A New Interior Design Book by Rodman Primack and Rudy Weissenberg is a Love Letter to Joyful Homes

Are there rules of good taste? We examined this question a few years ago, and concluded that taste is the intense personal conviction that something is “good” as opposed to a firm set of rules. The interior designers Rodman Primack and Rudy Weissenberg understand our perspective, and their new book, Love How You Live: Adventures in Interior Design (out now), is a case study on how the best taste is personal, especially when it comes to one’s home.

Need to fill a wall? Why not do it with a collection of vintage Italian trompe l’oeil plates.

“Nurture what you love and share that with others,” Primack writes in the book. “Seek out the beauty in authenticity and minimize your investment in trying to emulate the supposed ‘good taste’ of others.”

To create a texture-filled room, consider a set of Fabien Cappello’s Silla Tropical chairs, custom rugs by Agnes Sutdio, and a painting by Ana Segovia. If that isn’t enough, then throw in a Piovenefabi standing lamp.

Here, every piece is a statement piece; especially the vintage trump art cabinet and the Venetian glass table by Marie-Rose Kahan.

In Love How You Live, readers are treated to thirteen international properties that span locations such as Mexico City, London, New York, Hawaii, Cape Cod, and more. Flipping through the book’s pages is, in simplest terms, joyful: there are layers of prints that contrast objects in bold colors (a baby blue sofa frame, for example, is topped off with mint green cushions), and one-of-a-kind objects that require a double take. It seems that the eye will always wander in every property, finding something new with each scan. Is that a… hooded chair inside? Or a furry ottoman that could’ve been mistaken for a small Shih Tzu? Want to experience the topical outdoors, but don’t feel like leaving your sofa? Don’t worry: why not include palm tree lamps and striped seating areas that remind you of cushioned poolside lounges?

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Love How You Live: Adventures in Interior Design

Aside from the dedication to whimsy, there’s an undeniable human connection in their work, too. Each property echoes the location that they are set in with the help of pieces made by local artisans and craftspeople (keep an eye out for Mexico-based designer Fabien Cappello’s Silla Tropical chairs). Fourteen of the duo’s favorites get a special shoutout in the book, too, with each having two double-page spreads interspersed throughout the book.

Many interiors today seem to be catered to how they look on social media; everything is technically perfect, but soul? Where is that? This is not the case for Primack and Weissenberg. “Embrace flexibility and chance, the unresolved and unexpected. These principles work in decorating because they work in life,” Primack says.

Style News Editor at Town and Country covering society, style, art, and design.