I love the idea of regularly sharing what I’m reading (and watching and listening to) with you. We’re all in constant need of inspiration, and without the help of others, both those we know and those we come across on social, etc., we can find the fuel we need to stay afire.
Admittedly, reading has changed since becoming a mother. Before my son I easily read several books a week, deliciously rotating a pile of fiction and non-fiction, memoir and how-to. Alas, my time is not what it once was, and it no longer belongs only to me. Maybe not every mother feels this way, but I’d trade all the books in the world forever for my son, so I don’t mind too much. Plus, he won’t be this little or needy forever, unfortunately! :). This is just a season, like so many aspects of our lives. Since having a baby I’ve found myself gravitating more to oversized books—cookbooks, design books, lifestyle guides; books I can easily pick up and flip through and put down if interrupted, which I usually am. I’ve come to really enjoy the beauty of the photographs and taking in inspiration in slow increments, and several of the books listed below are ones I reach for again and again whenever I have a few spare moments.
Lastly, in this day and age, it’s hard to not also talk about what I’m watching and listening to. I turn to these mediums for inspiration as well, but also for pure, sheer entertainment, which is sometimes much called for as a way to escape and uncheck from this mad mad world.
Hope you find them as inspiring and captivating as I do.
Patina Farm, by Brooke and Steve Giannetti
This lush book draws together two of my favorite things—old world style and living with the natural world. When I first came across the authors and their work, I felt like Dorothy stepping into Oz—is this place real? Why does it feel like technicolor when all the shades are patina? How have they gone into my brain and created what I’m still trying to articulate? Kansas felt a planet away. This is the kind of inspiration I’m always on the lookout for.
Situated in Ojai, California, the Giannetti’s built and designed a home where “antique building materials, including antique French terracotta roof tiles and vintage barn beams, are juxtaposed with more contemporary details such as sheets of glass and steel windows.” In tandem with the stunning design, they have a small farm complete with chickens, goats, and miniature Sicilian donkeys. (Miniature Sicilian donkeys!)
I’m so often awed by the beauty creative human beings are able to curate for their lives. Having a vision akin to the one these two have is a gift; being able to execute it—whether it’s because you have the talent or the resources—is a blessing. There is no feeling comparable to the one of living, daily, in an environment that is an expression of what lives inside you. Patina Farm is a vision, actualized.
You can watch a terrific introduction to Patina Farm and the Giannetti’s in this YouTube video. You’ll want to order all of their books after watching it.