Designer Ray Booth's New Book: EVOCATIVE INTERIORS

Isn't this breathtaking. . .  The balance of nuances, simplicity and scale, light and color, current and contemporary, expressing simplicity and function with the richness of warmth and hospitality.  The beauty of designer Ray Booth's work at its core is the art of Modernity... contrasting the strength of architecture and the beauty of nature.  But at it's heart, it is welcoming, personal, even romantic.  Architect Bobby McAlpine wrote in the foreword:

"Architecturally trained and interiors practiced, Ray's disciplined eye has made him a cut above. "

"Casual and elegant, these rooms have a voice you can live with, and they will last.  There is a sense of safety in these rooms, made up of intelligent characters and strong movements."

Booth's new book Evocative Interiors is distinctively elegant with curated interiors, a mix of both contemporary furnishings and antique pieces collected over a lifetime, while always bringing as much natural light as he could from as many angles as possible.  The result... beautiful ... livable ... evocative.

T O   S E E K

"The process of design seeks to find a marriage, or at least a commonality, between the two main components of each residence: the person and the place."

"There is an art to the placement of things that we all seek to create or impose on our environments.  A minor adjustment of an angle, an alteration of half an inch- from the minuscule comes the mighty."

T O   T H I N K

"Interiors and architecture with personal meaning always come into being through a process of critical thinking."

"In design, drawing is where art meets thought, simultaneously a method of exploring and communicating ideas and a pathway for the conveyance of meaning."

T O   C H O O S E

"Life has its rhythms.  So do interiors and architecture.  They are by definition far more fixed in space and time. What do you do when you first wake up?  Where do you go to do it?  What type of space should it be?  What emotional needs are met there?  Does the family eat together?  Where in the house do they gather to dine?  At what time? Is there always a fire in the fireplace?"

"The particular relationships of ceiling, wall, and floor; and of the furnishings within the built frame: all factor into the physical and emotional impact of a given place."

Interior designer Ray Booth is a partner in the prestigious McALPINE firm, who divides his time between New York and Nashville.  Booth's furniture line is in development.  He has received national recognition from Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and Veranda. 

Bobby McAlpine founded the thirty-five-year-old firm McALPINE in Montgomery, Alabama, now with additional locations in New York, Atlanta, and Nashville.

Judith Nasatir is a lifestyle writer, who co-writes design books, including Nancy Braithwaite: Simplicity and The Welcoming House: The Art of Living Graciously by Jane Schwab and Cindy Smith.

My sincere congratulations to designer Ray Booth of McALPINE on a beautiful new book.

A personal thank you to Lizzy Hyland of Jill Cohen Associates - Where Beautiful Books Begin and Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. for the opportunity.

All the best to you, always.

Quotes by Ray Booth.
Photos used by permission, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.

Pretty is ... A Connecticut Weekend Home by Designer Ashley Whittaker

New York designer Ashley Whittaker has turned a Greek Revival home in Connecticut into a light and airy breath of Spring.  Color, pattern, beautiful linens, and de Gournay wallpaper of course, taking florals from accents to breathtaking showstoppers in pastels and jewel tones through-out this perfect weekend hide-away.  House Beautiful featured this home in the March issue to much acclaim, and is written by Hillary Brown and beautifully photographed by Read Mckendree.

"I'm constantly thinking about contrasting textures, like combining silky and coarse or velvet and linen.  It doesn't matter how many patterns and colors you have going on - the room will feel flat if it's missing that sense of dimension." 

"The Library's rich Prussian blue was inspired by the living room's wallpaper - you see it in the bird's feathers.   I then pulled that deep blue back into the living room:  It turns up on the table lamp, on the garden stool, and in the painting, as well as on the subtle welt along the seat of the side chair.   Even the butterflies on the sofa's pea-green pillows hint at that blue.  You might not notice these little details, but they give both spaces a sense of harmony."  

"As I design a room, I'm always considering the space next door. What are the contrasts, what's the continuity, what do I want to see more of?"

Quotes: Designer Ashley Whittaker

Spring: "A Simple Guide to the Wildflowers of Britain"

Growing up my mother would take us on "floral expeditions" each Spring.  Sometimes it was to a floral show, or a garden cutting display at a local church, but mainly it was in search of hillsides or open fields festooned with color.  My brother could only be convinced to come if the adventure included a stream that he could sail a paper boat in and of course slosh around in his boots.   There is something intoxicating in the smell of damp grass warmed by sunshine and it's no small pleasure to end with a picnic lunch.  Country Life Magazine recently showcased  "A Simple Guide to the Wildflowers of Britain" and those wonderful memories came flooding back.  I just had to share it with you.  Who knows, maybe it will inspire a floral adventure of your own.  Enjoy!