Inspiration from Books -- Virginia Johnson

I did something different this year.  For the first time in a long time, I told my husband a few gifts that I wanted for the holidays.  They were things that I had been looking at for a while but just never picked up for myself.  Things that aren't "need to have" but rather "nice to have".  What are they?

Books.

I got three: Design*Sponge at Home, The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well, and Domino: Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy.

I have only perused a few pages of each so far but I am struck by the amount of inspiration I have already received by them.  Many, many posts will stem from these books, I'm sure!

And here is one to start -- The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well is unique in that all images in the book (furnishings, rooms, even patterns) are watercolors. Illustrated by the talented Virginia Johnson, these depictions of popular fabrics are my favorites:

The watercolor illustrations turn these fabric patterns into more fabulous works of art. The last one shown with its inspirational quote is my favorite...and someday soon will be framed and placed on my future gallery wall.

*****

Virigina Johnson's watercolors are from these existing fabrics (shown from top to bottom):

John Stefanidis's Zanzibar fabric / stefanidisfabrics.com

Bells by John Stefanidis from his Passepartout Collection / stefanidisfabrics.com

Petite Zig Zag by Alan Campbell / quadrillefabrics.com

Fanfare by John Stefanidis / stefanidisfabrics.com