Earlier this year, when I was picking up some fabric samples from Suzanne Kasler’s office, there was a big meeting going on. Suzanne and her book team were working on the layout for her brand new book, Timeless Style. Suzanne’s first book, Inspired Interiors, is one of my all time favorite décor books, and I have been looking forward to her new book for a long time.
There have been a few tantalizing peeks over the past few months. Veranda had an online feature with a few of Suzanne’s favorite spaces that were featured in the book. The room seen above is from a house in Columbus, Georgia that is simply exquisite.
Here is another image from the Veranda sneak peek, a lovely breakfast room that is filled with light and decorated in a comfortable but elegant manner.
The little sneak peeks further increased my anticipation of the new book, and finally on Tuesday of this week, the book Timeless Style was released. I have already read it cover to cover, and it is wonderful.
In the new book, Suzanne takes us through eight houses, each of which has unique character and style. Each project inspired Suzanne in different ways, reflecting the lifestyles and tastes of her clients and the environments in which the houses function. The titles of the chapters are ‘At Home’ (Suzanne’s own home); Glamour (a beautiful renovation in Columbus, Georgia – this was my favorite); Authentic (a stunning Lutyens inspired house in Atlanta); Chic (a French style house in Greenwich decorated with bursts of intense color); Classic (another Greenwich house, decorated with soft colors and elegant but livable style); Natural (a comfortable and sophisticated beach house near Charleston); Relaxed (the farmhouse-style home for the owners of Blackberry Farm, as well as some of the Blackberry Farm spaces that Suzanne decorated); and Organic (a residential compound in Africa).
Some of the projects have never been published, and some have been published. However, 30-50 pages are devoted to each house, so many rooms and details are revealed that have never been seen before, with in depth perspectives on the process that went into the design, why certain items and colors were selected, and how the specific space relates to the whole. Each house is introduced in context, and every image includes details of the design and thought process that went behind it. When reading the book, I felt as if I was getting a personal tour of each house by Suzanne herself. I was also struck with the wide range of styles featured in the houses, which emphasizes how Suzanne truly makes the spaces so personal to each client and so reflective of their specific style and taste.
Here are a few images from the book, used with permission from the publisher.
I particularly enjoyed seeing and reading about the details from Suzanne's own house - there is something about the personal spaces of a designer that reveal so much about their inspirations. In this vignette from Suzanne’s living room, she placed the antique Italian chair in this space before the door as a focal point at the end of the visual axis. This is the first thing that is seen when entering her living room.
This is one of my favorite views of her kitchen – she notes that the soft feel of the hand painted French credenza is a nice balance to the cool white of the marble and the bright white of the tile used in the kitchen. The painting is by Steven Seinberg, one of her favorite artists.
The entry in Suzanne’s new house. She reveals that the inspiration for the color of the fabric on the bench and the pillows was inspired by mercurial sheen of the mirror, pulling together the three into an integrated composition.
The living area from the beach house near Charleston has a casual elegance. The colors selected reflect the colors of the house’s surroundings – sand, sea, sun-bleached driftwood, with a touch of orange to reflect the sunset that is often seen from the house.
Suzanne Kasler’s new book Timeless Style is available now. It was written with Christine Pittel, a senior editor at Hearst; Pittel is one of my favorite magazine writers and you may recognize her name from the kitchen of the month feature in House Beautiful each month. Timeless Style can be found on Amazon here.
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