Shopfront: A glossy new interiors publication that has just arrived in newsagents and bookshops will provoke all kinds of envious thoughts among those who can't seem to get their house into shape.
Compiled by Siobhan Buchanan-Johnston and published by Montague, The White Book is one of those soft-cover "more than a magazine" books, glamorous enough to leave on the coffee table.
Siobhan, who has a background in the glossy magazine industry, set out to produce a comprehensive directory where homeowners can source furniture and fittings for every room in the house.
Siematic kitchens, Villeroy & Boch bathroom ware, Presotto beds, Jane Churchill fabrics - most designer brand names are here.
On the back pages are profiles of the suppliers and contact names and numbers.
The mix is both traditional and contemporary, with some of Dublin's top designers such as Peter Johnson and Duff Tisdall represented, and it's full of great ideas for anyone starting out.
Profiles of impossibly beautiful homes are interspersed with chapters on kitchens, bathrooms, lighting etcetera. Readers can drool over full-page pictures of designer kitchens, furniture and accessories.
A chapter on bathrooms with pictures of round blue basins and wafer-thin spoon baths would encourage anyone to throw their boring old bathroom suite into a skip and start afresh.
The lighting section has some very smart ultra-modern lamps, although a zebra-patterned standard lamp with feathered trim steals the show.
Given the typical affluent readership, it's not surprising that home entertainment has its own chapter, although a plasma screen hung over a fireplace in one photo looks a bit naff (and bad for the neck).
Leaving out Cloney Audio in Blackrock was surprising.
Full marks to the layout team for ensuring that advertisements blend seamlessly with the text.
At €10, The White Book is running off the shelves say the publishers and a second print run is expected soon.
The Hooke & MacDonald agency, which has sponsored the book, is giving free copies to anyone placing a deposit on one of their properties.
Is this why the book is already on a second print run?
