The joy of home /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Creating homes that bring families together, where they can celebrate life's joys.

Interior designer Ashley Gilbreath's fresh approach to Southern decorating is guided by her respect for family and tradition with an eye on practicality and warmheartedness. Her first book reveals the breadth of her casually elegant style. Whether it's in town, on the water, or in the countryside, each home exhibits thoughtful planning and attention to detail in harmony with the client's vision.

Gilbreath gives readers insight into her design process, striking a balance between functionality, comfort, and beauty. From using a client's favorite color as a unifying thread throughout, to offering guidance on designing a forever home that can mature with the family over time, every space is influenced by her passion for gracious everyday living. Inviting readers into her family beach home, Ashley explores the impact of small architectural updates, and the use of thoughtful injection of color and pattern to achieve the perfect mix. Ashley's signature design strategies are distinguishable in each home. She artfully mixes new and old pieces and utilizes favorite custom treatments to create a welcoming spirit grounded in tradition.

Bringing family together is the reason Gilbreath designs. "Balancing form and function with memory and emotion, home is a place for people to embrace family and celebrate life's joys," she says. The Joy of Home gives readers insight and inspiration to create their own joyful home.

Home locations:

Auburn, Alabama Lake Martin in Alabama Mobile, Alabama Watersound Beach, Florida Alpharetta, Georgia Columbus, Georgia Baton Rouge, Louisiana Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Gilbreath, an experienced designer and renovator, believes family memories are important. The beautiful spaces she creates are indicative of that, and in this book, she presents nine homes that she designed and renovated in conjunction with architects. Her designs strike a balance between the need for comfort and the desire for sophistication. While she incorporates family needs and wants in her design, her impressive, distinctive style shines through these projects. Many of the homes combine the client's favorite color with neutral grass colors, such as that of sisal rugs and baskets. Gilbreath employs an eclectic mixture of textures--linen, leather, wood, cane, and more--that work in harmony. Many of the dwellings featured are vacation homes. All are family-friendly, combining cozy features with sophistication, and performance fabric coverings made out of nylon, acrylic, or polyester to protect the furniture from spills and the like. VERDICT While not every family can afford a vacation home, these designs will inspire homeowners to opt for Gilbreath's unique blend of simplicity and elegance.--Chantal Walvoord

Publishers Weekly Review

Interior designer Gilbreath outlines her "genteel" approach to decorating in her stylish debut. She credits her mother for giving her an eye for "practicality and warmheartedness" and her father for "respect for tradition," and shows how these principles guide her designs. Balance, Gilbreath contends, is essential, and she details how she combined elegance and functionality in a dining room by pairing fabric that's stain and wear resistant on host chairs with leather side chairs that are tasteful while being durable enough to survive "spaghetti nights and chocolate-covered fingers." Preaching moderation when it comes to color ("A little can go a long way!"), she shows how she incorporated coral pink accents throughout a house (a rug in the kitchen, lamps in the dining room, and drapes near the backdoor) to "create cohesion while also injecting a bit of levity." Gilbreath emphasizes that she likes to draw on "clients' histories and memories" and reflect their personal styles in her work, but she offers disappointingly few details on how client tastes and background influenced the houses depicted. Still, the designs are handsome and restrained, and her breakdown of her thought process enlightens ("Visual separation of an open plan is key," she writes about using a dining table to split two sitting areas in a living room). It's an attractive volume, if one hobbled by some notable omissions. (Apr.)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Ashley Gilbreath is a Southern-based, award-winning, interior designer known for creating casually elegant homes where the family can gather to celebrate everyday living. Her fresh take on interiors has been seen in Southern Living , House Beautiful , Luxe , Coastal Living , Southern Home , Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle , and in homes from Florida to New York. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband and three children.