Revealed: Secrets from this summer's must-reads that will transform your home

Three home interiors books launching this month offer plenty of inspiration. We review them and get a top tip from each author

The author of 'Blue & White Living', Henrietta Heald is a fan of blue and white. 

Looking for interiors inspiration from your beach read? 

The Irish summer: It’s always a triumph of hope over experience, hauling my flip-flops out of hibernation when socks and jumpers are likely to get more wear when blustery, rainy evenings and weekends are trending.

But continuing to hunker down on the sofa means time for sourcing interiors ideas.

I happen to love it in book form, despite the vast amount of material constantly updating online. A book is mindfulness for interiors inspiration, slowly leafing, uninterrupted by interminable newsfeeds which for weeks later throw up topics you’ve moved on from.

Details Make a Home by Hans Blomquist

So, it’s happy days when review copies of new books land in my inbox heralding an influx over coming months.

Three I’ve been particularly taken with, the first of which grabbed my attention with its title, Details Make a Home. I couldn’t agree more with author Hans Blomquist as it is detail that takes a space from showroom or unfinished, to stylish with a sense of home.

A native Swede, Blomquist began his career in his teens working for Ikea, eventually art directing its catalogue, before branching out to count Harrods, Zara Home and H&M HOME among his clients, and evolving his approach to focus on the details of a scheme, including aspects of nature, colour, texture, collecting and display, and how these are worked into a room.

A foraged branch adds texture, height and a sculptural effect to a side table.

Top tip

 

“There is so much beauty in nature that can be brought home to make a striking arrangement on a table or sideboard,” says Blomquist. “I nearly always come home from my walks in the forest bearing a large branch with either green or dried leaves, as both look stunning in any setting.

• Details Make a Home by Hans Blomquist, published by Ryland Peters & Small; €29.05

Blue & White At Home by Henrietta Heald

Blue: The one colour I never wear and a no-no in my home surroundings, so this next book is one I would automatically pass on, but as we tend to associate the combination of blue and white with summer and the beach house aesthetic, Henrietta Heald’s Blue & White At Home is timely.

As author of prior books including a biography of Jane Austen and one on machine inventions by women, she’s also penned books on French and coastal interior styles.

A fan of blue-and-white, she tells how her London home is awash with blue after years of green and pink, from the aquamarine hallway to her dining room dominated by areas of intense Matisse blue; and blue and white ceramics collected on her travels dotted throughout.

Her exploration of the look is far reaching, taking us to unexpected places like coastal Spain and South Africa; a rural farm house in England and the California prairie, where the colours are applied in styles that range from modern to antique.

Fifteen approaches stretch across four centuries with every permutation of shade and hue in the blue and white palette, showing her approach to everything from floors to fabrics and furniture, and her introduction of it using ceramics, vintage products and foraged objects.

Top tip 

Its association with water and cleansing makes blue an ideal colour choice for bathrooms,” says Heald, “whether it is used in floors or tiles, to paint walls or for accessorizing a white room.

“Unless you live in a hot climate, however, take care to avoid a blue that’s too cool, which can make the room seem chillier than it would otherwise be.”

• Blue & White at Home by Henrietta Heald, published by Ryland Peters & Small; €40.67

Nomad at Home by Hilary Robertson

Nomad at Home by Hilary Robertson is the read for those of us who go on holiday and scrutinise every interior we visit.

We might even be found peering through estate agents’ windows at what’s on offer locally, and googling where and when the local flea market takes place so we can pick up accessories.

Ten locations represent what she calls the Adopters, the Escapists and the Serial Wanderers.

An image from Nomad at Home.

The first category have made home overseas; the second are always on the move with bases in different locations, and the third absorb the design DNA of where they’ve been and bring it home — so think Copenhagen in Cork or Berlin in Ballybunion.

Top tip 

Robertson saves the best until last, listing her go-to interiors shopping locations in her favourite cities, including their social media links.

• Nomad at Home by Hilary Robinson, published by Ryland Peters & Small; €40.67