Is there a place in the world where, if you could be teleported to for a few days or weeks, you would go at the drop of a hat? For me, it is Captain’s Rest in Lettes Bay Village in Tasmania. A historically-listed cottage on the waterfront, complete with it’s own jetty and expansive views out over the bay, the mountains and the sky. A dreamy location with stunning interiors too is the creation of Sarah Andrews – who describes herself as a ‘scientist, stylist, writer & sailor’.
I have admired Sarah’s work since I discovered Captain’s Rest (and featured it in our Nov 2019 e-zine), so upon hearing of her latest book, The Poetry of Spaces, I knew it was one to add to my book shelves and to share with you too.
Sarah’s approach to creating a beautiful home is not about trends, or perfection or ‘getting in right’. In her words “My work is about what a home is. Home was the first universe we have all ever known, and now, as grown-ups our homes are our own personal cosmoses around us.” It’s about authenticity and simply understanding some basic principles when it comes to creating spaces that we love being in.
In this book, she shares five lessons in the foundations of style – life, light, instruments, materials and sense. She has included some visual experiments in each section, demonstrating the difference small adjustments can make to how something looks. For example, in the two images below she shows how the same scene can be made to appear very different. While the first image looks neat, tidy and pretty, Sarah believes it to be lacking something. In the second image, she describes how ‘life’ has been brought in – and that it has been transformed into a space she would want to linger in.
In the following two sections of the book, Sarah has focused in on Places and Rooms – spaces which demonstrate the lessons which she speaks of earlier in the book. She’s sought out beautiful, authentic homes from around the world, and tells the stories of those who’ve created them. This is something I love about the book – it’s about the people too, and often the history and story behind the place itself…
The Poetry of Spaces is a beautiful, large format book with lots of gorgeous full page images to pore over. But it’s more than just pretty images of nice interiors, it goes deeper into the theory behind styling a home and tell stories of who lives in the spaces featured and why they’ve designed it in a certain way. 
Whichever of these interiors you’d like to teleport yourself to, I’m sure you will fall in love with Sarah’s work as much as I have, and this book will be one you dive into time and time again.
Get your copy of The Poetry of Spaces by Sarah Andrews (Hardie Grant £35)
