SPRIG’s top 5 design reads
We have always seen floristry at the SPRIG design studio as a multi-disciplinary practice. Floral design is where we get to play with space, lines and colors, and we are as inspired by nature as we are by sculpture, interior design, and architecture.
On a normal day in the studio, you will find us flipping through coffee table books or magazines in the design process. Within them, we find new palettes to consider, constructions to reference, words and images to spark the creative process. We constantly turn to these books for inspiration and guidance - here are just a few of the favorites from our shelves:
From New York’s pre-eminant floral designs, Putnam and Putnam, is an ultimate color-by-color flower reference guide. Flower Color Guide is the first reference book to organize flower types by color, with an emphasis on seasonality and creative color schemes - and the results are stunning in their sheer variety. What Pantone is to color, Flower Color Guide is to flowers.
Flower Color Guide surveys 400 different plants, their unique shades, and creative schemes and designs for floral arrangements that transcend the usual bouquet. This book lays the foundation for stunning décor, from subtle and romantic to out-of-this-world, that not only brings nature into the room but deepens our ties to its beauty.
We love the stunning photography taken by Putnam & Putnam in their Brooklyn studio, and the detailed appendix featuring perforated pages, with tips on flower care, notes on how to prepare vessels and a list of suggested color schemes.
A Frame for Life by Ilse Crawford
Renowned designer and style guru, Ilse Crawford, showcases her body of influential, holistic work in ‘A Frame for Life.” Charting Crawford's philosophy and thoughts on design told through Studioilse's work to date, from private residences to hotels, restaurants, product and retail projects, this book illustrates the effectiveness of design grounded in human needs and desires. Fascinated by what drives us and makes us feel alive, Crawford says: When I look at making spaces, I don't just look at the visual. I'm much more interested in the sensory thing, in thinking about it from the human context, the primal perspective, the thing that touches you.
We find inspiration in her groundbreaking philosophies for design and livin, bridging the worlds of interior design, architecture, and product design with the philosophy of putting the human being at the center and the effectiveness of design grounded in human needs and desires. Layering materials and textures, combined with her understanding of human behavior, Crawford's designs are sensual and accessible.
The Monocle Guide to Cosy Homes is a survey of everything you need to build the residence you want. From architects to furniture-makers, from design-store owners to gardeners, we will introduce you to interesting people with ideas that are built to last.
While most architecture and interior books show houses polished to perfection, manicured to the extent that it is hard to imagine anybody actually lives there, they seem to miss the point that homes are meant to be inhabited. We love that the book features homes with scuffs and knock, and shows what it means to be part of a community.
The book also has detailed guides to great places to build that home and a global photographic survey of the homes we like. As with all of Monocle’s books, the guide is a perfect balance of the inspirational and practical. This is a book that should be used again and again; it’s about quality of life, a pinch of 'hygge' and making homes where our lives can unfold.
A handbook for making a home that will stand the test of time; take knocks and scuffs in its stride; and where lives can unfold, children grow up, and dogs run wild. Both a practical guide and a great source of inspiration, The Monocle Guide to Cosy Homes presents the interiors, furniture, and locations you need to know about along with portraits of the people who can make it happen. This Monocle book tells us how to turn a house into a home.
Wabi-Sabi Welcome
Wabi-Sabi Welcome is sharing a pot of tea with friends. It is preparing delicious food to nourish, not to show off. It’s keeping a basket of cozy slippers at the door for guests. It is well-worn linens, bouquets of foraged branches, mismatched silverware, and heirloom bowls infused with the spirit of meals served with love .Author Julie Pointer Adams invites readers into artful, easygoing homes around the world—in Denmark, California, France, Italy, and Japan—and teaches us how to turn the generous act of getting together into the deeper art of being together.
For those unfamiliar with the term wabi-sabi (which includes most people I know), it is a Japanese concept that honors the beauty of natural imperfection and a life of chosen simplicity. Throughout the book I draw on its principles to show how welcoming people into our homes and lives can be more unfussy, more relaxed, and altogether more fulfilling when we step away from conventional ideas of how to entertain, and instead, focus on how to make our guests feel a genuine sense of warmth, comfort, and ease in our spaces.
The tome shares unexpected, thoughtful ideas and recipes from around the world; tips for creating an intimate, welcoming environment; guidelines for choosing enduring, natural decor for the home; and inspiring photographs from homes where wabi-sabi is woven into daily living.
The Plant Magazine
Besides providing botanical content in a simple, personal and cozy way; The Plant offers plant lovers a new look at greenery by featuring the works of many creative people who share our love for plants.
As a curious observer of ordinary plants and other greenery, the magazine presents a monograph on a specific plant; bringing together photographers, illustrators, designers, musicians, writers and visual artists, both established and emerging, from all over the world.
We love reaching other botanical enthusiasts through the publication, and seeing their unique vision for bringing plants into our lives through art and culture.
