This is a book that tells stories through interior design, and a collection of stories that uses design to reflect on life.
Writing from the perspective of an interior designer, the author records more than a dozen real home renovation stories spanning ten years. From a 200-square-meter villa to a 50-square-meter apartment near a good school, from a single female lawyer’s “sanctuary” to age-friendly renovations for an empty-nest senior, every space conceals a family’s private longing.
“When facing the outside world, a person needs a window. When facing themselves, they need a mirror.”
For the past ten years, the designer has been installing windows and mirrors for other people. Windows open onto the world, letting sunlight, scenery, and life stream in. Mirrors turn inward, bringing hidden places, loneliness, and the corners people would rather keep unseen into view. This book is the observation journal of someone standing between the window and the mirror.
If you’re interested in interior design, you’ll find professional insights drawn from hands-on experience, the underlying principles of spatial planning, and creative ways to turn disadvantages into strengths.
If you’re interested in people, you’ll find more than a dozen true family stories, depicting marriage, parent-child relationships, living alone, and growing old, as well as the unspoken longings that find a place and a home in the spaces around us.
If you’re renovating your own home, you’ll find countless tips on avoiding costly mistakes, and something more important than style: how to make room for yourself, your relationships, and your future.
If you simply want to read a good book, you’ll find warmth and depth, moonlight spilling into an empty room, and a window that lets you see life anew.
