It’s been a while since I last shared updates on our home renovation so I thought today is a good day to share with you the evolution of our cottage style dining room. We’re not quite finished yet, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into the process and where we are right now. As you all know, decorating is not always a linear process. It’s a function of budget, the availability of all the many trades involved (contractors, seamstresses, carpenters, painters and electricians), product lead times, etcetera.  Even with great plans, things don’t always work out as quickly or as smoothly as we’d hope. 

If you’ve been following Café Design for some time then you may have noticed that I often share with you old design books that I come across in my travels. Like many of you, I love design books both old and new, but the old ones offer something that the new ones cannot – they let us see which design elements stand test of time and which ones do not. So whenever I visit an old antiques store or charity shop, the book aisle is one of the first ones I scour, with often rewarding results. Buying (hunting, really) out-of-print design books can be a thrilling and economically-rewarding endeavor. For instance, last year I found John Stefanidis’ book Island Sanctuary for pennies. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission on all qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Happy Friday, dear friends! Today I wanted to share with you an old book I found a few weeks ago in a charity shop – The Country House Book, by Barty Phillips. It was published in the 80s so the photography is not digital. Nevertheless, the rooms featured are so incredibly diverse and enchanting that when I shared glimpses of them in Instagram stories, a lot of people reached out to ask about the book so I thought I’d make a blog post of it. Like I said, I got mine for a couple of dollars in a charity shop (I’m always on the lookout for vintage design books), but even though it’s out of print, you can still track down for a few used copies on Amazon for cheap. Here are some of my favorite rooms in the book  (I had a hard time picking favorites though, every home featured has something special). Hope you enjoy!