A Passion For Interiors

One can only dream of having what Carolyne Roehm has. Her elegant table settings and decor and use of flowers gave me ideas and suggestions for my own home. I have all of her Entertainment books, she definitely has a gift for making you a guest at her table.

It takes courage to open the doors of our homes and allow strangers an intimate view of how we live. That is a five star effort in itself. Ask yourself - would you do that? So when someone, who has also achieved a degree of fame, does so then they must also be prepared for the truth that some people will not like what they see. Taste is so individual. Again - very brave. Ms Roehm has a definite style and for lovers of classical architecture, wonderful photography and fine craftsmanship then this book will delight. Yes many rooms have a 'creepy perfection' as one reviewer wrote. And I too found that the red wall in the bedroom shown in the cover - is faux! Maybe it wasn't Ms Roehm's doing? I stared at the fabulous double storied space at Weatherstone and genuinely fretted at how on earth anyone could walk on that tiny ledge to adjust the time on a clock that was built into the wall. There are expensive and impractical antiques and personally I think a couple of the spaces shown are screaming for a rug - and I am stumped at why there are no bedside lamps in the master bedroom in the New York Apartment. Are they too modern and boring and they were put away on the day of photography? Also I am one of those people who rotate a book just to look closer at a photo and read the titles of the books on the shelves. There were some leatherbound books by the yard, clearly for decor only, this is so annoying to me but a lot of people do this I suppose. I noticed in the Aspen house the books were real ones with their dustjackets removed and that there was that comforting mix of fine art and history as well as popular novels. But really - Who cares! These are the types of comments to expect when one does what Ms Roehm has done, given us a private tour of her private spaces. She cleaned up for us, would we have expected anything less? The overall effect is awesome and I mean that in the true sense of the word. The attention to detail everywhere, the exactness of furniture placement, the discipline in the use of colour is a masterclass in precision. This is a glamorous book that serves as a wonderful resource for classically inspired decorating. It is tremendous value too. There must be hundreds of photographs, all wonderful, that are alone worth the price of the book. I - like so many - collect good books on style and the ones Carolyne Roehm produces are good value, inspirational and beautiful. I have three of her books now in my collection and will buy more. I have even bought one without looking inside because I know exactly what I am going to get, a blissful retreat into a rarified world of stylish serenity. Well done Carolyne.

Carolyne's inspired odyssey through the decorative arts comes to life in this personal, detailed, guided tour of three residences that she has completed in recent years. The brilliant, always relevant and beautifully articulated scholarly references that inspire Carolyne are uniquely and most "passionately" well rendered in the dazzling photographs and illustrations in her just published book, "A Passion for Interiors: A Private Tour". The breathtaking images and the book's sublime art direction might be more than enough to distinguish it from all the other books on interiors that have been published in the last couple of years. For this same reason, the book is also more accessible and better suited for a broader group of readers. The layered complexity of Carolyne's well mastered knowledge and how she adopts it into these residences is enlightening and central to this book's great impact. With her humble acknowledgement of her many great teachers, Carolyne now gently assumes this role herself in the lives of her many acolytes -- among which I am proud to be counted. Thanks to Carolyne's light handed grace, the book is never mired in tedious detail or clouded with over-crowded, static imagery. Instead, the readers glide through the many rooms and the different locations as they follow Carolyne and as they hear her voice on this personal, guided tour. While "Passion" provides the academic substance of multiple decorative art seminars, it is the most irresistible for the guilty pleasures that flow from its big, bright, glossy pages.

Carolyne Roehm is a classic style maker and arbiter of elegance. I love seeing her private residences and entertaining lifestyle.

What a great Christmas I had curled up on my sofa reading Carolyne Roehm's latest book while outside the snow from a nor'easter covered the ground. When my husband asked me what I wanted for Christmas, my reply was immediate -- A Passion for Interiors and Roehm exceeded my expectations. I have her other books and was familiar with her phenomenal taste and style. In this book, she invites us into the homes she's created - and what a feast for the eyes! Every page is a visual delight full of color, sumptuous fabrics, the coolest antiques and bookcases of gorgeous leather-bound books. This woman has a genius for editing and distilling that results in beautiful interiors of the highest order. It's easy to imagine how her homes must greet her guests like a big bouquet of flowers when they enter. This book reflects the taste of one who has educated herself in history, culture, architecture, travel and consequently has developed a style that is not only refined but life-enhancing. A Passion for Interiors is written by a talented artist much like the patroness Madame de Pompadour who said that every day she wished to make the world more beautiful than she found it. Roehm makes beauty a high art that "inspires" in the truest sense of the word - beauty so complete as to make us better people in the same way great architecture does. Whether she realizes it or not, her love and passion for aesthetics is actually highly spiritual. At the same time, one can see from her writing, from all her dogs and all her many friends that she is down-to-earth, fun and a truly nice person. Also, check out Roehm's A Passion for Flowers -- hands-down the most gorgeous book there is.