"Your home does not look like a magazine article, and it was never meant to. It is an ever-evolving heirloom keeping step with the humans who are the custodians of it."

One of the complaints I've heard about home decorating books is that the rooms look as though no one uses them. That's not the story with this book. EVERY ROOM within these pages has a lived-in look because they ARE most certainly being lived in. And . . . that was a problem for me. All the knick-knacks, children's artworkfamily photos, and tiny treasures on display were almost uncomfortably personal. I felt as though I was visiting a stranger's house when they weren't quite prepared for company.

If you want to be reminded of your last visit to Aunt Violet's house, this may be the book for you. If you're looking for ideas for using leopard print drapes, look elsewhere.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.

Fans of Erin Napier’s show will want to add her book Heirloom Rooms to their collection.

I adore home makeover shows. I love watching a neglected space get transformed into something breathtakingly beautiful. It always amazes me at the sheer talent some of these people have to visualize a space's true potential. I loved watching Erin Napier's show Home Town, so I was excited to hear that she had written a book about her dream home. I like this book. The photos are gorgeous, and there are plenty of them. This is one of those books where you could spend the entire time reading the mini-essays Erin has written or just doing a picture walk (sorry, that's the teacher coming out in me) and looking at all the spectacular photos.

My reading journey with this book was doing a picture walk, where I tried to draw some inspiration from the photos and see if I could duplicate some of the design ideas in my house. I loved the cozy and country feel of the rooms. I really enjoyed the fact that there was nothing over-the-top crazy in terms of design ideas. The rooms in these photos felt like rooms in a home that is well loved and used.

After looking at all the photos, I read Erin's essays. Her essays are charming and filled with a lot of heart. I loved learning more about Erin's past and the memories that she has in various rooms in her home. It was also neat to connect with her friends and family members and learn why certain rooms mean so much to them. This is one of those books that you can just take your time and enjoy reading. I read a few pages a day or brought it out when I was having a lazy few hours in my backyard and just spent time looking through it.

Heirloom Rooms is a perfect coffee table book for any bookworm's home.