This is a big moment for me and I so appreciate you popping over to read about my latest project, my new book! I’ve been working on this book off and on for the past few years and it’s now in it’s final stages of editing. It will go to print October 1st! Pre-orders are happening now!
So what’s it about? Here goes.
If you don’t know this about me, I am a designer (interiors & home decor) but I am also the mother of three beautiful daughters who are growing up quicker than I was prepared for. It feels like a minute ago they were twirling in little dresses and playing with Barbie dolls. They are now 16, 17, and 21. This summer when my oldest daughter told me she was moving out it triggered a mountain of emotions in my heart. Why had no one prepared me for this? I wasn’t ready for her to go. I’m still so deeply sad about it but I’m also incredibly proud of her. It’s darn confusing. She is self sustaining, working, in college and made a beautiful life for herself…but I miss her so much.
You see, it goes like this all day long…happy for her, sad because I miss her.
This is when I realized it was time to finish the book. I wanted to hand her a pretty little book filled with pages of advice on how to make a beautiful home and live a meaningful life. I wanted her to know about family traditions and etiquette, history and design. It felt as if time snuck up on me and I hadn’t had a chance to teach her everything. So I put it in a book and I illustrated every page of it so my girls would know about the special little things we do in our home to build a strong family and how they will be able to create their own charming and pretty nest when it’s time for them to fly.
Then one day I was speaking with one of my design clients. She was excited to share with me some things she had done to her home on her own. I was impressed. She was kind enough to tell me, “See Mari, look how much you’ve taught me.” That was a wonderful moment for me and I realized all these things I’ve written about are helpful for anyone who loves their home.
So yes, there is design advice in the book because that’s what I do for a living but there is quite a bit of mom advice in there too, anywhere from how to iron a shirt to how to throw a party. These are things that were taught to me from my mother, my grandmother, my mentors and my friends. It’s broken down in months and by rooms, not that it needs to be read that way, it’s just that we do different things in our homes during the different months of the year.
I LOVE to illustrate. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love to create rooms and paint them with sometimes not very realistic color palettes. (I’ve yet to meet a design client that would let me paint their living room walls pink but if you’re out there, call me!) I use illustration as a way to communicate to my clients what I am envisioning their space to look like. The renderings in the book are more whimsical because there I can make-up who the client is and that client happens to love pink. So the book is also a collection of paintings I’ve done over the past two years. If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen many of them but there are quite a few new ones in the book as well.
I also speak about my sweet parents in the book. We built a guest-house for them almost nine years ago. It’s called Peppertree Cottage. You’ll have to read about it to know why. My parents gave me a beautiful childhood and we have traveled this life together through all the ups and downs. They are important figures in my life and they have taught me so much.
I find myself in an interesting time of my life. I am a mother caring for daughters, a daughter caring for parents, a wife caring for my husband and a business woman caring for clients. Truth is, they all care for me too. Life hasn’t been perfect by any means but it has been full of love and I know that I am very blessed. I’ve poured my heart into this book. I hope it will give you some fun ideas that you can use and I hope that my art brings you joy and makes you happy.
That is my intention behind the book, to make you happy.
I will be posting the printing progress & updates here on my blog. I’m offering some fun bonuses for those of you who pre-oder and I sincerely appreciate those of you who do. I’ve chosen to go with a US printer because I believe in supporting US companies. The book will be hard cover and printed on beautiful 80lb paper. This is a perfect gift for anyone who loves their home, design, decor and art.
Pre-orders receive: 4 ready to use bookplates for your own book collection as well as Free shipping & your book signed by me!
Pre-orders also receive this sweet 5" x 7" print.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This has been quite a journey for me and I can’t really put my finger on why I’m so nervous about it but I think it’s like having a baby, terrifying and wonderful at the same time about bringing something new into the world.
xoxo Mari