I was excited to find this book by Amy Butler (yes, of the fabric fame) and her husband David at my local library, called Found Style: Vintage Ideas for Modern Living. I don’t usually go in for home decorating books, but I’m trying to get inspired to fix up our apartment and I thought it might help. Given that I love her fabric so much, I was expecting to turn every page wishing I lived in all the beautiful rooms pictured. That didn’t really happen though, I guess the english country garden look just isn’t my thing, and all the rooms seemed a bit too cold and white to me.

However, just because I didn’t want to transform my house into a sparse, white ‘modern’ country manor, doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book. There are lots of little things that I gasped at, and things that I made a mental note to look for at the thrift store or the yard sale. I am also not really into decorative knick nacks, but I do have a lot of junk around that I like to hide, so the pretty vintage storage ideas were really what I went in for. Old cabinets, wardrobes, baskets, metal carts, all good places to hide unsightly clutter. There is also a beautiful picture of a millinery cabinet holding fabric and notions, and an old shoe organizer hanging on the wall for other supplies. Not hiding clutter, but it still looks pretty.

I’m also really enamoured lately with these kinds of library catalogue filing cabinets, perfect for organizing buttons and other doo dads.

Check out also a tour of amy butler’s studio

Don’t forget about the In Stitches book coming out in September, which I am very excited about. It’s got 25 sewing patterns, should be good fun, click here for a preview. Also, the new fabric lines are out of course, and look lovely as always.