It's Beautiful Here*

Today we turn our attention to some weekend reading, care of stylist and author Megan Morton, whose latest book, It’s Beautiful Here* is released next week.

Four-years in the making, the compendium of houses passionately celebrates storied homes as the settings for moments of everyday paradise. Across almost 250 pages, it offers advice, interviews and other tidbits of lifestyle inspiration, alongside photography by Brooke Holm and other photographers.

Written

Elle Murrell

Stylist and author Megan Morton‘s latest book, It’s Beautiful Here*. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

From ‘There Doored House,’ a feature on artist Cami Lyons’ Sydney home. Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Tips on ‘How to Live with Small People’ inside It’s Beautiful Here*. Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Spread from the feature ‘The Powerful Gibbes Women’ which takes you inside Caroline Gibbes’ Melbourne home. Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

In an interview with Megan, Caroline discloses her mantra – ‘Be brave. Decorate hard’ Her bedhead (left) is actually a shag rug set on a metal frame, voila! Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

‘The house has an endless capacity and I doubt it will ever be filled,’ Caroline tells Megan in It’s Beautiful Here*. Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

The book features imagery by photographers Brooke Holm and Pablo Veiga, among others. Photo – Pablo Veiga.

‘Life isn’t about finding your dream home. It’s about creating one,’ reads It’s Beautiful Here*. The chapter on ‘Cabin Fever’ features the Huon Valley home of Michelle Crawford. Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Chapter, ‘The House of Undoing’ takes you inside the Melbourne home of Caecilia Potter, Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Photography from ‘There is Something About Hanya’ a chapter on the New York home of Hanya Yanagihara. Photo by Brook Holm.

The book ends in a grin-inducing, utterly Megan Morton way! Photo of book – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Writer

Elle Murrell

31st of March 2017

‘Oh good God, it’s SOOOO beautiful here!’ is a phrase that has been known to escape the lips of Megan Morton on more than one occasion. The renowned stylist, author and founder of The School routinely makes this exclamation as she steps inside homes that feel ‘insanely comfortable, inherently wonderful and immeasurably loved by their owners. ‘Saying that, these are not necessarily double-page spreaders or glossy mag cover ones!’ she clarifies.

An urge to share these stylish and storied homes has inspired Megan’s latest offering, It’s Beautiful Here*. ‘While this is a book about spaces, interiors are metaphors for so much more,’ tells Megan. For example, she’s included the respective homes of a mother and daughter that share such distinct qualities, a friend who returned to the 18th Century château where she grew up to take care of her 90-year-old father, and the corner-block home of artist Cami Lyons, which provides the perfect axis arrangement for work, studio, and a young family.

Unlike Megan’s past releases – HomeLove and Things I Love – this latest compendium explores the very meaning of living with others, and includes tips by people she loves and admires. Sections include ’11 Lessons from Legends’ on how to build up a library, how to work from home, and be a gracious host, to name but a few.

The book’s friendly, meandering structure is unique, and reminiscent of its author’s passionate personality. ‘I love the idea of a * or a PS; I’m always saying “P.S…”,’ she explains. ‘Using this simple device lets me add bits of bonus information and pictures to continue my conversation with the featured homeowners, and also includes the reader.’

The Australian and international homes featured were selected by a wow-factor that Megan explains, ‘simply hit her in solar plexus,’ and she hopes these homes will have the same impact on those who tour them through the pages of her book.

Another criteria was the attitude of the subjects involved. ‘Good spaces can’t be created from following a recipe – they are a heady mix of life, love, labour and interior measures,’ she explains. ‘I love homeowners who happily tell a house’s secrets knowing fully well that true interior style can not be replicated or copied!’

Megan will be distributing gift bundles and signing copies and of It’s Beautiful Here* at a special pre-Mother’s Day event on May 13th from 10am at The School, 2/85 Dunning Ave, Rosebery. She’s also focusing on The School’s upcoming five-day styling excursion to Paris concluding with the Maison & Objet design fair.