Dan Duchars – författare

Home for the Soul is about creating a considerate and sustainable home that also sparks happiness and reflects the spirits, passions and tastes of its inhabitants. A shift in awareness means that we are increasingly thoughtful about the materials we use, the scarcity of the earth’s resources and how to lighten our footprint on the planet. In Home for the Soul, Sara Bird and Dan Duchars show how to create a beautiful home that suits its inhabitants while causing minimum damage to our increasingly fragile environment including using non toxic, vegan paints and fabrics. The first section shares ideas for the elements of a stylish yet sustainable home, from lighting to linens, while in Part Two, Sara and Dan visit soulful homes and their owners to discover how they have created interiors that are beautiful yet responsible at the same time. Home for the Soul shows how a mindful, ethically sourced and eco-friendly ethos can be at the heart of modern homemaking. It looks at sustainable, renewable and reclaimed materials, using traditional skills and choosing organic and hand-produced homewares. No matter how new or old a building, or what your own particular style is, there are simple ways to add warmth, contentment and soul to our homes.

Gardens for the Soul shows how a sustainable and eco-friendly ethos can be at the heart of creating a beautiful garden, whatever its location or size.There are a multitude of different ways in which we use our outside spaces, and in Gardens for the Soul Sara Bird and Dan Duchars explore ways to create and style a haven that will suit your lifestyle. Day Dreamers seek solitude and a therapeutic experience, and Home Harvesters use their garden space to grow flowers or fruit and veg; while Garden Partiers put their outside space to work as an entertaining zone for friends and family and Great Escapers aim to recreate a chilled holiday vibe at home. Sara and Dan visit real-life gardens that fall into these categories, from tiny patios to larger spaces, to glean ideas, tips and inspiration. With a focus on sustainability and reclaimed materials, there are suggestions for choosing garden elements, from décor to lighting to furniture and accessories, as well as easy craft projects that add quirky personal touches.

Retreats, hideaways, escape spaces – call them what you will, such havens offer us a personal, private and peaceful place to nest, nurture and take time out.These spaces offer the chance to create a completely unique interior. Be it a simple garden room, a homely shepherd’s hut, a yoga-lover’s cabin, a fishing lodge or summer house, a treehouse, a circus wagon, a purpose-designed garden smart pod or even a canal boat, the glorious retreats showcased here will provide inspiration for creating your very own place for escape or somewhere to enjoy favourite activities. Author Sara Bird reveals the essential elements of a soulful hideaway, from building materials to decorative details, and then explores 14 remarkable retreats in three chapters: Close to Home, On the Water and In the Wild. These are spaces designed for rest, relaxation, play and daydreaming either alone or en famille, as well as for their effects on our mental and physical wellbeing.

From colour-drenched spaces to micro colour-pops, the hues we choose to live with have a huge impact on our wellbeing. Step inside 12 homes that use colour as a backdrop for everyday life.Colour is a universal language and a channel for creativity and imagination. It taps into our minds, evokes emotions and gets under our skin. In this book, Sara Bird and Dan Duchars share how to be inventive with colour while making soulful and sustainable choices. In the first section, Colour Chemistry, they begin with the colour wheel and explore tonal, complementary and contrasting schemes as well as how to choose the right finish, whether a flat matt, glossy glaze or dappled sheen. They also explore the psychology of colour and consider ways to highlight stand-out features. In part two, Colour for the Soul, the authors visit 12 real homes: evocative, original spaces with palettes that nod to individuality. Naturally pigmented materials bring charisma through chroma in all kinds of interiors. Arranged in four chapters (Natural, Minimalist, Maximalist and Accents), these case studies show how to add heart and soul with sustainable choices and eco-friendly ideas. Be inspired to bring new ideas to your home and create a positive place that enhances your life.