Nancy Braithwaite: Simplicity Hardcover – October 14, 2014 by Nancy Braithwaite (Author), Dara Caponigro (Foreword) (Rizzoli)

I have mixed feelings about this book. The quality of the book itself - its size, the photography, the typeface, etc. - is all beautiful. I deduct a small amount due to the font - although the typeface is nice, the weight of the font is frequently very light making it more difficult to read in certain lighting.

I purchased the book hopeful that I might find some ideas for my living and dining rooms. While I have very colorful rooms in my house, these two are more simple, understated and elegant. I was disappointed that while the photography was beautiful, the rooms themselves (as other reviewers have noted) are very austere. They have a museum feel to them, as if no one actually lives there or would want to mess them up. The house featured as contemporary feels cold like an office building, not a welcoming family vacation home. There was nothing from this book that I can apply to my own house, even while I can admire the quality of the photography and be impressed by some of the rooms.

I also found the author herself a bit condescending. The feeling I have is that one can't possibly do a decent job decorating their house without the skilled eye of a decorator, top class painters, and antique experts to assist. While having those experts available can certainly help, many of us are not wealthy and, even though not skilled as a decorator, I think I do pretty well. Even when reading her thoughts on collecting, the value in collecting seems to be more monetary or whether the artist you purchase eventually becomes well known. Simply enjoying the collection seems to come second.

I read the book from cover to cover and greatly enjoyed looking at the photos, but at the end I felt the book was cold and nothing I could apply to my own home.