Barbara Westbrook: Gracious Rooms

by Barbara Westbrook

In her first book, the South’s most inviting designer explores her principles for creating a beautiful home rich with comfort and warmth. Barbara Westbrook has been designing classically inspired homes full of Southern charm and a European touch for more than twenty years. A native of Virginia, Westbrook grew up accompanying her mother to antique shops and was introduced by her to Virginia’s rich architectural legacy. With a design vocabulary that ranges from casual American to formal English to French modern, Westbrook’s homes share a welcoming elegance, whether it is a country cottage or a penthouse apartment. In Gracious Rooms, she sets out her principles for creating a house rich with both polish and patina. Walking the reader through a dozen stunning homes—light-filled lake retreats, contemporary houses, and historic mansions—Westbrook shares her accessible, appealing ideas. From the judicious use of symmetry to the importance of including natural elements in a room, utilizing color to unify spaces within a house, and setting a mood with materials, Gracious Rooms is rich with advice and inspiration.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Interior Design

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2015

Reviews

[Mary Lynn]

Not surprisingly when designers include photos of their own home as part of a retrospective of their work, those are the spaces which I find most appealing! This is a well organized monograph of Atlanta-based Westover’s projects in the South. I enjoyed the text and photos. This style of decorating appeals to those who like a rusticated formal look with lots of wrought iron, weathered wood accent pieces and neutral tones in fabric and wall coverings. Will not appeal to many, but I appreciated the calmness of the spaces even though not my preferred style.

[Amethyst]

It was great