8/14/2019 Vintage Design Books - Spaces
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BY ParRrcra Sxacxsrrono
ach year sort hrough he offerings f
new desisn books o see which ones
should oinmy ibrary.Once ou have stab-
lished bit of a collection, t becomes asier
to turn a discerning ye o the new selec-
tions. n order o find a spot on my shelves,
a book needs o have a timeless quality.
can admire rends n magazines, ut they
won't ind a permanent ome n hardcover.
So how to determine which spine I will
reach or again and again? Look back, not
forward: intage esign books are he cor-
nerstones f any design ibrary, and every
aficionado as his or her avorites.
Like all good things, vintage designbooks an come o you in three
ways: You
ca n nherit, ou can hunt, or yo u can buy
them new and ind 20 years rom now hatyou have treasure n your
hands. Kathy
Leftt Kathg Kel/g disp/ogs her co/lection of design books n her
oronge-locquered
librarg. Above: A folio 'rom Decorotion, Kel/g s most-prized
design book.
Kelly, a partner at Helix Architecture +
Design, was ucky enough o have a gen-
erous grandmother ith a good eye. My
favorite intage book was given o me by
my grandmother, ary Kelly, a self-taugh
interior designer n Fort Lauderdale, rom
her own collection when went nto desig
school," elly ays. lt is itled Decorationn
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copies of a particular ook here an d
there, bemore discriminating bout
the condition. f you stumble across
something more rare, like Yogue's ook
of Houses, ardens, eople, 968with pho-
tographs by Horst and a foreword by Diana
Vreeland, e much more orgiving.
Other nteresting inds ncluded errance
Conran's ed ndBathBook nd 100 f heMost
Beautiful ooms n America t Prospero's n
Westport. rospero's wner, Will Latham,
says his design ooks urn over elatively
quickly. e credits he neighborhood it h
some of that interest. There re very work-
able older homes around here with good
architecture. eople are looking or ways
to make hose houses work o r today," aysLatham. Vintage esign
books ar e full of
inspiration or renovators.
HalfPriceBooks ad quite of few copies
of the House eautifuleries, fewArchitectural
Di4est ompilations nd a good selection f
Martha Stewart ooks. Not just shelf upon
shelf of overruns, ut cases f rare books,
safely ehind lass, s well.
Speaking f storage, ooks hould ot be
kept n direct sunlight r environments ha t
have significant emperature luctuations,
like attics and basements. lso, acids rom
newspaper nd cardboard an harm books,
and plastic romotes mold and mildew.
THINKING AHEAD
Sometimes ou end up with classicbooks n your collection ecause
ou were
wise enough o buy he m when hey were
published. ocal antiques ealer Suzanne
Cooper as amassed n outstanding ol-
lection, having picked up a volume or tw
every year until her shelves roaned wi
most-wanted volumes. " l bought a l
of books because adore he designer
style, but my favorites are the ones whe
you can replicate he look. Let's face t: No
everyone as l2-foot ceilings," he says.
So what books would I recommen
buying now? Like my chi ldren, al l m
design books have special characteristic
that make me adore them, but rece
favorites include House ' Garden's Book
Stgle, Southern Accents n Color, Farrow " Ba
Th e Art of Color,Michael S Smith's Eleme
of StUIe nd Lynn von Kersting's La Strad
della Dolce ita. This year's Michael Smith
Houses nd Regencq Redux op my list future classics. Check back
in 20 years
see if I was as discr iminat ing as Suzann
Cooper n building my col lect ion. One ca
only hope.
