Creative Display, by Geraldine James, makes a virtue out of clutter. In this inspiring book, objects are imaginatively displayed on every possible surface and every homemaker is an interior stylist. Layered surfaces include artwork, memorabilia and found objects.

Some displays are carefully organized by colour, theme or size and righteously balanced. Other arrangements appear organic and spontaneous, however carefully assembled.

There are displays that feature clever juxtapositions or “unlikely alliances”. On a long table covered by a paint-spattered drop cloth, a collection of expressionist paintings is paired with a loose arrangement of wild flowers.

Books may be the main event or used as props to stage other items.

If you have ever considered cobbling together a house from reclaimed materials, check out Handmade Houses by Richard Olsen. The book is billed the “first comprehensive consideration of the residential design of the back-to-the-land movement.”

It traces the history and origins of the movement and shows houses built by homeowners without architects and well as those designed by the pros.

Fleamarket Chic is another design book that works with vintage furnishings from humble sources integrated into contemporary interiors.

Unlike Homespun Style, which I reviewed last blog, many of the interiors are put together with subtlety and restraint because crafting is not the point of the exercise. Rather, collecting or rehabbing a worthy item that fits well into the decorating scheme is the name of the game.

- Jane