Patina Modern

Patina Modern is Chris Mitchell and Pilar Guzman's guide to rooms that are spare yet warm, built around materials that age well. The method centres on white oak, brass and bridle leather. Drawn from six home renovations.

The premise here is refreshingly specific. Rather than a general style guide, it argues that a particular set of materials, white oak, brass and bridle leather, get better with age, and that building around them is how you get a room that is current without dating.

Six renovations is a lot of hard-won experience, and the book uses them as the evidence rather than as glossy examples. Projects include a Brooklyn brownstone and two Hamptons cottages. Along the way there is a genuine education in colour, proportion, paint and modern furniture design, which is where the authors' enthusiasm shows most. The recurring theme is designing around what you actually love, and rooms that accommodate real people with real spills rather than resisting them.