Style meets practicality in HGTV host’s new book
Sarah Richardson’s latest book features six properties she has called home, in addition to some of her favourite homemade recipes
Trust your gut, says Canadian design star Sarah Richardson, host and co-producer of five HGTV series, including Sarah’s House, Sarah 101 and Design Inc. It’s this approach that led to her second book with Simon & Schuster, At Home: Sarah Style, being released so soon after her first, which came out just a year ago.
“We always thought we would do a second,” Richardson says. “And the president of Simon & Schuster is such an energetic guy and so I said, ‘OK. Why not?’ But the funny thing is you agree and then the reality of what’s involved actually sets in.”
At Home offers a look at six properties Richardson has renovated and calls home — or has called home in the past — along with recipes for the meals she cooks regularly. Her famous “the only answer is yes” philosophy was put to the test with the six-week deadline she was given to complete the book, which involved writing the recipes, styling them and having the food and the properties photographed. The great thing about working with Simon & Schuster, she says, is that they give her complete creative control.
“When you have complete creative freedom, you don’t have time to second-guess anything,” she says. “There’s so much of what I do that’s ‘go with your gut’ because there’s so much going on.
“People say how do you get so much done and I say, ‘Well, I don’t really have time to second-guess my choices’. ”
“I just make that choice and accept the consequences for that choice, hope it works out and move on to the next one, which is a lifetime of moving forward instead of second-guessing, looking back, rethinking and not going anywhere.”
Though both the homes and the meals in the book look picture perfect, Richardson stresses her approach to life and design is practical.
“My spaces are really livable,” she says. “You can sit in your wet bathing suit. You can eat on the sofa. I can take the cover off and throw it in the washing machine. It is designed to always look the same because it’s designed with a high level of practicality in mind. I have little kids and they’re allowed to go anywhere, sit on anything, use anything, colour at the dining table.”
The most important thing, Richardson says, is that people feel comfortable and happy in their homes. She hopes her new book will give readers fresh ideas, but her advice is to go with what feels right, even if it’s not turning up in magazines.
“We all work on a budget, no matter how big or small it is,” she says. “And some of those (in the book) were done on a really small budget and I think it’s important to live in yours and be satisfied with what you have, not over extend, to pay too much. You have to live within your means. I would prefer to be done and living in it rather than be making myself crazy to find the perfect thing.”
A common misconception people might have about her, Richardson says, is that there is a large engine driving everything she does. For At Home, it was simply Richardson, her long-standing photographer, Stacey Brandford, the book designer and friends who dropped by to taste recipes and give feedback.
Her new textiles line, which includes sheet and duvet cover sets, accent pillows and kitchen textiles was created by Richardson and one other designer.
I would prefer to be done and living in it rather than be making myself crazy to find the perfect thing.