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Elements of Family Style: Elegant Spaces for Everyday Life
New York Times bestselling author and popular lifestyle blogger Erin Gates shares everything you need to know about designing a beautifully stylish—yet practical and functional—family home through candid advice, inspirational ideas, and lessons learned.
Loved by her readers for her chic interior designs and frank and funny revelations about life behind the scenes of her picture-perfect blog, bestselling author and designer Erin Gates presents a new book about how to live stylishly amidst the chaos of daily family life. Throughout her career designing homes for families of all kinds all over the country, Erin has always maintained that living with children and pets does not mean that you have to forego nice things. This uniquely personal and practical guide will explain how to create a home that makes you proud and reflects your own style while also being durable, safe, and comfortable for children. It focuses on the spaces families share, those that are dedicated to the kids, and the oft-forgotten retreats for parents.
Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous inspirational photographs with engaging and intimate personal essays about life lessons learned the hard way while struggling with infertility and becoming a mother, managing a business, overseeing her own home renovation, and finding time for her marriage. She’ll share how to store toys so that shared spaces don’t look like a kindergarten, the expensive-looking fabrics that will stand up to a marauding toddler with sticky hands, nursery looks that go beyond blue and pink, and furniture that does not have to be stored during the baby-proofing years. She also showcases the work of other designers she loves who surround parents, children, and their pets with comfort and beauty. Like a best friend who has a knack for style and a taste for fun, Erin opens her front door and invites you into her life and all of its beautiful imperfection.
Loved by her readers for her chic interior designs and frank and funny revelations about life behind the scenes of her picture-perfect blog, bestselling author and designer Erin Gates presents a new book about how to live stylishly amidst the chaos of daily family life. Throughout her career designing homes for families of all kinds all over the country, Erin has always maintained that living with children and pets does not mean that you have to forego nice things. This uniquely personal and practical guide will explain how to create a home that makes you proud and reflects your own style while also being durable, safe, and comfortable for children. It focuses on the spaces families share, those that are dedicated to the kids, and the oft-forgotten retreats for parents.
Erin combines honest design advice and gorgeous inspirational photographs with engaging and intimate personal essays about life lessons learned the hard way while struggling with infertility and becoming a mother, managing a business, overseeing her own home renovation, and finding time for her marriage. She’ll share how to store toys so that shared spaces don’t look like a kindergarten, the expensive-looking fabrics that will stand up to a marauding toddler with sticky hands, nursery looks that go beyond blue and pink, and furniture that does not have to be stored during the baby-proofing years. She also showcases the work of other designers she loves who surround parents, children, and their pets with comfort and beauty. Like a best friend who has a knack for style and a taste for fun, Erin opens her front door and invites you into her life and all of its beautiful imperfection.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published April 2, 2019
29 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
May 8, 2019
I need to start off by saying I read this book cover to cover. I admire Erin Gates and all of the things she has accomplished, is accomplishing, and will accomplish in the future. However, I have to say, though this book is currently sitting in front of me and takes a lot to put together; I am looking forward to the content that Erin produces as her career progresses. The redeeming bits: I appreciated Erin writing about the fight for Henry; I know this is an ongoing battle for her and one she is not willing to lose. I enjoyed the little blurb from Andrew; random but a nice touch. The pages and photos I most enjoyed were those by other designers; not by Erin and as the book goes on it's apparent what are her spaces (flat, one-dimensional) and what are other's spaces. I found some of the language a bit crass and felt that in speaking of bodily functions when designing with children in mind one could be more delicate. Yes I understand she's calling a spade a spade but can not a spade be discussed in a more tasteful manner? The photography drove me nuts as the majority of the photos contained 3 things: her first book (yes, it has a distinctive spine; let's use it more sparingly next time eh?), fresh cut flowers/greenery (what about more ideas for distinct accessories for longevity as this book is focused on family design?), and the rearranging of the same accessories for different photos of the same space (maybe I wanted to get a better look at a different side of that piece?). This book is for the individual who needs a book about the basics.
October 6, 2021
Interior decorating, specifically for families with young children. Of zero use to me. She preaches wipeable surfaces and sturdy fabrics. You could also teach even your youngest child how to handle things with care (don't put your feet with shoes on the white sofa, etc.) Her taste, despite the room, has a certain sameness to it.
October 6, 2021. I re-read this, since I occasionally check in on her blog. This past year, she and her husband bought a 3.5 million dollar home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. I kept thinking, "With COVID, business has to be off, suppliers are struggling to meet demand in terms of labor and materials." So I started to investigate. Her father is a very successful architecture which explains how that house, in part, was paid for. Like some other decorators I have followed she has this neurosis of change. The house is decorated, and in totality and rapidly, i.e. which NO ONE can do, and then, 1) you either move; 2) your spouse divorces you for living beyond your means to meet your mental itch; or 3) your rob Fort Knox.
This has already happened with the new house. Completely gut it. Eyeball an expensive (in the thousands) swing set. And why? Because she promised her small son one. He's what...four???? Gut the barn, gut the landscaping, repaint, rewire, replumb, replug, and new, new new everything. It truly is an illness. In re-reading this book I see a lot of her own (former) house and her former color palette, though it truth lately she's been wedded to blues, greens, browns and creams. God forbid red or pink or orange should rear their ugly heads.
In the past weeks she announced a new (future) book and I thought, "Of course. New house. New book. Picture ready." You'll be seeing a lot of green in that one. I guarantee it. And by then? It will be yellow, yellow, yellow for her. Lesson? Study the rooms for general ideas, but don't even begin to think you can replicate these things. Ironically, on her blog it's even worse because it's high end clothing, solo vacations, spa weekends, expensive makeup and beauty treatments-products. $2,000 for "knock around the house clothes?" She's already had her mental bottom fall out a few times. You wonder when the next hit is coming. When her husband baldly tells her "We can't afford it?"
October 6, 2021. I re-read this, since I occasionally check in on her blog. This past year, she and her husband bought a 3.5 million dollar home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. I kept thinking, "With COVID, business has to be off, suppliers are struggling to meet demand in terms of labor and materials." So I started to investigate. Her father is a very successful architecture which explains how that house, in part, was paid for. Like some other decorators I have followed she has this neurosis of change. The house is decorated, and in totality and rapidly, i.e. which NO ONE can do, and then, 1) you either move; 2) your spouse divorces you for living beyond your means to meet your mental itch; or 3) your rob Fort Knox.
This has already happened with the new house. Completely gut it. Eyeball an expensive (in the thousands) swing set. And why? Because she promised her small son one. He's what...four???? Gut the barn, gut the landscaping, repaint, rewire, replumb, replug, and new, new new everything. It truly is an illness. In re-reading this book I see a lot of her own (former) house and her former color palette, though it truth lately she's been wedded to blues, greens, browns and creams. God forbid red or pink or orange should rear their ugly heads.
In the past weeks she announced a new (future) book and I thought, "Of course. New house. New book. Picture ready." You'll be seeing a lot of green in that one. I guarantee it. And by then? It will be yellow, yellow, yellow for her. Lesson? Study the rooms for general ideas, but don't even begin to think you can replicate these things. Ironically, on her blog it's even worse because it's high end clothing, solo vacations, spa weekends, expensive makeup and beauty treatments-products. $2,000 for "knock around the house clothes?" She's already had her mental bottom fall out a few times. You wonder when the next hit is coming. When her husband baldly tells her "We can't afford it?"
April 25, 2019
Not exactly my taste in home decor, but lovely to flip through nonetheless.
May 28, 2019
Wow, hats off to Erin! I wasn't in love with her first book, but I enjoyed this one so much more. Maybe it's because it's so much more down to earth (first one too stuffy), or maybe because she's grown so much as a designer. It's clear that her range has broadened and it is also nice to see rooms by other designers that she admires being showcased. Erin has become a parent, taken a giant chill-pill and has a less serious approach to design overall, which translates to a delightful, beautiful book.
June 30, 2019
This is one of the best design books that I have read in a long time. Not only does it dispense very good design advice, that I will definitely be following in the future, but she also provides a realistic picture of parenthood, marriage, and mental health as we grow up and have kids! So thankful for her honesty in regard to her story and her struggles, as well as all of her design photos!
August 9, 2019
This book is great for the technical aspects of design. What fabrics resist stains and the wear of children? How do different types of rugs hold up? Fantastic. But the rest of it? It's just a gray blob. I have never been more bored. Every room is the same room. There are only one or two exceptions. Definitely not visually stimulating or appealing.
July 23, 2019
Love the aesthetic of the rooms featured in this book. It's definitely a style I would like to emulate. I'm hoping to remember to check this book out again from the library if/when we redecorate rooms in the future. Just beautiful. Perfect mix of classic and modern.
January 1, 2020
Another great read from Erin Gates. If you were a fan of her first book, or are an avid reader of her blog, I would highly recommend.
July 6, 2022
This was an excellent design book, in terms of the inspirational aspect. I loved her style and ideas, however, most of them were not hers, so I'm not sure if that should even count...Another point, I feel like that there were more words written (and this is probably true) about her own family, drinking wine in her bedroom and other useless, highly irrelevant info. She seems very self-centered and I feel like that was how a whole entire page of her "husband's reflections on fatherhood" ended up in this book, which included how he would shoot himself in the foot, if he knew it would make his son giggle for a second. Anyway, if you want to learn about design and get inspiration for your home, I highly suggest reading a different book.
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May 10, 2022The author and I have very different styles, both in parenting and interior design. For one thing the amount of consumption required to keep up with trends they way the author seems to is not something I want any part of. However I enjoyed looking through this book and actually really liked a few of the designs. On the other hand most seemed to lack character and some of the choices, like painting a wood paneled room grey, made me shudder. There was also some helpful information on choosing a solid couch and lasting upholstery material.
April 1, 2021
Erin does a great job walking through family friendly materials and how to help a space age with your family. I wish some of her explanations were more thorough. I also would like more about the journey of choosing materials in the space she photographed. Many photos were from other designers. She gives just the right amount of personal anecdotes. A great bonus is ten tips from other designers sprinkled throughout.
October 9, 2024
This book was enjoyable to pick up different ideas. I don't personally enjoy the author's style (too many patterns, textures), so I am glad she incorporated the work of other designers, too. You do have to suspend belief when she talks about budget and simultaneously features $600 lamps or when only perfectly staged homes or vignettes are featured when talking about ~family~ homes. Pictures of whole rooms would have been nice too, to see how a whole space functions.
September 4, 2019
My new favorite decorating book! Classy, sophisticated, and yet completely down to earth. Author Erin Gates does a splendid job of explaining the tricks of the trade, and the photos are such eye candy! This book encourages you in your decorating path rather than making you feel insecure. Highly recommend.
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February 11, 2020Gates' style could be described as modern traditional. She uses a lot of white and light neutrals; when more dramatic color is used, it's often through wallpaper. While I can see why others would like her aesthetic, it's just not my taste.
June 22, 2019
Great pictures and tips!
June 22, 2019
Has a lot of different rooms styled and has good resources.
January 10, 2020
Looking for lake house ideas! :)
February 9, 2020
It was ok. Gave some ideas for my house. Wasn't all my style. 3.5
May 10, 2020
Beautiful book and some tips on decorating but nothing new. This style of decorating is very bland to me and I was looking for a bit more when I picked up this book.
June 10, 2020
Beautiful photos, lots of design ideas from different design styles, writing that was enjoyable to read.
June 19, 2020
Nothing to say here.
March 23, 2021
I didn’t like her writing and was extremely unimpressed with her designs (something I would see at my sister’s or a girlfriend’s- very basic and flat, and will very quickly be out-of-date).
May 27, 2021
More design insights less personal insights. Not for me.
February 11, 2022
Pretty pictures. I wasn't expecting a short commentary about being a parent.
July 17, 2022
Didn’t love the mommy diary but the design parts were good
May 28, 2023
Didn’t enjoy the her style or find this book very inspiring or helpful. The main redeeming quality was the splurge vs save sections in a few chapters and the advice in the nursery section.
August 3, 2023
Nice ideas for real living.
July 14, 2019
3.5 stars. Her style fits more with mine than the other two interior design books I was reading. Abode and Homebody had lots and lots of white. This one had some color at least!
November 6, 2019
The spine of this book caught my eye while I was browsing new books in a local library; it's one of the most attractive spines I've ever seen. I borrowed it from the library planning to flip through it looking at the pictures without reading it, but once I was I home I read the first few pages and decided to read the whole book.
The conversational style of the writing was easy and enjoyable to read. The book is filled with high quality photographs of diverse room designs. Reading this book (and looking at the photos in it) helped me think about how I want to use my spaces and what I'd like them to look like.
The conversational style of the writing was easy and enjoyable to read. The book is filled with high quality photographs of diverse room designs. Reading this book (and looking at the photos in it) helped me think about how I want to use my spaces and what I'd like them to look like.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews