I've noticed a trend recently-in style magazines and websites- of books covered in paper. I have vendors who will now sell me a collection of "books" wrapped in old script. When did books become something we have to hide under wraps? It's not like the Playboy's that were delivered in brown kraft paper in the 1960's, which every one was "reading" for the astute articles!

I find that people's bookshelves are such a clear window into who they are. When I meet with a new design client I always look on the bedside table and book shelves to understand them as a full human being. It helps me hone in on design elements that will reflect their personality. 

After a conversation with a good friend (who is an excellent social commentator) about covered books, I went home to see what my shelves said about me. Fiction on one side-alphabetical and non-fiction on the other by subject. Before you call me out for being anal,I worked at Wilson Library in Chapel Hill while I was in college! The fiction is varied-most of Ann Tyler, good Britsh mysteries, my copy of The Awakening  from my senior year, two copies of Exremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I treasure my Harry Potters read with Sam. I have hard backs from the 19th century and dog eared paperbacks mingling in a just a little dust. On the non-fiction side I have every book written about Jackie Robinson or the Brooklyn Dodgers, Elaine Pagels next to yoga, much used travel books on London and Paris, an Italian college text book just waiting for that next trip, and the complete David Sedaris. About two feet are devoted to WW1 and social history of the early 1900s-a new interest. For those of you who will read this that do not know me well, can you get a picture of who I am? This  type of personal information I look for when I go into someone's home shows me in a few minutes their passions and interests. When I help someone in their kitchen I want to see their batter smeared cookbooks. Everytime I open my Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I look at the smudge of chocolate on the Reine de Sabe page and think of all the wonderful times had over that cake!

Your Kindle is a great tool. Especially for  Fifty Shades of Gray. But only Amazon will know your preferences. A real book, with its book smell and memories says something about who you are. I can remember clients who had no books, so when I decorated their den I went to the used book store and bought the books I thought they should read. I always thought that was so sad-as if they had no friends. So please-no artifice when it comes to your books. Keep them spines out and proud. You are known by the company you keep.

It's so hot, that I find myself wandering, looking for respite. Here at the shop, the cool lavender and blues of the back room and the shaded creek are lovely, but all I can imagine is how beautiful it will be in the snow! At home, I find myself more and more in the living room with the sisal rug and biscuit colored linen upholstery. It used to be that houses were redecorated for the seasons. When summer came, the wool carpets were rolled up and India mats went down. Slip covers of linen covered mohairs in jewel tones. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to create such sanctuary for the harsh days of summer, when not only the flowers have faded but so have we? That tradition went the way of servants who orchestrated the transformation for those left behind in the town house as the lucky ones fled to the country. 
      
I think of the house of my grandmother, Katherine Tate, who had such beautiful taste. She lived on a high hill and in the distance you could see the Blue Ridge. A veranda ran the whole length of the back of the house and during the summers, the french doors were open in every room, bringing in the silky fragrance of magnolia blooming in the back. The upholstery in the living room was white  accented with a brilliant green and the accessories were flowers and silver. It was a calm hideaway from the summer heat for my sister Kelly and I as we laid on the floor or invented music on the grand piano. I don't think my grandmother redid the house for the seasons, but that living room stands out as such a beautiful example of refuge from the sweltering sun. The smell of magnolia, heady on a summer afternoon always makes me think of those days. Good luck in finding your hideaway!