Interior designer Heidi Caillier’s first book, Memories of Home, is the perfect companion for a chilly day at home. Her rooms are warm and engaging, and while she uses plenty of color and pattern, they have a fresh, modern feel. It’s not unusual that floral prints live easily with midcentury furniture. One striking example is the dining room in Callier’s guest house. The stark white Saarinen table cozies up to a floral-stripe banquette that is placed against a black wall. Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs provide seating on the other side. If you’ve been averse to brown furniture, this book may change your mind.
Most appealing is Caillier’s philosophy on the value of renovation.
“The obvious analogy is that in our own lives, and in the houses we restore, is that almost everything is not beyond hope, that we can rebuild when we restore a wall,” Callier says. “When we change a color, when we take something that looks like it’s gone and beyond hope and physically alter it in the restoration of a house, it reinforces the fact that we can do that for our lives.”