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Book Review | Country Living – The Peaceful Home

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!

Blue and white cottage decor
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Last Week’s Finds & A New Course from Create Academy

Good morning, friends! I hope your weekend was a good one… The weather has been on the mend lately so we took a couple of walks on the nearby trails but, for the most part, we busied ourselves indoors and made good progress on our dining room renovation. (Pictures to follow.) Just to give you an idea, after installing French doors between the dining room and the kitchen, the decorating dominoes started to fall and we went on to add wainscoting on the lower part of the dining room walls (simple beaded paneling topped with pine nosing). We finished the construction phase this weekend and are now onto the fun stuff- caulking, sanding, priming and painting. I hope I’ll be able to share a prettier picture with you next week. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission on all qualifying purchases. Thank you!

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The Country House Book

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!

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Introducing McLaurin & Piercy – American Weavers

For today’s design story, I wanted to share with you some exciting news in the design industry: the launch of McLaurin & Piercy, a new brand of weavers inspired by American heritage and craftsmanship.  Founders Clay McLaurin and Todd Piercy believe in producing textiles in a responsible fashion, right here on American soil and have made it their mission to honor the quality of local craftsmanship through their new collection of woven textiles. 

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Shopping for Glass Hurricane Candle Holders

Decorating (or redecorating) a room is a complex process that involves many layers, not the least of which are the accessories – that final touch that makes all your efforts come together into a room that feels cozy and welcoming. To fight the cold and gloomy weather that’s been plaguing New England these last couple of months, I’ve been lighting a lot of candles around the house, especially during that soft hour right before the sun starts to set. Unfortunately, last week I managed to break one of my favorite glass hurricane candle holders and I was bummed because it was a sturdy little guy that had survived all our cross-country moves and it felt like saying goodbye to an old friend. Anyway, that’s glass for you… and with my butter fingers, I’m surprised I did not break it sooner. I started looking for a new one the other day and I wanted to share with you my finds, in case you’re also looking to replace yours or to add to your existing collection. (I hope it’s the latter.) Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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