Jonathan Adler 100 Ways to Happy Chic Your Life
In a recent interview with the Miami culture blog Cultist, Adler said, “A happy chic life is about starting with a chic foundation and then layering in playful punctuation.” Combining high and low kitsch, always bold and forever whimsical, in a focused effort to bring “a general feeling of grooviness to your home,” Adler’s aesthetic may not be for everyone. Yet there are enough ideas here—some quite inventive in their simplicity—that can be cherry-picked to add pizzazz to any room (or life). Humor and joy infuse the book’s typography, design, and text, which illustrate easy-to-implement ideas such as “No. 03: Have Breakfast in a Happy Place” and “No. 37: Embrace Humble Materials.” Unfortunately, “No. 12: Build an Outdoor Shower” may not be logistically possible for those who don’t own beach houses. Several of the book’s spectacular photographs were taken at the Shelter Island, New York, dream home Adler built with his longtime partner, Simon Doonan (whom he lovingly calls “my bloke”). 100 Ways is the tart, delicious cherry on top of Adler’s candy-colored lifestyle empire. --Chris Keech