The New Bohemians: Cool and Collected Homes, by Justina Blakeney. Abrams, 2015

When I read the title, I expected something like Stevie Nicks style, vardo wagon color combinations, print on print and stuff everywhere, with thrift store finds used in new ways and lots and lots of wicker and fringe. The problem was I was missing the ‘New’ part of the title. These are homes with thrift store finds and international textiles, but they are pared down and very nearly spare. The walls are mostly white, allowing the textiles and art (there is always art) to be focal spots rather than part of a tapestry.

The home owners are mostly artists, boutique owners, and others with ties to the artistic world. Most of them are world travelers. They utilize textiles, art, and décor from indigenous cultures around the world. Pretty much all of them have plants. Many work from their homes and so the home must be multifunctional. They have few rules, except that one must make one’s home one’s own, and everything in the world is up for use however you want.

I liked some of the homes- loved the one where a woman made a home in a parking lot- and others left me cold- about average for me with any decorating book, although I liked the majority of what I saw by a hair. I liked that rather than just a look book, she had DIY projects. And a Plant-a-pedia, because they are so important to the style. Four stars out of five. 

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