If you get a weekly fix of inspiration from TV makeover shows, you will enjoy a new addition to the collection.

Home By Novogratz showcases the work of husband-and-wife design team, Robert and Cortney Novogratz who have their own show on HGTV. Not surprisingly, the makeover formula is applied to the book. You see before-and-after shots, a list of steps, expert tips and a budget summary for each of the profiled spaces.

Their signature style is vintage modern. The rooms are colourful, family friendly and unpretentious. Of course, a lot of their clients have big bucks to drop on the process, like $35,000 for a tree house. No matter, there is much to be gleaned for the avid DIYer and a lot of fun in the decorating.

A long narrow attic storage space is transformed for two young girls. Beds are hung from sloped ceilings with heavy chains to maintain an airy feel. Floors are covered with bright, striped rugs. A long desk, shelving, and storage cubbies painted purple maximize the use of space. Pretty fabrics add a soft girlie touch.

Paint and stencils create a bold graphic for a living room wall in a “hipster haven”. For a singer-songwriter friend, they created a reader’s refuge, reorganizing hundreds of books into existing shelving and building a custom L-shaped sofa with additional library space in the base.

In a suburban basement, play space is created for both children and adults. Bold checkered carpet tiles brighten the area. Wallpaper is a collage of enlarged family photos.

It’s the kind of book where many high-cost (let’s-pay-a-contractor-to-do-it) ideas can be adapted for low-budget living.

- Jane

Scandinavian design is synonymous with the best in modern design from the mid-twentieth century and forward. Initially, the look was revolutionary: light-filled, airy spaces, spare lines, and blond woods. Today, the look is ubiquitous and popular. Design for the masses was the point of the exercise.

Ingrid Sommar provides an overview in an updated edition of Scandinavian Design. She traces modern design back to its roots in the rural population which valued practicality using materials at hand.

She shows exhilarating architecture in single-family homes, apartment blocks and public buildings. In the interior of the house built in 1940 by architect and furniture designer, Finn Juhl, you see the skill of the cabinet maker with built-in furniture. Pale wood floors and ceiling combine with expanses of windows and white walls.

The esthetic is expressed today in contemporary homes furnished with classic modern Scandinavian furniture and fixtures.

The exciting furniture by Danish designer Peter Karpf (pictured on the cover of the book) is made of moulded beech plywood, which has been shaped from one piece without using screws or joints.

She also reviews the Scandinavian influence in fashion, jewelry, food and tableware. There are chic, urban bicycles built by the Biomega Company which was founded by two philosophy students from the University of Copenhagen.

There are telephones, tools and wind systems, as well as examples from the big names in home entertainment, like Bang & Olufsen.

Generally, it’s a great read for design junkies.

- Jane

Alexander Calder was an American artist best known for his brightly coloured sculptures called mobiles by fellow artist Marcel Duchamp.

Calder used an ingenious system of weights and counterbalances to create graceful, airy sculptures that move easily with air currents. If you have a mobile with a modern aesthetic for your child’s room, chances are it owes a debt to Calder’s inventions.

Follow the link to see Calder’s 76-foot long sculpture in the National Gallery’s East Building in Washington. This graceful, airy piece actually weighs 920 pounds and was restored and repaired in 2005.

The May 2011 issue of The World of Interiors profiles the Calder Foundation which is dedicated to promoting his legacy and art. The foundation occupies a minimalist loft in the Chelsea district of New York surrounded by Calder sculpture.

For more information about Calder, take a look at Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: form, balance and joy which was published in conjunction with a travelling exhibit that began in 2010 and is still on the road.

I encountered Calder again in a delightful book by Mary Randolf Carter called A Perfectly Kept House is a Sign of a Misspent Life (2010).

It turns out this artist of all that is light, airy and balanced worked amidst an astounding chaos of clutter in his Connecticut studio which is revealed in a two-page spread. And, his work style followed him home. She shows the Calder kitchen, full of the colour and life of its inhabitants – a far cry from the pristine space where the Calder foundation works today.

Carter makes the case that clutter is the stuff of life and should be embraced. Tame it, organize it, maybe; but don't waste your time trying to eliminate it.

I think this is a message that a lot of people will enjoy.

Today's blog comes to you from Linda Bolstad, Central Library Staff:

Clean, sleek lines. Beautiful wood. Minimalist. Well-constructed. Some of the reasons I like mid-century modern furniture. In particular the Scandinavian designers such as Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner and Greta Jalk. Teak was a favorite wood used for this style of furniture, but walnut and rosewood were also popular. Some of the pieces are strikingly sculptural.

My husband and I have several items we bought when we were first furnishing our home back in the 70s and 80s, including a rosewood dining table and chairs, and they have withstood the test of time. Lately there is a resurgence of interest in this furniture and I have collected a few more items. It is getting more difficult to find, but I have had some luck finding pieces in thrift stores and on kijiji. Almost my entire living room is now furnished with mid-century teak. My husband is very understanding.

If you aren’t familiar with this type of furniture, here are a couple of books on the subject.

Danish Modern by Andrew Hollingsworth has lovely color illustrations of lounge chairs, sofas, tables, sideboards, etc with lots of information on the designers. A section on using the furniture in contemporary spaces is well worth paging through and makes me wish I could refurnish more of my home.

Mid-Century Modern by Bradley Quinn is another interesting book. It deals with more than just furniture. Many of the ceramics, glass and metalware from the 50’s and 60’s are to me lovely and graceful, and would fit beautifully into most homes. I think these will definitely be on my radar during my next forays into the world of second-hand shopping.

And one of the best things about locating and purchasing mid-century items is that you are recycling. Rather than buying something new, why not check out the variety of used items that are available.