“Shows us why the actions that prepare us for emergencies and energy descent are the right things to do no matter what the future brings.” —Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden Other books tell us how to live the good life—but you might have to win the lottery to do it. Making Home is about improving life with the real people around us and the resources we already have. While encouraging us to be more resilient in the face of hard times, author Sharon Astyk also points out the beauty, grace, and elegance that result, because getting the most out of everything we use is a way of transforming our lives into something much more fulfilling. Written from the perspective of a family who has already made this transition, Making Home shows readers how to turn the challenge of living with less into settling for more—more happiness, more security, and more peace of mind. Learn simple but effective strategies to: · Save money on everything from heating and cooling to refrigeration, laundry, water, sanitation, cooking, and cleaning · Create a stronger, more resilient family · Preserve more for future generations We must make fundamental changes to our way of life in the face of ongoing economic crisis and energy depletion. Making Home takes the fear out of this prospect, and invites us to embrace a simpler, more abundant reality. “Americans are born to be transient—Sharon Astyk has the prescription for dealing with that genetic disease, and building a healthy nativeness into our lives.” —Bill McKibben, New York Times–bestselling author “Exhaustively researched and compassionately delivered.” —Harriet Fasenfest, author of A Householder’s Guide to the Universe

From Sasha Pieterse, the star of Pretty Little Liars, an inspiring and delectable full-color guide to cooking, baking, DIY, and embracing the joy of entertaining. Welcome to the party! Sasha Pieterse has had a passion for food and entertaining practically from birth. In Sasha in Good Taste, she shares her flair for the festive with a collection of her favorite recipes, décor ideas, and tips and tricks for throwing the ultimate party for any occasion. Covering every aspect of party planning, from budgeting to creating a menu to fun DIY projects to help set the mood, Sasha in Good Taste includes: SAVORY RECIPES: Burrata Meatballs, Stuffed Jalapeños, Whipped Ricotta Cheese Toast, yum . . . SWEET BITES: Whiskey Cupcakes, Adult Cookies and Milk, Churro Bowls, oh my! CURATED COCKTAILS: With "polite," "sassy," and nonalcoholic options PARTY IDEAS: From Cigar Bars to Paint Parties to Friendsgiving, and much more Inside you’ll find everything you need to throw the party of your dreams.

Dorothy Rogers, wife of Broadway composer Richard Rogers, describes the country house that she and her husband had custom-built in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, Connecticut. She shares her theories of home design and entertaining,

AfterTaste: Expanded Practices in Interior Design is an edited volume comprising texts, interviews and portfolios that collectively document new theories and emerging critical practices in the field of interior design. The material is informed by, but not limited to, the annual AfterTaste symposia hosted by Parsons The New School of Design. The book s central argument is that the field of interior design is inadequately served by its historical reliance on taste-making and taste-makers, and, more recently from a set of theoretical concerns derived from architecture; the volume seeks to set an expanded frame by advancing new voices and perspectives in both the theory and practice of interior design, considered as an independent discipline. In 2007, the Department of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting at Parsons The New School for Design inaugurated an annual international symposium series dedicated to the critical study of the interior. Titled AfterTaste, these yearly symposia offer expansive views of interior studies, highlight emerging areas of research, identify allied practices, make public its under-explored territory, and attract future designers and scholars to the field. Now in its fourth year, AfterTaste has proven to be one of the very few venues internationally for critically exploring interior design. The field of interior design is asymmetrically served by the current literature in the field. Too frequently, the current writing and making in interiors emphasize the ineffable, the biographical, and the social elite, and promote a curiously unsubstantiated notion of connoisseurship as the principal basis for design. Other attempts to construct an intellectual agenda for the study of the interior draw heavily from architectural theory, ignoring the discipline s own specific and autonomous history. AfterTaste, the book, is intended to adjust this imbalance by introducing interior design material that is theoretically and historically situated, technically grounded, demographically inclusive, and aesthetically adventurous.

Billy Baldwin, known as the "Dean of American Decorating," is famous for his classical taste, streamlined modernism, and brilliant use of color. He is one of the most important decorators of the twentieth century, whose work has influenced contemporary designers from Bunny Williams to Jeffrey Bilhuber. A native of Baltimore, Baldwin's work caught the eye of eminent New York decorator Ruby Ross Wood. She invited him to join her firm, saying his work stood out "like a beacon of light in the boredom of the houses around it." Baldwin's style was a revelation--simultaneously classical and modernist, tailored and clean, yet dramatically colored, and above all American. An enemy of clutter and conspicuous wealth, he favored natural materials and comfortable furniture. In this book, the renowned American decorator suggests ways to give rooms personality and includes photographs and plans that illustrate his imaginative use of color and design