Pretty pictures. Rich colors. Like an ephemera I Spy book. I can’t stop. Talking about this book. In abbreviated sentences.
Sibella Court is about as famous as they get in the styling world. She’s responsible for some of Anthropologie‘s catalogs and for the current “pin a feather to the wall and call it found art” decorating trend. (What? You don’t do that?) This is her book and it’s a visual scrapbook to her uber-collected, uber-steampunk style. After reading this book, you too could be as cool as Sibella. Bare lightbulbs are encouraged in Sibella’s world. As are permanent paint swatches on the wall. And any type of rope or string. And definitely skulls of small animals on shelves. I could go on and on, but you get the point: The decorating advice in this book is hardly practical for anyone who isn’t Sibella Court. But it’s so much fun to look at!
Her gorgeous color palettes are worth the price of admission. And she does give one bit of useful advice: Gather your favorite things (clothing, jewelry, book cover, photograph, food, notecard, ribbon, etc.) and lay them out together. You’ll probably find the beginnings of your own personal color palette. She advises forming a 10-color palette to use in your house. You don’t have to use it all in every room and you certainly don’t have to use it in the same way in every room, but everything you buy for your house should either be in one of your colors or coordinate with them. I love this idea. I’m doing it this winter when the house is blanketed in four feet of snow and I suddenly look around and want to buy fabric for drapes and don’t know what color to get.
Etcetera by Sibella Court
photo: Brad Linberg
