Home with Rue: Style for Everyone [An Interior Design Book]

by Kelli Lamb, Nate Berkus (Foreword by)

Overview

From top home design magazine Rue comes an accessible guide to creating your ideal space.

“Home with Rue tells us, step by step, how we can feel confident about making home design choices that make every room in our house gorgeous.”—Bobbi Brown, founder of Jones Road Beauty and creative director of The George hotel
 
No matter your location, your style, or your budget, beautiful design should be available to all. As a pioneer in the digital magazine industry, Rue has inspired thousands since establishing their business in 2010. Now Rue’s editorial director, Kelli Lamb, has created this incredible collection to carry their style and advice into book form.

Home with Rue is a compendium of inspirational and accessible ideas to help anyone imagine, plan, and create their ultimate living space. Written in the signature Rue voice and full of beautiful images of real homes lived in by real people, it features thoughtfully curated advice, how-to information, and resources. Each chapter focuses on a different space and explores a variety of complementary aesthetics. Woven throughout are expert insights, concise tips and tricks sharing why certain decorating methods work, and quotes from top designers on their creative processes and favorite details or memories of a space.
 
With hundreds of never-before-seen interior design photographs from Rue's extensive collection, Home with Rue is destined to be a timeless classic to help fans, followers, and readers design the rooms and home of their dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984860682
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	05/31/2022
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	256,838
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Kelli Lamb is the editorial director of Rue. Rue was founded as a bi-monthly digital magazine and quickly catapulted to the most trusted brand in home décor. Now, after more than a decade in business, Rue has garnered a loyal fan base and cultivated long-standing relationships with top designers while also serving as the launchpad for the next generation.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction


What does home mean to you? It’s a question I’ve asked hundreds of people in my ten years as an interiors editor. Though I’m usually the one inquiring, I’ve got an answer myself: home is a feeling. To me, home is a sleeping cat in the living room’s one sunny patch. It’s the clinking of champagne flutes to celebrate a big accomplishment. It’s your favorite knit blanket and a new season of Succession (or Real Housewives) queued up. Home is where life happens, and as we all have learned in the last couple of years, life certainly happens.

Our homes need to be more functional than ever before. With the big shift toward working from home in early 2020, what once was as simple as a “living room” quickly evolved to become a mobile workspace, classroom, and gym. Kitchens reclaimed their role as heart of the home, as we all sharpened our knives and our culinary skills. Our outdoor spaces began to feel like vacation spots, and our entryways were like an old friend, welcoming us back to our own personal safe havens.

If you’ve picked up this book, I’m guessing you’re like me and crave beauty in your everyday routines. Yes, I want my home to be functional, but I also want it to cultivate that feeling. I want my space to energize me, to comfort me, and to bring me joy. The thing is, with each home tour I’ve shared over the years, I’ve discovered hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds) of ways to make that happen. Is a functional, joyful home a minimalist space composed of shades of gray or is it an explosion of pattern, color, and texture? I believe it can, and should, be both.

I have done my best to always infuse the pages of Rue with that same ethos. Founded in 2010 as one of the first digital shelter magazines, the founding team (which included interior designer Crystal Palecek and designer + content creator Anne Sage) paved the way, sharing beautiful homes and meaningful stories about the people who lived there. With a goal to provide a pathway to stylish living, we created Rue Daily in 2013, sharing fresh content to inspire our readers every day of the week and keeping up with the pace (and attention span) of social media. In 2021, we had our biggest launch yet, debuting our first-ever print issue on newsstands everywhere. Yes, moving from digital to print might have seemed a bit backward, given the state of media today, but we saw a trend among our audience members that we couldn’t ignore. There was a craving for something a little slower, a little more meaningful. There’s nothing better than putting the screen down and diving into a print magazine or a beautiful book. It’s escapism at its finest . . . no notifications popping up in the center of a photo to lure you to another app or article.

If you’re new to Rue or you’ve followed it every step of the way, you might notice that we’re not defined by a singular look. We feature sprawling coastal estates alongside petite studio apartments. In one issue, you may see a rustic cabin in the woods of Vermont, followed by a colorful French Colonial in New Orleans, and then an urban loft in Paris after that. I believe that you can discover beauty in all of these spaces, even if you wouldn’t necessarily copy the decor. This “room for everyone” idea is best seen in our popular HomeWithRue hashtag. In the early days of managing our social media, I noticed more and more folks starting to share photos of their own homes, replicating the style of their favorite designers or experimenting with shelfies (cute photos of bookshelves) and living room layouts. We encouraged our fans to tag their images HomeWithRue and have really enjoyed watching the gallery grow. Across the world, people are offering an intimate look into their space, getting feedback from friends, and further identifying what home means to them.

I have always had an interest in interior design but admit my passion is deeply rooted in interviewing designers and homeowners alike. It brings me great joy to understand why certain decisions were made and how the home functions and then translating how our readers might get the same effect in their space. Over the years, I’ve taken a few design guidelines to heart: there is a specific reason for that exact shade of white paint, scale is important in everything from tile to chandeliers, and, my favorite, most of the “design rules” are meant to be broken.

Consider this book a compendium of inspirational and accessible ideas to help you imagine, plan, and create your ultimate living space. While you won’t necessarily find handy DIYs in the pages that follow, you will be given plenty of insight on how to recreate the looks you love from some of the top designers in the industry. Home with Rue is basically one big home tour—but it’s also filled with images from dozens of my favorite homes we’ve shared over the years alongside new spaces you’ll love. In chapter 1, I’ll take you through the entry, sharing savvy tips to make a good first impression or avoid major shoe pileups. We’ll continue through every room of the house, from grand dining rooms to functional laundry rooms, ending with a great selection of outdoor spaces. We’ll explore different aesthetics: California Casual, Modern Farmhouse, Mountain Chic, Industrial Minimalism, to name a few. My hope is that you’ll identify the look you connect with most, discover something new, and snag some tips on how to bring it home.

Mostly, I hope you’ll have a clearer understanding: What does home mean to you?

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction 1

1 Make an Entrance 5

Entry Ways | It's the neglected space where you kick off your shoes and toss your keys into a bowl. But it can be a whole lot more. They say first impressions matter, and this is the place to show off your personality and set the tone for the entire home.

2 Easy living 23

Living Rooms | Acting as both a spot to entertain guests and the cozy place where you watch your latest Netflix obsession, living rooms should be elegant and comforting all at once. We explore different living room layouts for different lifestyles.

3 Pull up a Chair 57

Dining Rooms | Life happens around the dinner table. It's where we connect with our family and friends, play riveting games of Catan, and review tomorrow's homework assignment. In this room, form should meet function.

4 The New Bar and Restaurant 85

Kitchens | Though nothing will replace your favorite neighborhood bistro, with a thoughtful design, you can try. Convenient coffee stations, stocked and styled bars, and well-appointed kitchens are crucial to any modern home.

5 Rest and Relaxation 123

Bedrooms | It's where you start and end each and every day, so it should be special. If you cultivate a boutique hotel or resort feel, bedrooms can become the ultimate oasis.

6 The Loo 145

Bathrooms | Designers know that powder rooms and bathrooms are the place to take a bold design risk. From wallpapered wash closets tucked under the stairs to sprawling suites with a freestanding tub, this can be the prettiest room in the whole house.

7 The Rumpus Room 171

Kids' Spaces | Yes, it's possible to create a room that encourages imagination and still suits your design preferences. We'll show you how.

8 Something Extra 191

Libraries, Workspaces, Basements | Does the floorplan include a too-small bedroom, a hallway nook, or a basement? With a little vision, these spaces can be highly functional.

9 Get Organized 215

Closets, Laundry, Mudrooms | Three of the most-searched topics on our website? Storage, laundry, and the ever-popular mudroom. What once was utilitarian is now a design masterpiece.

10 Take It Outside 227

Outdoor Space | Whether it's a charming front porch, a spacious backyard, or a balcony off the bedroom, an outdoor space is not to be overlooked. It can be an extension of your living area and your own private paradise.

Acknowledgments 255

Resources 258

Credits 260

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/18/2022

Lamb, editorial director of Rue magazine, sets out to help readers create their “ultimate living space” in this exquisite guide to home decor. Lamb begins by encouraging readers to ask what a “functional, joyful home” looks like to them and then goes room by room offering pointers on how to add “beauty in your everyday routines.” Her tour starts in the entryway, which should “welcome you home” (mirrors usually look good here), then moves through the living room (a coffee table wrapped in fabric is an easy, stylish upgrade), dining area (opting for an antique “time-worn” table means “a spill will only add to its character”), and laundry space (decanting detergents into glass containers is a nice touch). Lamb insists that play areas for children be decorated to suit the tastes of those they serve rather than those of the adults in the house, and outside, a rug “ups the cozy factor.” Photos accompany the design tips, and Lamb’s approach is friendly and unpretentious. Design aficionados looking to shake up their decor need look no further. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

In French, rue means ‘street.’ In English, it should mean a breath of fresh air for beautiful home design. What a gorgeous and inspirational design book that’s modern, warm, colorful, and cozy. Trust me: Buy two copies!”—Sabrina Soto, interior designer, television personality, and author of Sabrina Soto Home Design

“Like touring a fabulous house (or fifty!) with a flute of bubbly in hand, Home with Rue takes us on a personal, witty, and fun ride of remarkable interiors, taking time to point out brilliant, do-able ideas to take back to your own place.”—Sophie Donelson, design expert and author of House Beautiful Style Secrets

“Lamb’s approach is friendly and unpretentious. Design aficionados looking to shake up their decor need look no further.”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher