Non-Fiction Book Review: The Art of Home by Shea McGee

Publication date: 12th September 2023

Publisher: Harper Horizon

Pages: 408

Genre: Non-Fiction – Interior Design

Format read: Hardcover

The long-awaited design book from Shea McGee, beautifully showcasing all that is possible for every room of your home.

Whether it’s through her thriving design business, Studio McGee, her popular Netflix series, Dream Home Makeover, or her online community of over five million followers, Shea McGee has shown the world how the principles of high-end design can be applied to any home. As the title of her new book suggests, designing rooms for maximum impact while also remaining approachable to any who enter is an art. But it’s also a skill that can be learned because it’s inside each one of us.

In The Art of Home, Shea takes us through every room of the house, starting with an explanation of process and then guiding our entryways, living rooms, kitchens, offices, kids’ rooms, and even our utility rooms. With step-by-step guides paired with her own design projects and the power of her personal stories, Shea helps us transform the most important parts of our lives and how we live.

What I love about design is the opportunity to dream and then will that vision into existence.

Join Shea as she teaches us to dream and then shows us how to make it reality. Her new book, The Art of Home, is as functional as it is heart-stoppingly beautiful and it will maintain a presence in your home for years to come.

Rating: ★★★★

My thoughts:

I have long had a passion for interior design and spend a great deal of time thinking about how I want my house to look and feel. I enjoy watching renovation shows and have recently been on the look out for design books that inspire me.

Roaming around Target, I was drawn to The Art of Home by Shea McGee, recognising the author’s name from a show I watched once ages ago. The cover was aesthetically pleasing, making this a book I could display in my living area. A quick flick promised beautiful images of other people’s homes; laid out room by room for easy reading. I knew I had to take it home.

Each section of the book focuses on a different area of the home, showcasing the author’s own home and the homes of clients she has worked with. The author discusses her inspiration for each room and the little bits and pieces that make up the whole picture, from cabinetry to furniture position and including items that are important to the individual living in the home.

The author includes a step by step guide to her design process, from choosing the mood to final styling, at the beginning of the book. At the back of the book, she lays out basic styling guidelines for choosing upholstery fabrics and rugs, pattern mixing, hanging artwork, lighting heights and paint colours.

It was lovely to be able to sit with this book and dream about a home filled with vintage and modern pieces. Although the images in this book are not exactly achievable for us financially, they have inspired me to follow my love of older style furniture and sparked a new vision for our home.