Jeffrey Bilhuber: Defining Luxury: The Qualities of Life at Home

by Jeffrey Bilhuber

Jeffrey Bilhuber returns with a second book after Design Basics , his successful debut volume. In a lavish new format, the media-savvy designer for tastemakers and celebrities presents his most recent projects from coast to coast. Bilhuber views luxury as essential to every life well-lived, a way of appreciating and sharing our joy in existence, not the exclusive purview of the few. The designer encourages the reader to seek, aspire, and revel in luxury at home, however simple or from the embrace of the perfectly tufted reading chair to an heirloom vase cradling freshly cut garden roses to a dazzling chandelier that makes light dance. In seven chapters filled with charming anecdotes and lovely observations, the designer—whom Hamish Bowles has likened to a twenty-first century Billy Baldwin—explores the idea of luxury as life’s abundance reflected in a home’s varied Discovery, Passion, History, Ornament, Grace, Comfort, and Delight. Each project discussed evokes the many qualities of a distinctively American luxury practically expressed and fully enjoyed at beauty, family, refinement, and hospitality. Within these, the reader gleans insight from Bilhuber’s inimitable style and learns that luxury is about cultivating a state of mind as much as it is about the objects with which we surround ourselves.

Genres: Interior Design

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2008

Reviews

[Gabriela Ruelas]

Got this book from the free section at my library. Wasn't sure what it was about but the pretty pictures got my attention.


There was some great points made regarding the concept of decorating your home. Some of us don't realize how important it is to decorate and organize the space you call home. That it is not soley about furnishing. It is about giving life to a space you're going to be inhabiting for many years.  I think people would actually benefit from reading a book like this. It really provides you with a new/fresh perspective to approaching your living space. 


Also, those first two chapters were spitting facts left and right. I especially loved the section where it spoke about the meaning of luxury. I now see that term in a whole light.

[Lauren]

a fantastic book compiled of rooms by Bilhuber - he is both unafraid of crazy color/furniture combinations but also leaves no detail unattended. I want this book for my library!

[Eliza]

This long-awaited second book from my favorite interior designer certainly doesn't disappoint!