Let your favorite books inspire your design story.

Looking for design ideas that give new life to the antiques you love? Take inspiration from your favorite books and use vintage items to create scenes that tell a story. It might be the rough-hewn wooden table that reminds you of D.H. Lawrence’s ode to simple living in Women in Love. Or the leather ottoman that could have come from Isak Dinesen’s farmhouse in Out of Africa. Or the ticking Victorian mantel clock that could punctuate a stilted exchange in Mrs. Welland’s The Age of Innocence drawing room. Loving books means entering the worlds the author creates and living in them for a while. Bringing elements of those books into our homes reminds us to stretch ourselves—to let ourselves be transported beyond our four walls to explore more of what life offers.