'A hymn to good architecture, an ode to authentic domestic interiors ... buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy to keep in the car. No other book (apart from his 1,000 Churches) will prompt so many joyous detours' Christopher Hudson, Daily MailEngland's houses are a treasure trove of riches and a unique, living record of the nation's history. Simon Jenkins's magnificent guide selects the finest palaces, mansions, halls, castles and cottages throughout the land, from the stately to the humble, in a glorious celebration of English life. Read more

Natural swimming pools are cleaned by plants instead of chlorine so they are gentle on the eyes and healthy for swimmers. This book describes how to build a pool to suit your site and maintain the nutrient level in perfect balance to keep the algae down and the water sparkling. As well as being delightful to swim in, these pools enhance the garden and provide a valuable water source for beneficial insects. Read more

In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live. Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live.This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets; and on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home. Read more

‘A hymn to good architecture, an ode to authentic domestic interiors … buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy to keep in the car. No other book (apart from his 1,000 Churches) will prompt so many joyous detours’ Christopher Hudson, Daily MailEngland’s houses are a treasure trove of riches and a unique, living record of the nation’s history. Simon Jenkins’s magnificent guide selects the finest palaces, mansions, halls, castles and cottages throughout the land, from the stately to the humble, in a glorious celebration of English life. Read more

Interior design guru Axel Vervoordt shares his latest inspirations for the home. Axel Vervoordt’s intense curiosity has fueled his work as an interior designer, spurring him to explore and draw inspiration from cultures around the globe. He was first exposed to Eastern art and philosophy years ago, but today it has become the guiding principle in his work, particularly the concept of Wabi. Developed in the twelfth century, Wabi advocates simplicity and humility, the rejection of all that is superfluous or artificial. Through extraordinary photographs from Japan and Korea to Belgium and Switzerland, Vervoordt invites us to explore the elements that inspire him: natural materials and timeworn objects that evoke the essence of Wabi. Today, together with the Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki, Vervoordt carries the principles of Wabi into his remarkable interiors. As Vervoordt reveals how he infuses his current creations with a fundamentally oriental approach, interiors devotees will gain new insight from this tribute to the designer’s latest sources of inspiration for the home. Read more

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Liberty has always been a byword for quality, style and even luxury. Progressive yet traditional, Liberty Art Fabrics are unique in marrying the contemporary with the timeless. This is reflected in The Liberty Book of Simple Sewing, which offers the home sewer a chance to add an element of Liberty style to their interior through the 25 simple sewing projects. Sewing really doesn t need to be complicated. In fact, if you can sew a line of straight stitches then you can make a surprisingly large number of sewn items for your home, starting with curtains, throws and cushions. Add curved seams and slip stitching hems into your sewing repertoire and you will have the skills to make the majority of projects in this book, from the largest curtain panel to the smallest rag doll. You don t need to be a skilled seamstress to achieve professional looking results as the projects have all been design with the novice stitcher in mind, and yet the more experienced maker will undoubtedly find items to spark their sewing imaginations. Projects include: Cloud Cushion and Cloud Mobile Curtain Panel Chair Pads Patchwork Picture Frames Covered Letters Belt, Button and Dog Lead Hanging Birds Basket Bag and Saddle Cover Cafetiere Cover and Coasters Drum Lampshade Chevron Quilt Table Mats 'Libby' Doll Floral Garland Storage Bolster Leaf Cushions Edged Pillowcase Sewing Tidy Graffiti Table Runner Pyjama Trousers Picnic Bag Pet Bed Sewing Machine Cover and Bag Upholstered Footstool Striped Throw Read more

Learn how to master hundreds of knotting and braiding techniques to create stunning jewellery and accessories. Written by renowned jewellery crafter and first UK Ambassador for Swarovski Elements, Dorothy Wood, The Knotting & Braiding Bible is the essential guide to knotting and braiding techniques for jewellery craft.  The book covers kumihimo (braiding), plaiting, knotting (including macramé) and fusion, with techniques for adding beads, using different cords/wire and attaching findings. All the instructions have step by step photography to make them suitable for beginners.  Choose from a selection of contemporary jewellery, accessories and home décor projects to create beautiful gifts and home decorations. Read more

La première tragédie romaine de Racine montre les effets de la passion destructrice sur des enjeux plus nobles : les successions dynastiques, les luttes pour le pouvoir impérial, le devenir des empires. La disgrâce d'Agrippine et la mort de Britannicus affermissent le pouvoir personnel de Néron, révèlent sa nature criminelle et ses désirs monstrueux. La rivalité entre frères se double du thème politique de l'usurpation tyrannique. L'action est conduite par degrés jusqu'à son dénouement tragique et naturel. Ainsi sont dramatisés un sujet, l'assassinat de Britannicus par Néron, et des caractères. Ils nous fascinent par le naturel et la noblesse de l'expression poétique, qui concourent à la cérémonie tragique. Read more

Chatsworth is one of England's ten most visited great houses. In this tour of the house, Deborah the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire takes the reader into the private as well as the public rooms, and goes behind the scenes to explain the management of the household and the work of the staff needed to keep it going. Read more

Become an instant expert on Victorian houses with this compact and useful guide, filled with detailed drawings, diagrams and photos, alongside stories from the past. BRING THE VICTORIAN ERA TO LIFE - Learn about the layout and use of rooms; fixtures and fittings; sources of heat and lighting; domestic machinery such as kitchen ranges and laundry equipment; gardens and outbuildings. Covers different phases of design throughout the Victorian age from 1830 to 1902. DETAILED ILLUSTRATIONS - Packed with easy-to-understand and intricately detailed drawings, highlighting key features and notable aspects from the buildings we see around us.QUICK REFERENCE - Also includes a glossary of architectural terms and a historical time chart. From the majestic rows of gleaming white terraces in West London to the grid of red-brick houses in northern mill towns, the legacy of the Victorian era can be found in every area of England. Using his own drawings, diagrams and photographs, author Trevor Yorke explains all aspects of the Victorian house and provides a definitive guide for those who are renovating, tracing the history of their own house, or are simply interested in this notable period of history. Read more

David Hicks is acknowledged as one of the most important interior designers of the late twentieth century, in the company of Albert Hadley and Billy Baldwin. Known for his bold use of color, eclecticism, and geometric designs in carpets and textiles, Hicks turned English decorating on its head in the ’50s and ’60s. His trademark use of electrifying color combinations, and mixing antiques, modern furniture, and abstract paintings became the "in style" for the chic of the day, including Vidal Sassoon and Helena Rubinstein. By the ’70s, David Hicks was a brand; his company was making wallpaper, fabrics, and linens and had outposts in eight countries, including the U.S. where he worked with the young Mark Hampton, and where his wallpaper was used in the White House. "My greatest contribution as an interior designer has been to show people how to use bold color mixtures, how to use patterned carpets, how to light rooms, and how to mix old with new,’’ he stated in his 1968 work, David Hicks on Living—with Taste, the last authoritative book on his work. Written by his son Ashley Hicks, who has unprecedented access to Hicks’s archives, personal photos, journals, and scrapbooks, this is a vibrantly illustrated celebration of a half century of stunning interiors. Read more

This amazing coffee table book features high quality ocean photography & ocean quotes to add a pop of color and personality to your home decor. Showcasing beautiful ocean photography from all over the world, In Love With The Sea is a breathtaking visual tour of nature´s great diversity. Book Features you will love:8.25x11 Inches, LARGE 76 High Quality Pages in Vibrant ColorsHardbound Matte Cover with fascinating Cover Design Read more

Elements of Styleis a uniquely personal and practical decorating guide that shows how designing a home can be an outlet of personal expression and an exercise in self-discovery. Drawing on her ten years of experience in the interior design industry, Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous professional photographs and illustrations with personal essays about the lessons she has learned while designing her own home and her own life-the first being: none of our homes or lives is perfect. Organized by rooms in the house, Elements of Styleinvites readers into Erin's own home as well as homes she has designed for clients. Fresh, modern, and colourful, it is brimming glamour and style as well as advice on practical matters from choosing kitchen counter materials to dressing a bed with pillows, picking a sofa, and decorating a nursery without cartoon characters. You'll also find an extensive Resource and Shopping Guide that provides an indispensable a roadmap for anyone embarking on their first serious home decorating adventure. With Erin's help, you can finally make your house your home. Read more

We owe a great debt to Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery (1797–1849) for his Atlas of Anatomy, which was not only a massive event in medical history, but also remains one of the most comprehensive and beautifully illustrated anatomical treatises ever published.Bourgery began work on his magnificent atlas in 1830 in cooperation with illustrator Nicolas Henri Jacob (1782–1871), a student of the French painter Jacques Louis David. The first volumes were published the following year, but completion of the treatise required nearly two decades of dedication; Bourgery lived just long enough to finish his labor of love, but the last of the treatise’s eight volumes was not published in its entirety until five years after his death.The eight volumes of Bourgery’s treatise cover descriptive anatomy, surgical anatomy and techniques (exploring in detail nearly all the major operations that were performed during the first half of the 19th century), general anatomy and embryology, and microscopic anatomy. Jacob’s spectacular hand-colored lithographs are remarkable for their clarity, color, and aesthetic appeal, reflecting a combination of direct laboratory observation and illustrative research. Unsurpassed to this day, the images offer exceptional anatomical insight, not only for those in the medical field but also for artists, students, and anyone interested in the workings and wonder of the human body.About the seriesBibliotheca Universalis ― Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe! Read more

Reclaiming Style goes with them behind the scenes, from the demolition site to the warehouse to the process of designing with reclaimed materials. Charted over twelve locations, ranging from a 17th-century cottage to a converted barn to a 1970s towerblock apartment, the company’s unique style goes far beyond a mere commitment to salvage and sustainable design and offers an inspiring new vision for sophisticated, thoughtfully constructed living spaces. Read more

Takes a close look at the architectural details, furniture, decoration, heating, and lighting of British homes built before 1850 Read more

Pete Nelson, the world’s best-known treehouse designer and builder, wants to put readers in trees―his motto is, “get ‘er done, so you can BE in a TREE.” His new book is a comprehensive source of inspiration and practical information about treehouse design and construction. To that end, he explains the basics of treehouse construction with his own recent projects as case studies. Using photographs taken especially for this project along with diagrams, he covers the selection and care of trees and the design, style and construction of treehouses. To ignite the imagination, Nelson presents twenty-four previously unpublished treehouses in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Read more

With this book in one hand and a brush in the other, you can learn how to transform everyday furniture into something special, all for the price of a pot of paint.Annie Sloan is a paint legend and one of the world’s most popular experts in the field of decorative painting. In Colour Recipes for Painted Furniture and more, Annie presents 40 new projects and ideas, showing you the easy way to update tired furniture and transform your home. Working with her own range of chalk paints, Annie shows how to mix colours and how to achieve certain looks. Whether your taste is for colourful boho chic or restrained Swedish hues, cosy and comforting rustic shades, a modern and contemporary approach or an elegant French look, here you will find a project to suit you. Start off by mastering the simple art of colourwashing, and work your way up to transfer printing, gilding, stencilling and glazing. There are even instructions for dyeing fabric using paint. As well as painting furniture, the projects range from a staircase painted in a rainbow of colours to stencilled walls, transforming floors with a coat of paint to dyeing linen curtains and even painting a vintage chandelier. Throughout the book, Annie offers expert tips, techniques, shortcuts and guidance, showing you the easy way to create a stylish home. Read more

The book looks at the decorating and design solutions that make the cottages as attractive inside as out, as well as practical and comfortable to live in. Bestselling author Ros Byam Shaw takes a fresh look at this perennially appealing style, which she divides into five chapters: Character, Holiday, Romance, Simplicity and Elegance. The featured homes are incredibly varied, from a tiny house with exposed beams to a pared-down Georgian gem, to a picture-perfect cottage with roses over the door―and plenty more adorning the interior. Each section ends with a Get The Look page with ideas for recreating the style in your own home. Read more