Italian Country: A Little Style Book

The "Little Style" books fit easily into a large pocket or a purse and can be taken with you to read while waiting at the dentists' office or on the bus. The downside of this is that the photos are not really big enough to fully appreciate the details of the furniture and fixtures shown, but the author wisely doesn't try to show very large spaces. And the photos and small paragraphs of text are wonderful (another "sigh and salivate" book) - there are inside and outside photographs from beach-houses in Sardinia to rural villas in Umbria (? Tuscany ?) to snowy mountain cabins in the Tyrol - and all with that (deceptively simple) Italian country style that often uses tile, stone, straw, and a few heavy pieces of wooden furniture that look to have been in the family since the days of Lorenzo the Magnificent. It very clearly shows a specific style (with adaptations for climate and materials), and is as eloquent about what it LEAVES OUT as what it includes. I found myself carrying the little book with me to go buy upholstery material or furniture or kitchen equipment; I began to carry it with me like a nun carries a Missal, to remind me of the style I admire and to avoid making those Expensive Design Mistakes we have all been prone to in moments of indecision. It's NOT a coffee-table book, but it IS a beautiful little book, and a bargain at the price.