The very idea of life on a tropical island appeals to popular fantasy: the sea, the sky, the sand, the tranquillity, the escape-from-it-all...Mental images abound at the mere mention: white linen and straw hats; hibiscus and palm trees; languid cocktails taken on the verandah; the intensity of colours and the sound of the sea. This fantasy is reality to India Hicks, David Flint Wood and their two children. Over the past five years, India and David have impeccably restored, built or redecorated three houses and one hotel on the island. Each interior reflects India's keen sense of colour and style, inherited in part from her father, David Hicks, and influenced by her travels with David Flint Wood to India and Africa, and from the wealth of Caribbean style that surrounds them. 'Island Life' celebrates India's unique style, which mixes classic European and Caribbean influences, and their houses and the island are beautifully portrayed by leading photographer David Loftus. Following a unique design influenced by the authors' meticulously made sketchbooks and journals, a mix of tracing paper (used innovatively to recreate some of India's designs), gloss and uncoated papers are combined to give the book a novel approach. This is the first book to reveal the secrets of India's style which have long been championed by style gurus such as Ralph Lauren, who shot his catalogue at their home, and Martha Stewart.

In House of Hoppen , Kelly Hoppen, MBE takes a look back over her stellar career, which began when, as a sixteen-year-old full of drive and ideas, she was commissioned to design the kitchen of a family friend. Packed with previously unseen imagery and letters from Kelly's personal and professional archives, the book charts the course of her career and celebrates some of the many highlights. Fascinating insights into some of Kelly's favourite projects, including the most recent and some of her own homes, give an overview of the ways in which her design approach has both remained consistent and evolved over the decades. They also reveal the fundamental factors that Kelly believes make a home the comfortable, welcoming haven we need it to be. Key themes and design signatures that underpin her work are examined in detail and Kelly also showcases her 'classic' touches - such as her favourite chair designs, lights, wall treatments, cushion style and colour: taupe. House of Hoppen features a rich mix of imagery, from unseen archive material, including personal photographs and letters, to illustrations by contemporary artists, to interior photography by acclaimed photographers such as Tom Stewart, Bill Batten, Vincent Knapp, Mel Yates and Simon Upton.

Ashley Hicks has created a mix of manifesto, souvenir album, and confession in this collection of noteworthy rooms featuring his own one-of-a-kind interiors along with rooms that have inspired him. The manifesto aspect is rather limited, since Hicks is not a great believer in aesthetic rules or the value of so-called good taste, but as a souvenir album, it charts Hicks s personal creative journey of the last few years, illustrated with photographs of some favorite historical interiors and objects that represent a mixture of source material and inspiration. The book s twelve chapters reveal Hicks's creative process, how he approaches different themes in his own interiors, furniture designs, and works of art, and how these themes can be applied to the works of others. Such subjects as flowers, color, layers, form, pattern, and memory are presented in the context of actual projects. Historical and recent interiors are discussed for their decorative value notable rooms and architecture, including the Pantheon in Rome; Emperor Maximilian s tomb in Innsbruck; the Royal Pavilion, Brighton; and the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Hicks has created a book for devotees of decorating and the history of interior design.