep if I'm trying to do some
of those types of books too, So the change of audiobooks.
(07:01):
And it's fun when you especially on those memoirs, when
you get to hear the voice of the actual author
that's telling it, it's, oh great.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
That's the good thing. When it's a I've listened to
enough of them. When it's a high profile person whose
voice you know, and then they have somebody else to
read it, it's really bad. It's like, if you're going
to do this, then you need to be the reader.
One of my favorite audiobooks that I have, actually there
are two or three, and I can't even remember the titles.
(07:28):
I have them in hard copy just because I was
such a fan of hers, but I have them in
audio two because I want to hear her voice, and
that's Joan Rivers.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Oh interesting, Oh my gosh, I have to listen to it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
They're funny and completely one hundred percent inappropriate and all
of that. I love hearing her.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I could totally see that. Yes, I love it her.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Voice as many people do well.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Chris books obviously, like we talked about, are also an
enormous part of the design world. We use them in
so much of the work that we do, not just
in a beautiful library and how they get arranged, but
they're an important staple in accessorizing a coffee table, you know,
just layering. I think it's the most important tool in layering.
(08:09):
And it's neat to see when you go into other
people's homes to those collections of books, and what they
look like and what they're interested in. And I love
too the fold of being able to open a book
up and share a page that you particularly love and
are interested in.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
I agree with all of that. And when you're talking
about a library, it's the greatest hits, if you will,
because you automatically see what people are interested in. You
can tell a lot by people from their book collections.
If you want to be nosy, Nelly, all you have
to do is read the book titles and you can
(08:46):
kind of tell everything you need to know about somebody,
what their interests are. But I agree, I mean, for
the purpose of design, I equate books to photographs. As
I said, it's sort of a greatest hits and you
pick and choose which images from your phone that you
want to print out and have on display in a
(09:07):
frame in your home. And it's the same with books.
I think everybody probably has books that they've gotten rid of,
that they've disposed of. It's like, I don't really want
this in my collection anymore. And then there are those
ones that you just want to, you know, as you're
walking by, just to have the memory of that. But
in design they do. Books offer a lot of warmth,
that's what they deliver, and that personal touch that you
(09:29):
know you have because not everybody's book collection is the same,
so it's it's about as personal as you can get.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And I think one of my favorite things too is
I love kind of that preppy look where you have
maybe a bookcase of or a room that has bright
colored bookcase and maybe a navy blue and then you'd
use like bright colored books in there and you group
them together and just the impact that has I think
it's that splash. It adds personality to the space too.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Oh for sure, because books, while they are intended to
be read and you know, I guess not always sometimes
just to be flipped through to enjoy the images. But
when the spine is a certain color. It can make
or break a room. You know. I've seen rooms where
books are used as a dominant focal point, no differently
than a piece of artwork would be. And then I've
(10:16):
been in rooms where they have all the wrong books.
It's like this really interrupts it in a bad way.
And so while we want to encourage people to read,
of course, and to have books when you're talking about design,
there can be hiccups from books too, because you don't
necessarily think of them automatically as a design tool, but
they very much become one they do.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And even sometimes I hate it when you're in a
room and like the color of the book's wrong and
how that actually affects everything that's in the room too,
or even just like a stack of vintage books and
what the depth that that can do. You put it
on top of a bust and have that layering tool
in a room too. That texture of age and the
history of it just bring another element to the space too.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Books that have you know, threads hanging off them, they
have that wonderful smell too to them.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I know it's weird, but it smells good.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
It's yeah, it's like a good kind of mildew. There
is such a thing, but I mean, you just can't.
You can't create patina like that, you know, because I
think back in the day with old books, the printing
methods were somewhat different too, and the paper quality. I
mean now I think they're you know, probably chemicals and
paper to keep them from yellowing. But books didn't used
(11:30):
to be that way, and so they just offer this
wonderful color and you just can't get that kind of
patina from anything else.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Well, in one thing with books too, I really think
it's an important styling element for coffee table. I think
it just really brings your coffee table to a more
distinguished look with just the layering of the books in them,
and those big, chunky, big books I think just looks
so good on there. I love in my coffee table
right now, it's got glass and you can see down
(11:58):
to another layer underneath it, and so I just layer
in lots of books. I think it's such a great
look when you just have a coffee table full of
books on every corner.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
That's an excellent point. And I think that every home
should have a platform, whether it's a coffee table or
it's a shelf that sort of has a rotation of books,
of new books, books that you're interested in at the time.
I have a couple of spaces in my house where
the books don't say the same. You know, they're probably
(12:29):
a little different every three to four months, and it
makes the room evolve depending on what they look like,
so you always have a reference point of you know,
and I think libraries are that way. You know, they
have new books that have come in, and I think
homes should have that as well. It's really it's a
good way. One thing I will say, I don't like
(12:52):
the look on a bookshelf where everything is covered in
the same book cover. I just think it's contrived, not
as natural. I want to see the veriation. I sort
of feel like, find another element to do that with,
like if it's all ceramics that are the same color,
(13:12):
if you have a wonderful collection of ironstone, or if
you have a collection of something. But I don't love
when people cover the books all the same.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
You see it sometimes frequently at market, just like the
all white books that just have a clean aesthetic.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
I mean, it's definitely impactful, but I think it kind
of undermines the purpose of the book. And what books
are the essence of them. So the coffee table books, yes,
you know, again, whether it's a coffee table or some
other surface, just a place where you can have this
revolving reminder of what new books have come into your life. So, Megan,
(13:50):
when we talk about libraries, there are so many, you know,
famous libraries around the world, but even if they're not famous,
there's the experience of going into a library. And we're
taught the time we're small, you know, you have to
use indoor voices, use your library voice, be quiet, and
there's something special about that quietness. I think we can
all remember just that time of walking into a library
(14:14):
where it was there's just this wonderful stillness that exists there.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
And like you kind of mentioned before too, just I
think libraries have a certain smell and you just feel
a certain way when you walk in, and the nostalgia
of it all.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yes, there are some beautiful libraries. I mean, one that
comes to mind, and this is sort of an easy one.
And I know a lot of people who are listening
to us have traveled to New York at some time
or another. But the New York Public Library, it's just
architecturally so beautiful. And I think that's another thing. So
many old libraries, I mean, Andrew Carnegie sort of made
(14:47):
sure that they that they existed and they have all
of those classic architectural elements to them, which is so lovely.
But the New York Public Library, I mean, that's just
it's such a good one.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
And I think with the more classical libraries, that's what
is interesting is you can go there for the books,
or you can go there to admire the architecture and
just sit there in the piece and enjoy the beauty
around you, which is really incredible. You know. Also in
New York, I love when you go to like the
met or the Getty or different museums around the country
too that actually have like really old books and you
(15:21):
see history from thousands of years ago and how they wrote,
and the scripting of their writing and the tears and
just really the history of what those books look like
and that they still exist. It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Oh, absolutely, to see a book in tact that's thousands
of years old, it's that's special enough in and of itself,
or hundreds of years old. Maybe a couple of years ago,
I was in an antique shop in northern Florida, and
I bought an old Bible and it's delicate, you know.
She said, I'm happy to sell this to you because
(15:54):
I think that you'll love it, and I do. I
don't really open that ever, because it's the pages are
just so I mean, they're so beautiful. But you know,
I wonder, like, who's was this, and I mean it's
there's there are names listed in it and all of
that good stuff, but it was really a special buy.
And just the leather tooling on the cover. It's just
(16:15):
so beautiful with gold embossing and all of these decorative
things that well, you bring up a good new Bible
doesn't look.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
That way, right, but a good point of like you
think of really beautiful books and how what the covers
do and the leather and the bossing and the gold gilding,
and it's it's a whole nother work of art rather
than just the words that the story is telling on
the inside too.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Yes, well, and okay, going back to technology and then
merging that with the idea of a classic library, that's
something too, because now you know, the photo album has
changed so much because back in the day, I remember
my parents having these leather bound albums. You know that
you would put the pictures under the sleeves and that,
(16:56):
and now you can have your own books made that
are real books for family photos or travel photos or
whatever the situation may be. And so I think that
has kind of changed the look of a library too,
because all of those photographic memories are They're still in
an album, but that album looks very different than those
(17:17):
old school kind that I think we all probably had
in our family homes.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Yes, I remember those as well too. And you're calling
me out because I'm a huge picture taker. I take
way way too many pictures of my kids in life
and things like that too, and I do that every year.
I in January, I make a book from the last
year with all the kids in it. So I don't
do individual albums for each kid. It's just our family.
This is what we did for the year. And then
(17:41):
I order the book and the kids love to look
through it. I love to look through it and remember
what we did in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
So I'm just curious, do you order one for each
of them too, so they'll have those.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Or so sadly I do, I order four so each
kid will have one. But I'm kind of questioning. I'm like,
if the boy's really going to want that someday. I
know it's kind of more of a girl thing to
like to look through, but I don't know. I was
questioning that investment as well.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
So Megan, let's go on and talk about maybe the
hallmarks of a well designed library. And I know that
you must as a designer, tackle these a lot for people,
So maybe talk a little bit about a special library
that you've designed, or what are your clients looking for
in a library.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I love it when I get a design a library
because it's usually a room that's kind of off on
its own a little bit frequently off of the foyer,
but it can have its own identity, you know, it
can really take on a life of its own with
the colors and the textures and the mill work can
get more traditional, even in a more transitional home. So
(18:45):
I love doing that. I also really love when we
are able to have a fireplace in there. I think
it just really sets the tone for a beautiful space
with some beautiful leather chairs or different things too, that
it's a space you will use and read in or
have your morning coffee and sit in quiet. It's also
important to have some good lighting in there. I like
(19:05):
it when the sconces go around the room or on
that fireplace, or a library light in there I think
is always really nice as well too. And then of
course shelves, lots and lots of shelves to really store
all those books and momentos and accessories that have meaning
and stories that go along with the books in them too.
(19:25):
I love it when we get to have a little
ladder as well. It just has that nice nostalgia in
there too.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I'm curious to know if you have a preference in
palette for a library, because I am so old school,
and again I see these bright white libraries that are
super chic and like an art gallery. You mentioned the
men a little bit ago, but like an art gallery,
all of those book titles just pop off that bright
white and I love that look. But personally, I kind
(19:55):
of want a library that looks like a law office.
I want the darkwood, preferably walnut.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I'm with you. I think more often than not they
end up that way of just a more moody look
with a deep wood tone walnut like you mentioned, or
even just painted a deeper green or beautiful dark navy
blue I think just really is color drenched and just
you feel so wonderful in it, right, and all.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Of those you know, wood tones if you should encase
your library, and walnut all the better, right, beautiful oak,
that loading green color I think is so warm and wonderful.
And leather, and I think the whole leather thing. So
many old books are leather, and so it's a nice
balance to have a leather sofa or you know, an
(20:44):
oversized leather wing chair if it's so toughted, preferably a Chesterfield. Yes,
is always nice, but but leather is good. What about
book organization? Is there a way that, personally that you
like to organize books.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
I am not one that will organize by alpha medical
or by color necessarily, unless I'm kind of trying to
color block certain things and go for a more color
impactful space. I probably just go with more of how
they feel size wise and how they can get elevated,
you know, if you're stacking books or kind of having
(21:20):
them run horizontally, or running two bookends and together. That's
how I do it. It's just more for the aesthetics, unfortunately,
than by any any particular title or subject.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I don't ever organize by title because I can never
remember the titles of the books. I mean, that's true,
so that would not help me. I do color a
little bit, just because I don't want anything that's super
jarring coming at me. And then certain subjects I will
keep together. I will corral, for instance, in my house,
(21:53):
the two subjects that I kind of keep together. As
you know, I love entertaining, I love etiquette, so I
have a bunch of old etiquette books that I love
and those are all together. And then I have a
lot of design books that are about American design. So
for instance, it'll be like American Nautical something or all
(22:17):
stripes or things like that. So all of my kind
of America books, I have a book of one hundred flags.
Those sorts of things are corraled together. Oh. In travel books,
that's another thing. I really love my travel books because
if I go to a place that I haven't gone before,
i'll usually mostly outside of the country, I'll buy the
(22:39):
book and those are sort of all together. But other
than that, the other books, the design books, all the
coffee table books are just sort.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Of haphazard, and that makes sense to put those collections together. Definitely.
I also in this might drive some people nuts. I
don't really like soft covered books. I only like hardcovered
books when I'm using a library. I think they just
have a better scale and weight to the space, and
same with like kind of how the book jackets work.
I don't like it when the book jacket's like really
(23:07):
colorful and bright and bold. When I'm in these more
moodier libraries, I want I'll take it off and want
more of just the dark black or the brown or
whatever the tone is underneath the book.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Well, there's something about the linen covers that, yes, books
are covered in before they get that dust jacket, and
again it just delivers a wonderful texture. And they do
get a little threadbeare after a while if they're handled,
and that's great, as they should they should be handled.
I have been in libraries of homeowners who are very
(23:39):
specific that they only have books that they've read, and
I'm in awe of that because I'm not a speed reader,
so i don't get through that many books. And I'm
just always very very impressed by those avid readers who
have those lofty book goals of completing a book a week.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
It's so impressive. I run into that a couple times
as well. And actually, as you mentioned that, there are
every once in a while you'll run into a client
too that is particular about their books and how they
want them and that they need to be together and
don't mess with that shelf or something like that too.
People are very have an opinion on their shelves and
their books that they have.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Well, when you talk about bright colors, I will say
there was that recent trend. It's still a thing. The
books from Aisolene that were Capri Sentrope, all of those
they're fun and they're colorful, and I love them in
a poolhouse situation or a fun, brightly colored room, but
(24:37):
they are sort of everywhere. People will just put them
in any library and they stick out so much they're
pretty jarring. It's like find out they spot for them
or don't buy them.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Yeah, I love those books, but they certainly have their place.
They don't belong in every environment, and just like I
mentioned before, they stick out in certain environments. But I
do have to say I love those books for their photography.
They have really beautiful photography in them. They are very
well crafted with the work inside of the book.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Absolutely they do the photography.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Is it takes you to go. Yeah, it does.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
It's quite exceptional and it is transformative and takes you elsewhere.
So I love the inside of them. I just caution
people to, you know, really pay attention to what the
esthetic of the book looks like. But back to your point,
some people want their books to just be all over
the place, or they want their books organized in a
(25:35):
certain place. And again it's all right, it's all correct
because a library you want to be functional. I mean
it's beautiful, but it's functional. In a perfect world, we
would actually reference those books well.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
And you're right, Chris, I mean, libraries are functional for reading,
but it's also a space that you really can do
other things in that space rather than just reading. Is
a quiet moment, a lounging, you know, I said, having
coffee in the morning. I once saw a home library
where the owner had a record player chucked in next
to the books, and it just felt like the sensory experience,
you know, the soft music. It was just absolute heaven
(26:08):
as just how it made the room feel.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Let's talk maybe about book storage or display. There are
so many options. Of course, there's the built in So
tell me when you're doing projects our builtings just sort
of a gimme at this point. I mean, I feel
like everybody wants built ins for.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
The most part in a library, yes, and if not,
I feel like there's usually some component of a bookshelf
that would go in there to kind of sit in
there as well too. But I think you can't quite
achieve that library feel without the built ins.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
You talk about Etragere's or pieces like that, you just
can't store enough and they don't sit quite right. So
if you have a massive book collection, you really do
need those built ins.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Well, And then you don't have a back half the time,
and they don't sit up straight, and it just becomes
harder to make it look the way you want it to.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Built Ins are key, yes, or furniture pieces, because there
are free standing pieces as well that look like built yes. Yes,
you know when you go to market and see those pieces,
it's like, well, you need at least two, right, like
the fireplace or eight, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Well, and most often those two still also have beautiful
detail in the mill work and you know, carvings and
make you feel like that they're built in and have
a history to them too, right, So yeah, I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
A big proponent of built ins or pieces that look
like they are other shelves for display. I think I'm
just not into, you know, they have to be substantial
shelves to really be secure to hold books if they're
just if it's just a shelf.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
A lot of other thing too. I think that's really
important in a library is good lighting. I like it
when there's a little task lighting that goes around the
bookcases that can kind of highlight, you can dim it
and kind of set the mood in different tones. So
lightings so important in the library and always on dimmers.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yes, yeah, So I think there's a big movement right
now toward reading nooks, which I think is super exciting.
I've seen a lot of houses with reading nooks incorporated
into the design, and they're fun because they can be
different shapes.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
I love it, you know, because you can kind of
style them with a beautiful cushion that has some nice
texture to it and throw a couple of pillows on there,
and they just become this little quaint place that you
want to curl up on and look out the window.
And so many people have pets, it's a great place
for the pet to look out the window. If you're
not just reading and enjoying that space as well.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Well, and sometimes too to be more functional if they're
large enough. I've seen people who have, you know, fitted
them with a twin size mattress so they become another
place where a guest could sleep, especially if it's a
you know, if it's a child.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yeah, I've done several bedrooms, children's bedrooms that have that that,
like you mentioned, like a twin sized built in bench
that they can sleep on as well and just get
cozy while they read and enjoy that space.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
I sort of feel like reading nooks have become the
new bunk room just because you can configure them so
many different ways. And you know, I think we've all
had fun over the last ten fifteen years with bunk
rooms that have come into play for additional you know,
whether or not it's grandparents who have all the grandkids,
or people who have school age children with friends sleeping over.
(29:22):
Sometimes those bunk rooms are so much fun and very playful.
And I think that the reading nook is sort of
the new version of that because it can again have
a little bit of a playful silhouette to it. It
doesn't have to be so serious necessarily.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Well and you can also in those little nooks add
little drapery treatments too that can close and kind of
keep you in the nook, or like you said, if
it becomes a bunk room that you're sleeping in, it
adds just a really nice softness and beauty to that
little nook as well.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
You know, we talked a little bit about what else
a library could be used for, and I think that
a library is definitely for reading or for listening, but
it's also for and when you think about all of
the people who journal. I'm not a big journaler, probably
because I write as a living if I write for
a living, and so I don't necessarily write additionally. But
(30:15):
so many people have that wonderful skill and are such
beautiful writers and document their lives. And I think a
library is a wonderful spot because it's quiet, because you
have those wonderful sounds of a fire or just peace,
just the stillness to jot your words down and pin
them down on paper.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
It's a wonderful space to use that flora is just
to kind of sit back and relax and take yourself
to another place while you write and are not distracted
by all the other commotions of the home that exist
every day.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So sometimes a writing desk is nice to have in
the library too.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
And a lot of the libraries do have I mean,
people do use them as their office frequently too, so
it's not just library and lounging type of space that
frequently does happen that they get used as the homeowner's office.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Well, And because libraries are sometimes multi functional and not
just a library, it's interesting to see to how people
approach the books in the shelves. Is it just a
library where they have only books? You know, there are
two schools that thought there too. Some people like only
books and like personally for myself, I like the interruption
(31:29):
of objects and books displayed horizontally stacked laid down, but
not everybody likes that. Some people only like their books.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
So yeah, I think there's a right place for both
of those, and I'm with you. I like some objects
in the space too because I think that they it
breaks it up a little bit and lets the books
kind of show off and put allows you to highlight
certain books differently than some books and objects tell stories
like we talked about too, or it's a way to
display that collection of yours in one of the elves
(32:00):
atop a couple of books, so it's a fun way
to use that too.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
That's where all of my collections are for the most part,
Like my object collections are interspersed in among my favorite books,
and that makes it extra special. Again, your books are
your greatest hits of life, and so are your collections.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So they definitely are. Well, speaking of collections, I feel
like design books. You know, there's obviously different subjects and
things like that as well, but there's design books that
are ones that are just staples, ones that we love
and that are just around forever, or that are you know,
maybe they're newer, but they are just going to always
be in your library.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I know.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I recently just got that the Ralph Lauren book The
Way of Living, and I have loved it. I mean,
who's not to love Ralph obviously in all of his style,
but the photography's phenomenal, the writing even just I'm not
one on coffee table books that I actually, like you mentioned,
I don't really read a lot of my look at
the pictures, but when I take the time to actually
just read through, it's very inspirational from a design perspective
(33:02):
on just the way he loved contradiction and how he
you know, kind of pushed the envelope of a very
traditional chair with maybe a little country Gingham fabric on it,
and just seeing how that contradiction works in the pictures
and in the words, and it's it's it's a new
favorite of mine.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
That is a wonderful book and as it would be
coming from right for sure, So you know anything, I
think we are all sort of mesmerized by how he
has taken traditional style from so many regions of the country.
You know, actually all of everything he does celebrates American
style and American design, which is so wonderful because historically
(33:46):
we we are the ones who are borrowing from from
other lands around the world. But that's that's a great
book for sure.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
What about you, Chris, what's one of your favorites?
Speaker 2 (33:56):
When I think about this, I have to go old
school and the Dorothy Draper Decorating is fun. I mean
that book is decades and decades it's staple, but it
is a classic. It is so good and all of
those design principles and the way the book addresses decorating
is just it's a standard and it's something that should
(34:18):
still be considered so I love that. For books that
are more recent, when I was thinking about this, there
are a couple that come to mind. First of all,
the Gracie book What's not to Love? With birds and
flowers and trees so beautifully articulated and executed on this
hand painted wallpaper. You have to admit it's beautiful, whether
(34:40):
you whether it's your sort of thing or not. But
this book, the actual book itself, not only is it
filled with the most exquisite photography that shows off projects
that have used Gracie wallpaper, the book itself is this
wonderful royal blue color with the birds and the flowers,
and then and those birds in the flowers are also
(35:02):
printed on the pages. As you look at it, the
pages all stacked together. So it's such a special book.
It's exquisite.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I've never seen a book like that before. You recommended
to me to get it, and I absolutely love it.
The pages are beautiful, but just the way it styles
on your wherever you use it is just exquisite. Like
I said, too, yeah, do.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
You have another one? You know?
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Ones that I always buy are and this is a
little more modern, completely opposite of Gracie is the Kelly
Wursler books I always admire, I think because from a
when I was in college. It was probably one of
my first books I got was her Modern Glamour, And
when I flip through those it still is relevant today,
believe it or not, even though she has gotten quite
(35:45):
a bit more modern. But I like to study her
work because it just she uses scale and pattern in
such unique ways and materials of just the way she
intermixes different materials in her interiors or little boutique hotels,
and I feel inspiring as a designer, and I think
(36:05):
that's what books should do, is inspire you to challenge
your design aesthetic and to do unique things. And while
she thinks way outside the box. Sometimes I appreciate those
books very much.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
So I have a couple more that I love. I
have to give a shout out to Carl Delatour because
the books that he puts together are so fantastic. His
one hundred series where he invites one hundred designers to
he assigns them different subjects. So one designer could have
(36:41):
the color black, another designer could be talking about provenance,
another designer could be talking about natural light. And they've
all written essays on said subjects and he has corralled
them into this one book and now he has one
hundred guard several books in the series. But I think
(37:01):
he does such a wonderful job to where they're really
useful and they're lesson driven and you really take away
something from those stories those essays that are that are
very inspirational. And then the other one for me from
a lifestyle perspective are the Carolyne Rome books. She is
(37:22):
such a wonderful, beautiful taste maker and has been again
for decades now, and all of her books, which she
shoots her own photography, which I giness really interesting. But
I will say her books are just really put together,
so so nicely and so beautifully. And you know, I,
(37:42):
on one hand, I want them to be all Christine,
but her books that I have are not because I
have flipped through them so many times with you know,
I don't even know what on my fingers, like just
body oil or whatever that you know, ends up on
the pages and they they look a little tattered, but
that's okay. I want them that way because they're just
(38:04):
so lovely and such a joy too to flip through.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Well, and it shows that you've had some good entertaining
parties that you've gotten to take some of the tips
and use them too. I would say entertaining books are
one of my favorites too, and I love them because
it's fun to see how they design the tables, what
the linens look like, with the flower arrangements, and just
the art of it all. And then you throw in
some recipes and different things that you can try with
(38:28):
it too. There's nothing better than good entertaining books.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
I have to ask, are you a cookbook collector?
Speaker 1 (38:34):
No, I'm not so I probably I have a decent amount,
but the cookbooks I have I usually use or I
get rid of them. So I'm not one that just
buys a bunch of cookbooks, are you.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
I do because I like the photography, probably because I
like to eat. I like to cook and I like
to eat. But in all seriousness, I will sometimes read
a cookbook even if I'm not making, because I am
an avid cook. But I don't necessarily make a new
recipe a week or anything like that, per se. So
(39:08):
I do read cookbooks sometimes, though not necessarily the recipes
in between. But I do like to read about the
inspiration or especially if it's a travel driven cookbook just
sort of their travel experiences that led them to assemble
all of all of these recipes.
Speaker 1 (39:25):
So, yes, what's your favorite cookbook?
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Oh boy, Well, I work for the company that's produced
the best selling cookbook of all time, so I should
probably say that, and that is a good one. The
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook is for sure a book
that everybody should have in their library because it's just
so good for fundamental the foundations of cooking. But I'm
(39:49):
really into the Ina Garten books, but you know, I can't.
There are so many cookbooks and I like to dabble
in them, and I get recipes online to from a
lot of epicurious recipes that are from Bonapetite and gourmet
magazines that are assembled into one website. So I just
(40:10):
like cookbooks.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, yes, And that's what's so neat about them too,
is like there it's endless, like there's always a new
recipe or a new cookbook to have to just like
our books that you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
The only thing with cookbooks is beware because not all
cookbooks have tested recipes. And again, something that the company
or takes great pride and is that they test all
of their recipes multiple times so they are in tip
top shape for the consumer who wants to attempt them.
But not all cookbook companies necessarily test their recipes, so
(40:43):
you can get into a little bit of trouble there.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
That's crazy. I would think that would be it's important. Yeah,
that's true that.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
To tests, so and I think for cooks this is
a whole other other topic. But for cooks, it's one
of those things that when you know how to do it,
you just do it and you don't necessarily think about
how somebody else is interpreting it. So these are not
necessarily always tightly written, and they don't always make sense,
but you know, hey, yeah, there's always a new recipe.
(41:12):
There's always another day to eat, always another.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Meal, so there definitely is yeah, nig And what about.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Books in general, any just favorite books that you have
just in general?
Speaker 1 (41:21):
I would say this is also one that I've just
recently gotten to. But I've loved the Flamingo Estate book
The Guide to Be Coming Alive, and it's got both
recipes and photography and just the lifestyle of doing things
that make your soul thrive. And I love The Guide
to Be Coming Alive by Flamingo Estate, which is the
(41:44):
Flamingo Estate, has beautiful candles, olive oils, very natural, homegrown
things that are very well curated. It's a good one.
What about you?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
You know, I go through so many books, just you know,
business books and books about lifestyle and enter hating and
all of that stuff, but a few that are favorites
to me. I recently bought an old Emily Post book.
It was from like, I don't know, the forties or
the fifties. I don't know what edition it is, but
(42:15):
it's old and it has all of those great niceties
of life that we should try to implement that we
don't always do. But I have to sort of harken
back to childhood for this question, because I think that's
where it all starts. That's where our relationships with books
all start. So I still I have them at home
because my mom kept all of that stuff for me.
(42:36):
But I loved the Ramona books so much when I
was little old I did too. She was a little
you know, mischievous, and I did love Ramona. So I
have all of those books with me. And then the
other one, you know, this was required reading, I think
among college freshmen. But to Kill a Mockingbird. I think
(42:56):
it's a classic, and I love that book. The books
I read is adults. I mean, they certainly have impact
as well. I just sort of get through them more
frequently and on to the next thing. So I don't
know that they stay with me as long or or
if there'll stay with me for the rest of my
life so much because there's always something new. But those are,
(43:17):
you know, books from my childhood that are very special
to me.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Those are special. I loved it the Ramona books too,
And it is funny, like you mentioned, like how you
can remember that book so thoroughly, but yet like a
fiction book maybe I read last year, it's hard to
remember the storyline of it all. It's interesting. I have
one book that I actually, I guess I've probably been
doing it for like four years now that I actually
try and reread it every year just because of the
mindset that it puts me in. And it's Louise Hayes
(43:42):
You Can Heal your Life. I don't know if you've
ever read it, but it's just a good one to
practice everyday affirmations forgiveness for yourself, cultivate a positive, empowered mindset,
and it's just a good reminder for me, and it's
something that I try and read or listen once a year.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
That's nice. And I have huge respect for people who
read a book more than once. I don't think I ever.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
Ever, it's the only one I do.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Yeah. I can think of a handful of times where
I've reread a book, but it doesn't happen often. Yeah
to the next So yeah, Well, Megan, this has been
super fun to talk about books, and I think that
this is a topic that everybody can relate to because again,
we've had them all of our lives. So it's been
a joy to talk to you about flipping the pages.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
It has been fun. It's been fun hearing about how
books and libraries and all the wonderful things that the
stories they tell. So thanks for listening. Thank you for
listening to this week's episode of Boulevard Beat. If you
enjoyed this episode, please follow along and leave a review
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you
never miss an episode, And of course, follow your hosts
(44:49):
on Instagram at Megan bloom Interiors, at CHRISA. Rossbund, and
at Liz Legit. We'll be back next week as We
take a stroll down another boulevard, WoT