Create the Space You Deserve

An Artistic Journey To Expressing Yourself Through Your Home

By (author) Jill Butler

Publication date:

03 October 2008

Length of book:

160 pages

Publisher

Skirt!

ISBN-13: 9781599212906

"Settling for just any roof over my head was not a choice." —Jill Butler

Successful and talented artist, illustrator, designer, businesswoman, and author Jill Butler uses her bold and captivating artwork, along with stunning photography of her nothing-special-turned-dream-cottage, to inspire readers to do more with their living spaces and in turn more with their lives. Hundreds of decorating tips and ideas are accompanied by mind-maps and other illustrations reflecting the myriad of decisions, emotions, and questions readers will face. Part guide to creating the space you want to live in, part journal to help you reevaluate, reinvent, and revitalize yourself, Create the Space You Deserve is a launching pad to access your creative self and express your personality onto your living space.

AN ARTIST'S COTTAGE: CREATING THE SPACE YOU DESERVE

Table of Contents:

Introduction

1. Why Bother?

* Your House is More than Just a Roof Over Your Head

2. Clear the Crud

* Start No Matter What

3. Imagine the Possibilities

* Dare to Ask for What You Want

4. I See the End!

* Create a Written Picture

5. Who to Ask

* Who to Ask for Help

6. Room to Room

* Create an Idea Notebook

7. Don't decorate…

* Entertain the Eye

8. Places and Spaces

* The Right Spot for Everything Imaginable

9. Plant Ideas

* Outside is Yet Another Collage

10. Let it Shine!

* Warming Up the House

Completing the Circle

Resource List

"Jill Butler brings character, clarity and creativity to the art of making a home. Both visionary and catalytic, she sparks and inspires her reader.

In her hands, the making of a home is a spiritual practice."

--Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way

"Jill's creative energy was expressed on many articles that graced our shelves at Sur La Table and later the tables of our customers. Now with Jill's new book we will all share the simple steps to recreating the spaces around us. Her clean, crisp approach to design and use of color comes through on every page. Let Jill inspire you to look at your personal spaces with a new eye. This book makes an easy transition from old to new. I felt like I could do some of these creative changes with the things I had available in my home already. You will love every page."

--Renee Behnke, President Emeritus and owner of Sur La Table kitchen stores

Though I've always believed in Jill's principle of "the artistic journey to expressing yourself through your home," her new book unclutters that journey with wonderful, inspiring signposts and goals that gives each of us permission, no matter our age or circumstance, to create a nest that is unique, reaffirming and truly deserving of who we are and what we might become! Could be she has convinced me I am finally ready to build that shack in the woods I've wanted all my life!

--Mary Randolph Carter, author, For the Love of Old

“Jill Butler has a way of leading the reader right on through the emotions of the design process without pulling any punches while showing how important our houses are to self-image. There's a lot here for architects and designers to use and to keep in mind.”

—Michael J. Crosbie, author, architect, critic, and head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Hartford

"Create the Space You Deserve is a self portrait of an artist's personal evolution through the reconstruction of her home. As coaches, it's impressive to see how Jill utilizes her education to create a profile of her journey from one transition to another in full creative and artistic expression. She has a lot to reveal and will keep the reader thoroughly entertained."

--Joe Rubin/Monica Landry, Vocalfit Solutions®