Victoria Hagan: Dream Spaces

by Victoria Hagan, David Colman

Breathtaking new interiors from this iconic designer, called “the reigning queen of restrained elegance”

In her much-anticipated second book, Victoria Hagan features an exquisite selection of new interiors that embody the “soft modern” look that distinguishes her work.  A major force in the design community, Hagan is the master of juxtaposing old and new, showing luxury through simplicity, and creating homes that reflect their owners’ lives.

In these appealing, timeless projects—including a New York penthouse, a Nantucket beach house, and a Western ranch—formal architecture is loosened up with a generosity of spirit and an appreciation for the whimsies of style. Throughout, Hagan discourses on the spirit of the unexpected detail—a vintage mirror or a unique chair—that adds soul and modernity. After twenty-five years of running a successful business, she shares her philosophy on attaining good taste and expressing an attitude through her work.

Victoria Dream Spaces is a beautiful and inspiring collection of this design superstar’s work and a must for every interior design library.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Interior Design

240 pages, Hardcover

Published October 10, 2017

Reviews

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ideally, when I read a book about interior design, it's a life time's investment which you can return to again and again for sound advice or simply to evoke memories and dreams and stir the imagination. This book did neither. There is something very formulaic about her work: stark white interiors, and in this case country getaways or beach houses of the rich, given over to her white on white with blasts of sharp color, usually in an oil painting in red or orange, squiggly patterned rugs of rough hewn stuff in blues and grays and creams. The books chosen to either match the décor or repeated viewings of the same book on the artist Rausch or Warhol or some contemporary. Nary a Renoir in sight. A lot of oversized leaves from palms and figs. The real allure is what you can barely see through the doors and windows with magnificent mountains and oceans and sand and waving grasses. While she has a few outdoor living arrangements, she mainly focuses on interiors. All very modern, all guaranteed to age poorly and gather dirt. In one room against a bank of windows there was a wooden sculpture in dark wood which I first mistook for an antique chest, but it was irregularly stacked sized of wood stained darkly which means a bitch to dust and wax. Above it a sculpture that first appeared to be shredded paper, but I "think" is plaster with the same effect--again, a certified dust magnet and these are not homes lived in year round. I kept picturing these white, white homes shrouded in white white sheets, waiting for something or someone to humanize them.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photography, great spaces. She’s definitely a star on her field. I would have loved more information about the design elements and design pieces.