Living a Beautiful Life: 500 Ways to Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to Every Day of Your Life

by Alexandra Stoddard, Pat Stewart (Illustrator)

With the publication of Living A Beautiful Life, Alexandra Stoddard originated the idea of creating an atmosphere of beauty and tranquility with simple touches that turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. As a world-famous interior decorator, she has worked her magic on interiors large and small, from mansions and embassies to cottages and studio apartments. Through her writing and lectures, she has encouraged millions to brighten their lives and their homes by turning mundane tasks into small pleasurable rituals that add beauty and joy to everything they do. Alexandra Stoddard's secrets of Living A Beautiful Life are yours. With the publication of Living A Beautiful Life , Alexandra Stoddard originated the idea of creating an atmosphere of beauty and tranquillity with simple touches that turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. As a world-famous interior decorator, she has worked her madic on interiors large and small, from mansions and embassies to cottages and studio apartments. Though her writing and lectures, she has encouraged millions to brighten their lives and their homes by turning mundane tasks into small pleasurable rituals that add beauty and joy to everything they do. Alexandra Stoddard's secrets of Living A Beautiful Life are yours.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Lifestyle, Design, Inspirational, Interior Design, Reference

178 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

ALEXANDRA STODDARD is a philosopher of contemporary living and author of many best selling books, including the classic Living a Beautiful Life: 500 Ways to Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to Every Day of Your Life, Choosing Happiness: Keys to a Joyful Life, Things I Want My Daughters to Know: A Small Book About the Big Issues in Life, and You Are Your Choices: 50 Ways to Live the Good Life. Alexandra's newest book Happiness For Two: 75 Secrets for Finding More Joy Together, published in January 2008, is now in its second printing.

Reviews

[Barbara Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't be unbiased about this book. It's been 12 years or so, I think, since I first discovered it, at a time in my life when I greatly needed self-nurturing. I've read it six or seven times since.

I just love it. I always feel inspired while reading it, but also serene. It was interesting rereading it this time, after several years, and seeing how it has influenced me over the years...my kitchen glasses, my pillowcases, the soap dish in my bathroom, and so many other things.

[GoldenjoyBazyll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came into my life 15 years ago- right after I separated from my husband. It helped me to focus on the beauty that was right in front of me in all of my daily routines. Step by step I started looking with new lenses at everything like a child full of wonder. Walking my dog in a light sprinkling rain and smelling the grass and flowering trees..... really noticing what was happening around me. I think sometimes we rush along and it becomes oh so easy to forget to appreciate all that is happening around us that is lovely. Beauty in our lives does not have to cost anything but our willingness to acknowledge it where ever it is.

This book arrived in the mail today because I am giving it to a friend who is going through a similar life change and as I sat here quickly revisiting it I thought.... what a special book!

[Chris Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's one I reread whenever I need a pick-me-up. It was life changing 25 years ago for me, and it still can bring a positive spin to my days. It's the kind of book that's great to give to others.

[Jodi Blackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

* I have the 2001 First Quill/Harper Resource edition not listed in Goodreads' alternate editions.

While a little dated in layout (it was first published in 1986) I love this book. I'd love to see a new edition with contemporary photographs, but Pat Stewart's line drawings are still lovely.

In this book, interior designer Alexandra Stoddard talks about the power of ritual, and how small choices and changes can enhance our everyday lives - can make them more beautiful, more abundant, and more satisfying. It's about the 95%, not the 5% of special occasions people tend to focus on. A series of lovely days adds up to a life well lived, and we alone can create beauty for ourselves in how we choose to eat, bathe, sleep, dress and decorate. A friend of mine once said "Nobody will make your life beautiful unless you do" and I really believe that. It's not about buying fancy or expensive things, it's about embracing the seasons, making the most of what you have, and believing you deserve order and beauty around you every day.

I return to this book again and again.

[Becca Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after hearing Gina Stanyer mention the book on Kate Howe’s cozy things chat video. Oh! What a delight this book was for me as I had been going through a bit of a reading slump and not feeling that life has been very beautiful lately. I binged the entire book in 24 hrs, but I’m going to reread it and figure out how I can adapt the ideas to my 21st century lifestyle. (The book is a bit dated; my copy was published in 1988.) Itwas especially cozy to me because I feel like I went back in time to a cozier time - pre-internet, pre-social media, pre-Pinterest… I’m glad I paid a few dollars for this and look forward to rereading it soon and intentionally Living a More Beautiful Life!

[Dana Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of putting beauty into daily routines that you are doing anyway, however this book is decades outdated, and the advice is not really relevant today.

"The phone company will change your cord for a nominal fee. If you make lots of calls while cooking, perhaps your kitchen phone should have the dial located in the receiver..."

Even when this book was current, a lot of suggestions lean towards using items that you picked up on your last trip to Europe, or having perfume custom made for you. I was expecting something more for the everyday person.

[Vanessa Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gift from a beloved aunt! Some of it is humorously outdated ("For a wonderful surprise, insert a French 'Fragrance on the Line' plastic disc of perfume inside the mouthpiece of your telephone"), but overall a fun, light read! It reminded me of "Gift from the Sea" which she mentions as well Jennifer L. Scott's books.

"Read poetry before falling asleep or before you read the newspaper in the morning. Your last thoughts and your new thoughts should be expanding, full of hope, beauty, and love."

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a major part of my wife becoming who she is today and so I decided to read it. Stoddard is efficient with her language, and her writing is dense with sensory detail and delight.

There's nothing expensive or out of reach in her recommendations, and the book still feels relevant despite the fact that 37 years have elapsed since the book was published.

Stoddard is more a curiosity to me than a guide, though, since I'm deeply minimalist by nature. At times her recommendations and the accompanying illustrations make me feel crowded rather than inspired, but I can also see the value in how she approaches physical space.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains so many do-able ways to live a simple life as related to homekeeping. Stoddard suggests that we spend 85 percent of our time at home between three rooms--bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Yet, we spend 85 percent of our decorating budgets on other rooms--living room, dining room, etc. She challenges her readers to rethink where they spend their decorating budgets. She also gives her views on what items the budget should be spent on. A great read! I hope to add the book to my home library one of these days.

[Sandra Savell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been carting this book around with me for over 20 years. I haven't picked it up for a while and while re-reading it for the 3rd or 4th time this year....I realized that I'm just a few months to my 60th birthday. I enjoyed seeing the margin notes and highlights from my first reading in my late 30's. Times have certainly changed! But so much of this books rings true for women. I recommend this book to each and every woman. There is much to learn in these pages.

[Starla · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to take time to enjoy the small things in life. To just enjoy every moment. This is a truly "beautiful" book. I read it every year, once in the spring and again in the fall. Enjoy it each and every time.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 25 years ago at age 14 and it has shaped my life every single day after. I've been privileged to meet Alexandra and correspond via old fashioned stamp mail. I've given it as gifts loads. The sections of grace notes are my favorite parts. No other book has ever come close.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the first books I ever read on making a house a home. Rereading years later I'm surprised at how many things have become part of my routines. Yes, it's a bit dated and pretentious in places, but it taught me so much: seasonal eating, flowers in the house, and setting a pretty table.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the author recommends thinking about how you truly use rooms in your home and designing them accordingly. She makes many suggestions for ways to think about creating nourishing daily routines in each room of your home that suit your personality and family life.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book several times, each time gaining insight on making the routine things extraordinary. As I grow older, slowing down and creating time and space for life’s quiet moments is my priority. This book helps to capture life’s special moments.

[Melinda Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a retirement gift. The book discusses how to make the ordinary moments extraordinary. Although some suggestions are outdated, but the essence of elevating the small moments in your life is still there.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to do with this book. It had some interesting information on creating aesthetically pleasing spaces, but there was so much disjoint information on specifics that I ended up just scanning most of the book. Maybe it would be more practical if I was actually embarking on a radical interior design project, but I found it too overwhelming to be of much practical help in making tweaks to my existing spaces.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second time I have read this book. The first time I read it was in the early 1990s, a few years after it was published. Back then, I found it extremely inspiring and it even gave me a lot of hope. At that point in my life, I had been primarily a full-time Mom, and the opportunity to work outside of the home was still ahead of me. So the stories the author spoke of regarding out-of-town business trips and staying at cozy B & B's, or having the autonomy of having one's own office to set up however one chose (with fresh flowers on a weekly basis and personal stationery!) still seemed possible.

Now, reading it in 2019, this book seems not only dated (the author speaks of her telephone cord, buying an answering machine, and using a Rolodex), but completely out of touch with the vast majority of modern women. Most working women don't have the luxury of a personal office (if they even have a cubicle), don't have time to visit museums and pick up postcards to send to friends, or can relate to someone who travels to Provence regularly. New moms I know don't have live-in nannys.

The purpose of this book -- how to enrich our daily lives through the creation of daily rituals -- is a good premise for a book. But this particular book either needs an overhaul or needs to be taken off the shelves completely.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings about this book are ambiguous~Some little hints I really liked: keeping stationary visible so you can write notes; sharing books; (I am going to look for the bath tub painting!) Others were either VERY dated-- or clearly for a person with a maid. Obviously also its for a person who owns their own home rather than a renter: if you rent an apt. this book is really NOT for you. The little hints ("grace notes") you can use but other parts (buying bathroom fixtures) you can avoid! I put this book in my daydreamers category because it is not really meant for the "average" person.
If you have a housekeeper and/or don't have to work 10 hours a day than you will get a lot out of this book.
Some wonderful hints as noted about BUT definitely in the "daydreamers" category. I would love to use the book as a "dream starter."

[Melanie Rippon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ideas for creating a beautiful home atmosphere & rituals around everyday tasks. Some nice ideas but as it's from the 1980s some of the style/design ideas are now very outdated! Also a lot of the "grace notes" - suggestions for small changes you can make/try out - are very American (& white?) middle/upper-class & seem predicated on your having a fair bit of disposable income. Not a total loss, but I do feel the ideas/themes of home being pleasurable/sensual/a sanctuary, have since been explored in a much more modern, ecological & global fashion by Ilse Crawford, Sibella Court, Dinah Hall, Hans Blomquist etc.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this and although the premise is good and I believe in living a beautiful life.....her rendition costs a lot of money! She is quite snobbish in her attitudes and definitely did not write this for 'the mulititudes'. On the other hand you can do a 'budget' version and I have and I do think making your home 'you' and your rituals enjoyable with your budget in mind can be accomplished. This book was just a 'springboard' for my beautiful life minus the expensive price tag of hers! LOL!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the thoughts and ideas of this book, focusing on each room in the house individually. the author causes you to look closely at the environment you live in, drawing your eye to the importance of the beauty that surrounds you...or doesn't! it is a bit dated: 20 foot long phone cord in the kitchen anyone?! but her tips are mostly timeless. the history of the bathing ritual was especially interesting to me, I need to soak in a tub more often!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I read was totally 1990s so I'd like to get my hands on a newer copy, but I was surprised at how relevant her suggestions were to today. I read this while housesitting at Lisa's and noticed that she embodies this type of living in her house: decorating to stimulate all of the senses. Full of great ideas on how to make a house a beautiful, sensory-stimulating home.

[Christina Metcalf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quaint read. There are some good ideas and ones that might make you chuckle like adding a longer cord to your kitchen phone.

Still, so many of us are busy going through the motions that we rarely take time to celebrate the little rituals of life. Making small adjustments in how you live can have a big impact on your life. This book is a good reminder.

[TurtleneckGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom gave this to me years ago. I just love this book. In a gentle, inspiring voice, the author, an interior decorator, suggests ways to create beauty and ease in your daily life. I especially enjoyed the "Grace Notes" at the end of each chapter.

[Katharine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof this book did not age well... Lots of focus on losing weight. The kitchen section especially had so many contradicting sentiments. The overall theme is a good one to take away - engage all five senses to stay present in the moment - but that’s one of the few take aways.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexandra Stoddard seems at times a little out of touch with the realities of life, but her recommendations to add little touches of beauty (fresh flowers every day!) are inspirational.

[Amber Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have several memories of reading this book while growing up. I love getting that feeling that everything you do can have a twist of beauty with it!

[Mrs · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not rich enough for this book.

[Sarah Fowler Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timeless principles with delightfully dated details.