AT HOME WITH JAPANESE DESIGN INTERIOR DESIGN BOOK

Here are hundreds of useful ideas on how to integrate items from another culture into your lifestyle. At Home with Japanese Design visits 49 special residences in the United States and Japan to show how stunning cross-cultural blends can be.

Peggy Rao and Jean Mahoney, authors of Japanese Accents in Western Interiors, have concentrated this time on the homes of experts who are adept at creating East/West blends - men and women who have longtime commitments to Japanese design. These specialists are interior designers, architects, artists, illustrators, collectors, international antique dealers, writers and fashion designers.

Many have international reputations. Toshiaki Sakuma's 192 sparkling color photos of their inventive combinations reveal the timelessness and versatility of Japanese antiques and folkcraft in a wide variety of settings.

On one level, this is a how-to book: how to spotlight collections, how to make a room more versatile, how to capitalize on small space or convert a tiny plot into a room-enhancing garden. You will find, for example, that the popular Japanese chest can be made even more useful.

On another level, this book is an introduction to the richness of the Japanese culture since the authors explain the historic roles of the objects. Their insights into the philosophic and aesthetic principles involved underline the consistency of Japanese style in many different fields from traditional architecture to flower arrangements.

A special chapter focuses on four homes where the Japanese influence is not just an accent, but an all-inclusive design theme within a Western lifestyle.