In the age of image-laden blogs and Pinterest obsessions, I always welcome the opportunity to cozy up to a book that captivates me with gorgeous spaces yet feeds my intellectual side. Tom Scheerer Decorates by Mimi Read does just that. A fan of Ms. Read’s interviews for House Beautiful magazine, I knew her commentary of the work of Tom Scheerer would be nothing short of inspirational and entertaining.

Gorgeous both inside and out, I particularly spent a good amount of time lingering on each page garnering my own opinion about his design aesthetic then comparing them to Ms. Read’s interpretation.

We unanimously agree that each design is fresh and approachable combining the best of design both past and present. If this is your first introduction to Tom Scheerer’s work, I suppose I could reference him as a modern day David Hicks or Billy Baldwin–but truly he’s in a league of his own.

While both Hicks and Baldwin have been very influential Scheerer half-jokingly states that Baldwin taught him most of what he knows about decorating via the classic Billy Baldwin Decorates.

Scheerer believes that the smartest rooms are always a little underdecorated. Sounds profound almost, but isn’t that real life? We as living creatures are always evolving and our living spaces should reflect our life changes as well.

As stated by his late great predecessor (Baldwin), unpretentious ease looks good even on the fanciest clients.

I was pleasantly surprised of the number of takeaways within the pages. The book reads much better that the ‘how-to’ decorate guides we traditional see on the market.

No matter your professional level as a designer or simply a design enthusiast, there’s something here for everyone.

One of the golden nuggets I carry with me is that [highlight]you should always let a house tell you what to do rather than the other way around.[/highlight] Consider the home’s style, location, and floor plan during the conceptual stages. He also says decorating a room with formality is the kiss of death.” It’s a pretty extreme declaration until your consider a home that’s so heavily decorated there’s no room to just live.

Conversely, within these 240 pages you will find comfortable, yet sophisticated rooms that reignite your creativity and encourage you to capture a vision, for your home or your client’s home, like never before.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.