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Total Design: Contemplate, Cleanse, Clarify, and Create Your Personal Spaces
"To truly support us, a home has to stretch beyond its material properties and sustain our complex human needs." This philosophy is at the heart of every environment that acclaimed designer Clodagh creates, and it represents an entirely new and sustaining way to look at interior design.
Total Design is concerned with the experience of living and not simply the look of it. It encourages an ongoing awareness of our surroundings to keep us energized and our shelters alive, not static. Using a process she calls the Four C's, Clodagh reveals how she helps each client envision a project, first by contemplating the space as it is, then by cleansing it of unnecessary items and clarifying the individual's goals, needs, and desires, and, finally, by creating a space that is uniquely his or her own.
In chapters devoted to the senses, nostalgia, small spaces, the influence of nature, melding personal and professional identities, privacy and retreat, and more, Clodagh shows how our relationships to the places and things we've experienced can be used to shape our environments while encouraging continued growth and exploration. Filled with sensual textures and unexpected details, these are vibrant rooms that are at once supremely practical and lushly indulgent. Sections dedicated to materials, lighting, displaying art, and using color illuminate the principles of Total Design . A comprehensive workbook provides a blueprint for putting these principles into practice and setting personal priorities.
At once innovative and timeless, minimal and luxuriant, Total Design is a celebration of homes that are deeply personal and serenely beautiful.
"A home cannot be truly beautiful unless it functions in harmony with who we are. This book is about discovering what pleases us and creating an environment that will celebrate those qualities and sustain us."
-- Clodagh
Total Design is concerned with the experience of living and not simply the look of it. It encourages an ongoing awareness of our surroundings to keep us energized and our shelters alive, not static. Using a process she calls the Four C's, Clodagh reveals how she helps each client envision a project, first by contemplating the space as it is, then by cleansing it of unnecessary items and clarifying the individual's goals, needs, and desires, and, finally, by creating a space that is uniquely his or her own.
In chapters devoted to the senses, nostalgia, small spaces, the influence of nature, melding personal and professional identities, privacy and retreat, and more, Clodagh shows how our relationships to the places and things we've experienced can be used to shape our environments while encouraging continued growth and exploration. Filled with sensual textures and unexpected details, these are vibrant rooms that are at once supremely practical and lushly indulgent. Sections dedicated to materials, lighting, displaying art, and using color illuminate the principles of Total Design . A comprehensive workbook provides a blueprint for putting these principles into practice and setting personal priorities.
At once innovative and timeless, minimal and luxuriant, Total Design is a celebration of homes that are deeply personal and serenely beautiful.
"A home cannot be truly beautiful unless it functions in harmony with who we are. This book is about discovering what pleases us and creating an environment that will celebrate those qualities and sustain us."
-- Clodagh
224 pages, Hardcover
First published April 10, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 2, 2024
Although it was published in 2001, this book is classic in its design tips. Yes, the photos in this feature luxury homes, but there is still classic information and inspiration that can be taken from it.
Oh, the irony... design-wise, if it's ever reprinted, they need to change the typography. Too much of it is in faint colors, making it hard to read. That pale gray on a white page is difficult to read, as is the tiny font on many pages. Oh, and the ramblings on color... She needed a better editor.
As I've said before, many of these home design books that were published before the rise of blogs and social media are far better than the junk being published today. This is one of those books that holds up 23 years after being published.
Oh, the irony... design-wise, if it's ever reprinted, they need to change the typography. Too much of it is in faint colors, making it hard to read. That pale gray on a white page is difficult to read, as is the tiny font on many pages. Oh, and the ramblings on color... She needed a better editor.
As I've said before, many of these home design books that were published before the rise of blogs and social media are far better than the junk being published today. This is one of those books that holds up 23 years after being published.
May 30, 2012
THIS is the book that we gave to each client after the project was complete. Beautiful imagery, sound and practical overview of the elements and principles of design that a layperson can understand and apply. I'll bet we bought 25 or more copies a year!
April 9, 2008
this book is what pushed me over the edge to change my entire life and become an interior designer. clodagh's work is very inspiring to me, to say the least. i will always treasure this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews