It’s finally arrived! After months of waiting for the latest interior design book by Will Taylor to hit the shelves (and putting my name down for a copy really early) I was already too excited when the delivery finally dropped onto the doormat. Unwrapping the parcel felt like Christmas and, having avoided reading any other reviews or peeking at the pages, I had no idea what was inside. Cancel all my meetings – Dream Décor was finally in my hands and I was ready to read.
This book is the second publication by Will Taylor of interior design blog Bright Bazaar. I’ve been a fan for years and this inspirational site is one of the first places I go for new season design ideas and makeover projects. I loved the colour-packed pages of Will’s first book Bright Bazaar: Embracing Colour For Make-You-Smile Style
I’d spotted a few news updates online about the launch of the book, which took place on 12th May at West Elm London on Tottenham Court Road, and I SO wish I was the type of blogger to get invited to these kind of events! I noticed a few of my blogging pals posting pre-release photos of the book on their Instagram and I wondered how they got hold of them. Jealous, or what?? Even so, I still managed to get my copy of book on the very day it was released. Dream Decor: Styling a Cool, Creative and Comfortable Home, Wherever You Live
So let’s start with the cover. It’s beautifully adorned with one of my favourite interior design trends of the year – watercolour stripes. It looks fabulously nautical and hints at the content to come; there are plenty of pages of coastal inspiration inside the book and it even kicks off with a photoshoot of Will’s own seaside-esque home office. With photography by Andrew Boyd and beautiful real-home locations from around the globe, you can tell that this book had a higher production budget than the first. I know that an interior design book should have lots of gorgeous photos but oh-my-goodness this book is bursting with hundreds – I might even say thousands – of beautifully styled décor photos. 
Inside you’ll find ever-so-slightly more grown up inspirations than we saw in Bright Bazaar. It’s certainly more of a book for all ages, any location and every style of property. It wouldn’t be too cheesy to say that ‘there’s something for everyone’ in this book. Genuinely. If you want modern monochrome inspiration, you’ve got it. Looking for ways to highlight historical features? Right here. Need to make a country style look cool? Yep, you guessed it, Will has the answer. This book is like a giant Pinterest account of all the best interior design looks from around the world. You could get lost in there.
But it’s not all about looking at gorgeous photos; there’s plenty of top advice inside Dream Decor too. ‘How to create intimacy in big spaces’ makes me want to move into a loft. ‘Four ways to live with collected treasures’ offers tips for curating a beautiful collection. And ‘Living with florals’ demystifies pattern. From Island Life to Hedonistic Hipster, and Petite Parisienne to Exotic Eccentric, every – and I mean every – interior design style is covered, including many that I’ve never even seen before. And Will offers advice on recreating a comfortable version of each look for yourself, no matter what size, style or age your home is.
Personally, my favourite element of the book is the architectural inspiration. The book is littered with examples of houses, doors, colours, windows and architectural design features from around the world. Each of these pages presents a moodboard of photos (such as these industrial factories in London below) from which you can draw inspiration. Plus, Will describes the style and pulls out design elements that you can take away and apply to your own home. I really enjoyed learning more about architectural styles and how to work design elements into a decorating scheme.
Do you already have a copy of Dream Decor? What do you think of this new design book? What is your favourite style? Or did you already read Bright Bazaar and are thinking of getting this new Will Taylor book too? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @Cassiefairy. You can get your own copy of Will Taylor’s Dream Decor: Styling a Cool, Creative and Comfortable Home, Wherever You Live
Dream Decor: Styling A Cool, Creative And Comfortable Home, Wherever You Live by Will Taylor, photography by Andrew Boyd, is published by Jacqui Small (£25). More information on the book can be found here.
Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂
