Bookshelf: Stylish Living, English Country House, Romantic French Homes

I'm surrounded by fine antique furniture all day and talking with customers about their home decor. I often take photos of their homes too, for our client spotlights. So what do I do in my spare time? Curl up with books about antiques and interior decor! I can't get enough of seeing how people make their living space so uniquely personal to them.

These three new books provide lots of home design ideas. They're great for anyone who loves traditional stylish living.

Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living

Our customers have their own sense of stylish living. They trust their own taste above the opinion of any interior designer. Still, it's always fun to take a sneak peek inside the homes of design gurus! Lifestyle blogger Ronda Rice Carman (foreword by Martha Stewart) explores the personal spaces of famous interior designers. For example: Hutton Wilkinson's Beverly Hills pad, Nicky Haslam's historic hunting lodge, and Barry Dixon’s Edwardian manor. It's perking up my energy for our 1920s bungalow renovation!

Romance & Revival in an English Country House

Nicky Haslam's Folly De Grandeur: Romance and Revival in an English Country House gives a closer look at how Haslam renovated his home. The posh society interior designer has a glittering list of clients including Mick Jagger. Haslam has called his home "the prettiest small house in the world." Small? He says none of the rooms in the Tudor part of the hunting lodge is more than 12 feet square! He shows that size is no obstacle to stylish living. You can make even the smallest space comfy and welcoming.

If this book inspires you, check out our English Antique Furnitureand reproduction furniture in the English style.

Romantic French Homes

Love French style as much as we do? This book captures the spirit of French home decor. It shows both formal and casual interior decor, for fancy entertaining or just enjoying family time. During our antiques buying trips in Europe, we accept every invitation we can to see inside French homes. We love low they use heirlooms and antiques for a timeless, romantic, and very stylish living space. This book by American writer Lanie Goodman gives a glimpse inside country manors, farmhouses, city apartments and townhouses. You'll spot a few chateaux too!

Want some French romance for the castle you call home? Browse our antique French furniture collection. You'll find armoires, buffets, vintage chandeliers and home decor accessories plus our personally selected high-quality reproductions.

Aimee owns EuroLuxHome.com with her best friend, Greg.  Aimee sources amazing antique furniture, vintage lighting, & high-quality reproduction furniture to help her customers decorate their homes in a unique way. She loves her 8 (you read that right) fuzzy children and is renovating a 1920s bungalow in South Carolina. Find us on Facebook or you can sign up here to receive this blog in your inbox.