Home: Three top new interiors books to transform living spaces

We roadtest the latest design publications that will inspire you to get a project off the ground or take it in an unexpected direction

An eclectic interior from Living Comfortably Now.

It's the time of year when publishers’ catalogues land in my inbox touting new books to inspire autumn and winter interiors projects, with some intriguing ones this time round.

Three jumped out at me, the first being the adorable title, Cool Dogs, Cool Homes.

Even if canines are not at the centre of your world, the sight of pages of furry, and sometimes charmingly scruffy, friends posing at home would soften diehard feline lovers and even the most fastidious housekeepers.

What’s even more endearing is that many are rescue dogs who have found forever homes after a sad and decidedly unstylish start to life and in turn enhanced these homes and the lives of their human co-habitants, according to the author, Geraldine James.

“You may have the coolest home on the street, but a house is not a home without a dog,” she maintains, herself the human companion of one such doggo, Eddie, named after the co-starring canine in Frasier and bearing an uncanny resemblance to him.

Author Geraldine James' rescue dog Eddie enjoys the run of his family's home.

But how would you keep your cool interiors up to scratch with all the accompanying paraphernalia of feeding bowls, leads, beds and toys, while allowing Fido the freedom to roam about at will?

Rescue dog Flynn, a maltipoo, enjoying the comfort of his family home in Wandsworth, south London.

“Owning a dog and keeping a lovely home is easy as long as you are not too set in your ways or concerned with keeping everything pristine,” Geraldine says.

Certainly, allowances are made in the homes’ design for the dogs’ well-being and happiness, and it’s clear they are a vital part of what makes the living space a real home whether they’re sitting on a designer rug or a smart sofa to pose for photographer James Gardiner.

• Cool Dogs, Cool Homes by Geraldine James, published by CICO Books; €26.50

If you think you've outgrown your home, Living Comfortably Now by Rebecca Winward is the book to read before attacking walls with a sledgehammer.

Depending on the limitations of a space, she suggests something a little less ordinary for the understairs area.

Cramped kitchen and no utility area? Installing laundry appliances and maybe a drying rack under the stairs behind large cupboard doors is one of her solutions in a section entitled Dead Space.

A vintage-sourced dining room from Living Comfortably Now.

“Thinking outside the box reaps rewards,” says the author. “A niche between two wardrobes might be wide enough for a wall-hung desktop, giving an awkward space an identity. 

"In the living room, the gap beneath a couch is ideal for storing flat items such as folding chairs, or anything else for that matter. A [sofa] cover with a floor-length skirt is effective at hiding all manner of objects.”

An eclectic interior from Living Comfortably Now.

The reality is that a rejig of how a room and every nook and cranky in it is used could be the answer, not just under the stairs, but on the landing or in the garden before embarking on a serious and expensive building project.

• Living Comfortably Now by Rebecca Winward, published by Ryland Peters & Small; €28.99

In the midst of a housing crisis, Urban Style by Sara Emslie might inspire resourceful home buyers to make a home for themselves out of a non-residential building.

Viewers of RTE’s Home of the Year will remember characterful homes converted from a carriage house, a school house, a boiler repair workshop and a grocery shop.

While Urban Style looks at 12 homes crafted from industrial buildings, the principles are similar when approaching smaller premises, including how to maintain original features.

“For the best results, work with what you have rather than against it,” the author says, “and be sympathetic when restoring original features. Retain anything that creates a record of the building’s former use, as it will add authenticity to the final result.”

A home created from a commercial building, pictured in Urban Style.

She does stress, however, that wanting to develop a commercial or industrial building will require permission for change of use to residential.

“If the building is listed or considered to be of historical significance, then consent will be required for any changes or modifications to the exterior or interior,” she says. 

Retaining original features adds character, according to Urban Style.

“For complex renovations, an experienced architect and contractor are essential if you are to both realise your vision and adhere to building regulations.”

• Urban Style by Sara Emslie, published by Ryland Peters & Small in September; €29