Patina Modern

This is a lovely book for yourself or for a really nice gift. Highly recommend!

Patina Modern is to interior design books what dry martinis are to other cocktails: chic, timeless, crisp, unfussy, and highly necessary.In a world in which interior showcases are looking increasingly like untouched movie sets, Patina Modern focuses on the lives that move about in a space, not just the space itself. There is no pretense or trade secrets here, either: plenty of tips and guides on how to achieve this level of design that makes it all seem within reach, even if some of it still maybe isn't.... An epic addition to anyone's collection.

I purchased this book after following the authors after (I think) Matt Hranek posted a few photographs on his social media at their Brooklyn Townhouse and tagged them. I instantly loved what I saw of that home, so was stunned to find out there were others they had also designed.The sharing of knowledge and how it is done is an incredible resource, a book I'll return to time and time again. I've just purchased another as a gift, I'm that impressed.

Inspired designs. I recommend this one! There are a lot of books to find in this category at the same level of design, but I think this stands on its own very well. There are some terrific ideas borrowing from older generations to bring forward to the present and future. I'm grateful there are books demonstrating this level of design, even though I might lean toward jealousy some of the time, because money is scarce these days.

I have wanted to downsize and go more streamlined for a while; we have travelled in Scandinavian extensively, but the style can be a bit hard edged. I hoped, from the description, that this was going to show a softer, warmer kind of minimalism. Yes, it does, it that it mixes old and new together, describes some great room placements and much practical help. However, I just have to admit that I really did not like any of the rooms in the book. They appear bleak to me, not in a Scandi way, which often does have shots of colour, but with an edge of patina over them, and quite decidely male in feeling. Maybe I need more colour than I thought in life?! This is not the fault of the book, which is very well written with good photos, which is why I have given it four stars, this is just not obviously, my cup of tea after all.