The Layered Garden: Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty from Brandywine Cottage

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Library Journal (08/01/2012):
Readers familiar with Culp through his work in "Horticulture" magazine or appearances on HGTV will relish this opportunity to learn more about the layering technique he's mastered at his two-acre Brandywine Cottage in Pennsylvania. Culp eloquently explains the design process he used to create his stunning garden, lush with plant combinations that provide a succession of peak garden moments throughout the year in his Zone 6 garden. Spellbinding writing and Carillo's breathtaking photos entice readers through Culp's woodland garden, large perennial border, kitchen garden, shrubbery, and walled garden. Along the way, Culp shares warm childhood memories and modestly relates why a Galanthus bears his name. With the passion of a plant collector and a wordsmith, he ends the book by describing signature plants for all four seasons, recommending some of his favorite gardening books, and sharing his optimistic attitude on beauty. VERDICT In the tradition of classics like Beverly Nichols's "Merry Hall", this is a marvelous account of how one gardener created his garden and a sense of place. It's an essential title in the "how I did it" genre of garden writing.--Bonnie Poquette, Whitefish Bay, WI Copyright 2012 Reed Business Information.

Be Your Own Decorator: Taking Inspiration and Cues from Today's Top Designers

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Selecting favorite rooms from more than fifty renowned designers such as Kelly Wearstler, Bunny Williams, Albert Hadley, Nate Berkus, and Mary McDonald--and shot by the world's top shelter photographers--Susanna Salk offers insightful advice on how to apply basic design principles to interiors.
Organized into chapters on balance, color, mixing, accessorizing, arrangements, rule breaking, and whimsy, Salk walks through the process of great design, illustrating how the featured designers made the decisions they did to make these rooms look so great. The book's encouraging, conversational tone, practical tips and ideas, and quotes by the designers themselves explaining their philosophies empower the reader to create stylish, functional, and unique rooms of their very own. 

Zen Gardens: The Complete Works of Shunmyo Masuno Japan's Leading Garden Designer

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Shunmyo Masuno, Japan's leading garden designer, is at once Japan's most highly acclaimed landscape architect and an 18th-generation Zen Buddhist priest, presiding over daily ceremonies at the Kenkoji Temple in Yokohama. He is celebrated for his unique ability to blend strikingly contemporary elements with the traditional design vernacular. He has worked in ultramodern urban hotels and in some of Japan's most famous classic gardens. In each project, his work as a designer is inseparable from his Buddhist practice. Each becomes a Zen garden, "a special spiritual place where the mind dwells."
This beautiful book, illustrated with more than 400 drawings and color photographs, is the first complete retrospective of Masuno's work to be published in English. It presents 37 major gardens around the world in a wide variety of types and settings: traditional and contemporary, urban and rural, public spaces and private residences, and including temple, office, hotel and campus venues. Masuno achieved fame for his work in Japan, but he is becoming increasingly known internationally, and in 2011 completed his first commission in the United States which is shown here. 

Wreaths for All Seasons

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James Farmer is all about the "elegant gardening lifestyle," using the bounty from your landscape, cutting gardens, fruit trees and farmers markets to enrich your home and table. In this book, James inspires us with wreath creations for a grand entrance in any season, for the church altar, or for over the mantel.

Evergreen Tabletops

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"A tabletop can be an arrangement anywhere you want to draw attention." -Robert Waite --- In his second book focusing on evergreens, author and designer Robert Waite shares his secrets of combining fresh flowers, fruit, and live greenery to create beautiful centerpieces and more for any tabletop. His unexpected pieces incorporate juniper berries, fresh pomegranates, holly, ribbons, lotus pods, clementine oranges, pinecones, and wire spirals to create just the look and feel needed for any setting. Organic and inspired from the local and seasonal things at hand, Waite's ideas will inspire you to make great use of greenery in your own backyard. 

The Accessible Home: Designing for All Ages and Abilities

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"This book is a gem. It provides an excellent framework for the design of living spaces that accommodate the practical needs of people with various special needs in a dignified, functional and stylish manner. The case studies presented are inspiring examples of how creative, thoughtful design can be both beautiful and empowering for individuals with physical and other limitations."
 Eileen Komanecky

Dog-Friendly Gardening: Creating a Safe Haven for You and Your Dog

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From dealing with the practicalities of escape-proof fencing, to discouraging unwanted toilet activities in the rockery, this book will help you solve the problems that other gardening and dog-care books don't touch on. Whatever your budget or plot size, with a little effort and imagination you can create an attractive outdoor environment that will actively enhance your relationship with your dog.

Sunset Make It Your Own: Baths

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With Make It Your Own: Bathrooms, D-I-Y projects are easier, more fun, and less time consuming than ever! This inspiring guide offers 50 simple and approachable projects to create a look that is totally unique. Each project is accompanied by photos, practical ideas, step-by-step instructions and material lists-providing the confidence and ability needed to complete any bathroom update.

Home by Novogratz

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Get the "Novogratz" look in this book, design duo Robert and Cortney Novogratz (stars of HGTV's "Home by Novogratz") give us an inside look at twenty of their favorite projects to show us how to achieve their signature "vintage modern" style. See how they effortlessly mix contemporary furniture with thrift-store finds, and learn all sorts of tricks for creating a stylish home no matter what the obstacles: seven children, small spaces, or a tiny budget. From toddler-friendly bedroom for triplets to a beach retreat for two twenty-somethings, from a New Jersey basement to a Palm Beach cabana, "Home by Novogratz "proves that good design is just a book away.