Megan Morton's Home Love - A Compulsory Acquisition

Do you sometimes buy a design book, stare at its cover with breathless expectation, leaf through it, slowly at first, then a bit faster and more angrily, close it, sigh and think 'Is that all there is?'

I do.  All the time.  And it is this disappointment which has led me to cut down severely on such purchases.    After all, these books are expensive, and there are many more and better things to spend one's money on. 

I feel that a lot of these books are just a collection of photos, sometimes well edited, sometimes not so.  And we can get so much eye candy on the internet these days that for me, to be real value for money, such books need to offer more.

Megan Morton's Home Love is something else.  Whilst it has some lovely images, the point of the book is actually to impart information.    To help and provide practical advice.

And for bumbling amateurs like me, a book like this is very useful.

Each double page has a topic, an image on one side and a page of discussion on the other.

The Rooms for Living section looks at ways to live now, including the hidden kitchen, pleasing an early teen, how to create an elegant night-time living room, working with and under a staircase and the benefits of a roof top conversion. 

Keeping Up Appearances considers how to create different styles - Scandinavian, coastal, bohemian, Australian rustic, uptown glamour, modern retro and so on.  This part also has a little section on the best films with inspired interiors from The Hours to All that Jazz. 

And, thrill of thrills, because this wonderful person is a Sydneysider, her references are Australian - which means that this book  works equally well as source book for all things from fabric and customised wallpaper, soft industrial furnishings, garage junk to Italian lighting and other delectable things including many which were new to me. 

Ultimately, it comes down to something quite simple:  Megan Morton can write really well - evocatively and simply with charming turn of phrase.  

To give you an idea, here is a little excerpt from a post on her site (see link below):

"I actually don’t approve generally of colour coding books in shelves. It’s like the overworked mini bar in my opinion. In the same way gerberas were over done in the mid 90’s or the more recent abuse of too much lettering/signage in a room."   (Hear hear).

(How I love this picture with the little bunches of ranunculi and a map of Australia in the background.)

Her Attention to Detail section looks those little things which are so important, including how to hang art, how to buy antiques and collectibles, working colours into white, using mirros and how to achieve flawless white floors. 

There is even a section at the back with some suggestions for ergonomic living and which flower is in season when.  

Rush out now, or click on Amazon, and buy this fantabulous book. 

For more on Megan, see the interview the Design Files did with her here and her website is here .

(All images copyright Home Love).

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