Barbara Westbrook: Gracious Rooms [Hardcover]

In her first book, the South’s most inviting designer explores her principles for creating a beautiful home rich with comfort and warmth. Barbara Westbrook has been designing classically inspired homes full of Southern charm and a European touch for more than twenty years. A native of Virginia, Westbrook grew up accompanying her mother to antique shops and was introduced by her to Virginia’s rich architectural legacy. With a design vocabulary that ranges from casual American to formal English to French modern, Westbrook’s homes share a welcoming elegance, whether it is a country cottage or a penthouse apartment. In Gracious Rooms, she sets out her principles for creating a house rich with both polish and patina. Walking the reader through a dozen stunning homes—light-filled lake retreats, contemporary houses, and historic mansions—Westbrook shares her accessible, appealing ideas. From the judicious use of symmetry to the importance of including natural elements in a room, utilizing color to unify spaces within a house, and setting a mood with materials, Gracious Rooms is rich with advice and inspiration.“It’s always exciting when a Southern designer, especially one from my hometown, has a monograph of work published. I think this book will raise Barbara’s profile on the national design stage.” –Garden & Gun

[Barbara Westbrook: Gracious Rooms] will leave you insprired by her know-how. -Traditional Home

It’s a gorgeous representation of her work, titledGracious Rooms, which is so apt given her level of sophistication and timeless point of view. The designer’s talent for melding edgy patina and antiques withclassically tailored eleganceis showcased in the images I’m using to illustrate this post so you can see for yourself how adept she is at intermingling styles and periods. -Improvateur.com

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