Thomas O'Brien's American Modern

I've long been a fan of Thomas O'Brien's work, from stunning interiors to his artfully selected wares at Aero to his line at Target. So, it's no surprise that I am a fan of his relatively new book American Modern. What is a surprise is just how good it is. I read and own many decorating books and most of them fall short of expectations. With a few notable exceptions, like the many books by Terence Conran, decorating books are often just beautiful picture books with text describing what you see in each photograph -- there's very little service for the reader.

Thomas O'Brien's book works harder than that: He explains the thinking behind the decisions he has made when decorating the homes featured in the book. O'Brien's own homes, both incarnations of his New York City apartment and his Long Island country home, are, in my opinion, much more interesting than his client's homes, but that's probably because he was able to do exactly what he wanted and they evolved over a lifetime.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend adding this book to your library. To give you an idea of how much I like it: I've been reading it before going to bed some nights as if it were a great novel.