How to Get the Lived-In Style with a New Decorating Book
Today I’m super excited to share a peek inside the new decorating book, Lived-In Style: The Art of Creating a Feel-Good Home by Ki Nassauer, CICO Books. Its pages feature several stunning homes that will inspire and delight you. Each house shows how to incorporate a lived-in look that’s both beautiful and comfortable. That’s what most of us want our homes to reflect, right? I’m also happy to announce that the author is giving a free copy to one of my readers!! To be entered for a chance to win, simply leave a comment at the end of this post. It’s that easy! The winner will be announced here on the blog on May 8th, 2023. All photography in the book is by Edmund Barr and John Bessler © CICO Books 2023.
Of all the beautiful homes in the book, I’m choosing to feature the home called “American Idyll” for its organic and vintage beauty. The living room below sets the stage for the rest of this house which is situated in the Catskills and belongs to long-time thrifter, Melanie Bendavid. Melanie shares that when she purchased the house, it had been stripped of all original details. She and partner Michael Randels have since spent time restoring this beauty that once served as a hotel and post office.
The main staircase was opened up and improves the natural lighting, which is evident when looking at the cozy living room. Photos of the original home are included in the gallery wall of the staircase. I love the mix of plain and ticking-striped slipcovers on the plush sofa, and all the vintage and antique artifacts.
A beautiful campaign desk takes residence beneath a trio of corgi paintings, which the homeowner found at a Salvation Army store. It’s always interesting to see what you might find at second-hand stores. It always makes the hunt exciting!
Gorgeous wide plank wood floors run through the beautiful kitchen. The homeowner found this entire kitchen at a salvage business! You’d think these cabinets were custom made for the space. A variety of kitchen collectibles are on display making this a vintage-lover’s dream cooking space.
I love all the textures throughout this lived-in style home. The whitewashed, paneled walls, the rough-planked floors, and the soft curtains at the window. What first caught my eye in the dining room is the oversized bee print which was originally made to decorate a local speakeasy.
Every square inch of this New York hotel-turned-home displays interesting vignettes.
The upstairs hallway is light-filled and easily shows off the collection of rug beaters on the left and miniature art work on the right.
This bedroom features so many unique details that older homes often possess. The window cove is tucked inside a wall with built-in storage areas. A step-up to the right leads to another closet. While some people might find that step annoying, I find it charming.
Note the wood trim on the walls in this vintage bathroom. You’ve got a mix of angles which adds architectural interest. The bathroom has plenty of windows to allow natural light to flow into the space, creating a spa-like atmosphere, along with the plants on the antique bench.
This lived-in style home has several more photos in the book, Lived-In Style: The Art of Creating a Feel-Good Home by Ki Nassauer, CICO Books. Not to mention, there are several homes, equally beautiful, that you’ll enjoy within the book’s pages. Also, learn more about Ki on her website.
To enter for a chance to win a copy of the book, simply leave a comment below. The winner will be emailed and announced here on the blog on May 8, 2023. If you can’t wait to find out if you win, you can always purchase a copy of Lived-In Style: The Art of Creating a Feel-Good Home
Beautiful bathroom.
Can I move in? Such a charming place
The lived-in organic way of “decorating” has been my lifestyle forever. I’m so glad to finally get verification that my country traditional style is a trend. Live your article & pictures!
Stunning!! Sometimes I think my “lived in “ looks cluttered but I love all the pieces, the journeys they remind me of and the way they hug my soul! Thank you for sharing!
I feel like I already have a lived in style 😊. But I would love to see this book!! Beautiful pictures!
I would love tips for this style in my home
I look forward to your daily newsletters, they are a part of my morning routine. I am a cottage style girl, however I enjoy the decor variety that you offer. Keep up the good work.
I’ve always been a fan of Ki Nassaeur and love her creativity and the light she shines on other creatives. Thank you for highlighting her book.
Good morning, Jennifer –
So enjoy your blog and laid-back decor ideas. The book you and the author are offering looks so unique and beautiful; something to pour over with a cup of tea while relaxing outside. Enjoy your day!
Love everything about this home. It features all I would and some of how I do decorate. From corgi paintings and winged friends to slip covers. Absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing.
Can’t wait to dissect this book. Love Ki’s work
A sophisticated style that uses classic comfortable elements.
Very pleasing to the eye!
Love the kitchen. Reminds me of growing up in a place where that room was so warm and inviting. No sterility here!
I’m a collector also so I love the grouping of wall art and plants always add that little extra!
Lovelovelove!
What a great book. Each room is thoughtful, beautifully appointed and looks very lived in. Thank you for sharing.
I love this post. Everything about this home is so inviting, the style is timeless!
I already feel like I have a lived in style. I have a cottage on the water and it’s beautiful. However I’m always open to new ideas!
I totally enjoyed this home as it was very similar to the house I was raised in in rural Central Ontario, Canada. It has that come in, sit down and put your feet up feeling which is rare these days. I am going to be looking for the book.
I love this home, the fun she must have had creating it.
This style of decorating is exactly my idea of making a house into a home. Each room is filled with interesting items that tell a story about the owners. I always think that is so important. A home should not look like a magazine staged photo.
Love this and had a lot of ideas for my own home from just these few pics😊I know I would love the book!
Love this “Lived in Style” – I think it really transforms a house into a home.
Would really love to win a copy of this book!
My husband and I love to go thrifting, we went through a hurricane recently, so second hand stores have helped us out lately, a room at a time!
I love that sofa too. I am a huge fan of ticking fabric and believe it pairs well with other prints and or solids. Those corgi paintings are a real find. I would have thought using so much wood might darken the rooms, but it all seems inviting and cozy. I love a lived in look, may be why I found shabby chic so comfortable. LOL
Looks like a great book for inspiration!
My kind of decorating!!!
I cannot wait to savor this book! The pictures make me feel like I want to sit and stay for a visit. Thank-you!
I just love slipcovered couch. Complementary fabrics are subtle and completely work. The patterned pillows and other fabrics are just perfect.
I love the relaxed style of this home! Lived in feeling just the way I like it!
Beautiful post (as always). Love the lived in look!
I love this house. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Just what is needed. A book celebrating the lived-in look and feeling. A lot of the decorating books these days showcase cold, sterile interiors; nothing cozy or cocooning. Then there are others that take formal and traditional to the extreme and create museums not homes.
Love the “lived in look”. Guess I’ve been in style all these years and didn’t realize it😊. Yea.
This home is so me. I love the style, the look, the feel, everything about it. Truly feels like home.
I’d love a copy of the Lived -in Home!
Love this home! I am an inveterate thrifter and it is so fun to see how someone else who enjoys the hunt displays her finds and in such a wonderful environment. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the contest!
I hope in all the renovating of the home that the owners left the “squeak” in those beautiful floors! I could almost hear them at the top of the stairs. I saw so many of the same collectibles scattered around the home as I have acquired over the years of my own “junquing” jaunts, and discovered some new ways to display them, as well. Great post Jen! Now, please excuse me while I go and dig out my rug beaters!
I love your blog and can’t wait to see what you have in store everyday. This home in the new book is definitely my kind of home. Would love to see more.
I love this house and every detail about it. Whenever I think I have too many vintage finds on display in my home, a house like this says to me “No you don’t”. I love all my treasures and enjoy seeing other home owner’s who feel the same way. I could easily move into this house. Thank you for sharing it.
Love this, that kitchen and bath are really cool.
Beautiful home!
I’d love to see the outside of this home – it looks like it would have a big porch. I’d love to live in the country in a house like this. What a fun book to look at and incorporate ideas from. Thank you for showing us a little bit of this house.
Absolutely beautiful!
You picked a lovely house to feature. Would love to see more of that kitchen!
Can’t wait to get this new book! This gorgeous comfortable home is my dream home!
This primitive style home is VERY nicely done. I thought the child’s chair at the end of the coffee table was such a practical and cute idea! And. Those. Floors! Wow.
Absolutely love the lived in look. The wide planked floor shiplap the barn wood and the live edge dining room table simply gorgeous! Great post!!!
I’d love to have a copy of this delightful book! Thanks for the giveaway!
I love this home, every room is amazing and especially the kitchen! Those cabinets are perfect for that space. I also love the antique desk. It really is just a comfortable lived in home that I could move into!
What a wonderful Book…I particularly like the window nook in the bedroom…what a great idea…to surround a small window!….The upstairs floor is very appealing!
Charming house!
There is nothing in this house I don’t like ! Its so ooo cozy and quirky. I love it.
I love the “lived in” look. I would be so at home here!
Thanks for sharing photos of this awesome book!
Love your blog!
This style would lend itself wonderfully to my eccentric collections!! Would harmonize them in my rooms. Can’t wait to have this book for a further reference. Kathy
Oh my, love this home and all the vintage goodies! I would love to own the book to see other featured homes.
Stunning. It feels like a place I’m homesick for. It’s so cozy and inviting. The book is a continuation of that homey, cozy, lived-in feeling. Love love love.
I love this style! Can’t wait to devour this entire book! Thank you!
I love the pictures. Would like to see more.
This house is charming! The details make it stand out from many of the other houses featured in your newsletter. Thanks for sharing this with your readers.
Great ideas for my mountain home renovation!
I look forward to your posts every morning! Have a great week😎
Thank you for showcasing a home from Ki new book. Giving insight to what can be done through the lens of decorating, gives us all the hope what can be achieved with hard work and dedication to restoring homes to their grandeur.
How beautifully done. It just oozes charm and warmth.
Just beautiful. If the entirety of this book is anything like your Intro, it will not disappoint. Looking
forward to seeing the rest of the story!
What a lovely (and radical!) concept: actually living in your home! My two favorite “scenes” were the “little people” chair added to the living room table; and I just love the cubby feeling of dormer windows in bedrooms…how fun and comfortable!
Dream home, I could move right in.
At last – a book for my kind of home!
Absolutely love the way the bathroom has three different directions of wood trim on the walls. I would never thought of doing this but love it!
Beautiful and inviting while looking effortless!
Beautiful! This is exactly how I plan on decorating my house as soon as GOD blesses me with one. The floors, walls and the ceilings. I love antiques and vintage everything! I’ve been a thrift shopper for years. My storage locker is bursting with furniture, pictures and everything I need to set up house. I’d love a copy of this book to show me just how to do it.
This home is beautiful! It reminds me of the 140 year old home that my parents are restoring right now; it also housed a post office many, many years ago.
I love this home that you’ve shared! It gets frustrating seeing the staged homes with overdone modern farmhouse style. We bought a farmhouse built in 1898 and we’ve been renovating for the last year. We’re getting close to the decorative part and these photos have given me quite a few ideas. I really enjoy your blog and look forward to my morning email for the update!
I love this style of decorating..the rag rugs, wall decor, and the great green porch bench. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! The sunny windows are perfect for plants.
Love everything about this book. Looks life real life and works for all the things. I love having ‘things’ in my home.
I like to think my house looks a bit like this, but with a Florida vibe. I would love to win this book to dissect it and go shopping for new treasures!
Jen, you have me here saying yes please!! I love this book!!!. Wainscoting and wood floors so comfy and
just what I long for in my cozy cottage. Some of these pictures I remember seeing some time ago and drooled over it then. Thank you can you tell me where I can get this book?
How utterly delightful! Just my dream home. Greetings from Finland!
You had me at the French kitchen range on the book cover!
Very welcoming home! I could definitely sit a spell with a cup of coffee and take it all in! Just beautiful.
Absolutely love the home decorating pictures! Love the color choices and different home decor items that make the rooms look finished
and perfectly chosen.
I would love to receive a copy of this book. Thank you!
I always enjoy your posts. Please enter me for a chance to win the new book by Ki!
Thank you!
I love the look! Would love to win the book! 😊
Looks like a wonderful book in the style I’ve tried to create. I try for welcoming and relaxing and enough whimsey to start a fun conversation with friends and guests. Slipcovers, thrift shop items and antiques handed down. You can always put your feet up on the old coffee table. I use repurposed things that I have used my imagination to create.
Thanks, Jennifer, for bringing so much to look at and dream about on your website. I so look forward to each one.
I am getting so many ideas from this book. I love the easy decorating style. Love, love, love it
I love the bee print. What a great find! Beautiful use of finishes and details.
Very pretty home and looks like a very pretty book to look through the pages with a cup of coffee or a glass of sweet tea.
This book by Ki looks so interesting- would love to win. I enjoy her blog posts and yours also. Thanks, Patty B
Hi WOW Ilove everything 🤗
Love lived in style vs the homes that look like everyone else’s you see so much. I think homes used to be unique inside and I think the trend of decorating with what you love is making a come back!
I love everything. I would never oversleep in this place, I would be up at the break of dawn to enjoy every square inch.
This book looks beautiful with some great ideas. Always room in my bookcase for another decorating book.
A beautiful home but a very bussy home. Almost to bussy especially the kitchen. Many pretties to enjoy.
Some very beautiful vintage collections on the pages of Ki’s book- thanks for sharing!!
Jennifer, I loved all the spaces in that house! I wonder what the outside looks like.
Happy Spring!
Christine
New Hampshire
I loved it all
Absolutely beautiful. So cozy and pretty. 🥰