Amber Lewis - Made for Living: Collected Interiors for All Sorts of Styles

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Flipping through the pages of this book can be done in mere minutes, however every project featured in the photographs herein involved months, sometimes years, of creative work. It goes without saying that it takes a small army to pull it all together, and at the risk of sounding trite and clich, I could not do any of this without my village! I want to give thanks to so many people, and there are a few who had a very particular hand in publishing my first book. It has been an amazing honor and an absolute dream to work with all of you. I am forever grateful.

Cat Kitty Chen, I doubt that when you were hired as the marketing director for Amber Interiors, you ever thought your job would evolve to coauthoring a book with me. I will never forget when we were talking about getting a ghost writer, and you looked at me and said or, I can do it! I thought you were crazy, and you thought I was crazy, but we jumped in headfirst and you rose to the challenge like only you could. We are the same brain, you and me, and the love and respect I have for you knows no bounds. Thank you for working harder than ever to make this book happen. None of this would have come together the way it had without you. I love you!

Tessa Neudstadt, you were the first photographer I reached out to when I had a project to share, and years and years later you are the only photographer I reach out to! Girl, we are still going strong, and I so appreciate how you manage to capture what my crappy iPhone pics never could. Thank you for entertaining the ol up and down and always making my work shine. Love ya!

A big, big thank-you to the incredible team at DBA, who, for years, have been my biggest cheerleaders. I owe so much to you and could not have gotten this far without your support. Raina, you are the brightest star and whatever you say I will do. April, thank you for understanding my message so well and for believing in me so much!

Nicole Tourtelot, thank you for going to bat for me so hard. I had not one single clue what I was doing when approached to do this book, and you managed to keep me feeling like my opinion on things I knew nothing about mattered. Thank you, too, for being so supportive and believing that I had what it takes to make a book happen!

Angelin Borsics, your support and guidance has lead me through the toughest times during this process. Thanks for teaching Cat and me how to write a book. Working with you has been a joy. And to the rest of the team at Clarkson Potter, even though we havent met, please know how grateful I am for your hard work and handiwork in creating this book, especially Sonia Persad, for your vision of design and patience with the process; Terry Deal, for your language and grammar expertise; and Kim Tyner, for proofing every image so that it transports readers directly into the room.

C.J., how did I ever survive photoshoots without you! Even though I love to Express My Shelf, I never knew how much I needed your guidance with my Shelf Expression. Singing, dancing, and acting a fool is so much more fun with you around, and I am so grateful to have worked with you on this book. Your floral work is a thing of great beauty, and so is your friendship. Thank you for everything, Carl Johnlove you big time!

To the Amber Interior Design Dream Team: I have said it before and I will say it again, I am forever in debt to you for your hard work, day in and day out, making all of our projects a reality. You each possess a unique and amazing strength, and, most important, a great energy and spirit that you bring to every project. Thanks for being the best of the best.

Thank you to my clients for bringing me into your lives and giving me the great responsibility of creating your homes. I love and appreciate you all so much.

Mom, Dad, Ryan, and Lyndsie, you have stuck by me and supported me from day one. Mama, you saw the unique nature of my very specific personality, and you nurtured it. You saw I needed to focus on having a creative outlet, and you encouraged it, teaching me how to harness that energy and grow. You always made me feel that my shortcomings were gifts, and your unwavering love fills me up.

Daddio, no matter what crazy idea I had, or how challenging I was as a teenager, you always encouraged me to press on. You helped foster my entrepreneurial spirit and always pushed me to do better. Be it in work or in life, your drive was contagious, and from watching you I learned so much about working hard and achieving the unthinkable.

Ryan and Lyndsie, I simply love you both more than I could ever describe. The laughter and the shared humor only we could understand and knowing that I was blessed with best friends as siblings are the greatest gifts of all. Thank you both for putting up with all my antics. I love you both so much.

Mike, Ducky, you have never not believed I was capable of every single thing I said we would or could do. To look back on our life and see everything we have done together makes the next chapter that much more exciting. Thank you for your patience, your support, and for being everything I need in a soul partner. I could not love you more if I tried. Its you and me and our little girl, and thats all we will ever need. The rest is just a bonus. I love you.

Gwyneth, my baby, you are the center of my entire universe. All that I do or have ever done has been with you at the core of it. Even before you chose me to be your mama, and before we met, every step I took was for you. I hope when you read through this book, you get a glimpse of why I have worked so hard all these years. I hope my work makes you proud, and I hope as you get older it inspires you to find something you love to do and make it part of your life. I love you with all my heart, precious one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amber Lewis, founder of the firm Amber Interiors and Shoppe Amber Interiors, designs homes with a distinct laid-back style. She lives with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles, California. Visit her blog at allsortsof.com, and follow her on Instagram @AmberInteriors.

On That Note

One of the biggest compliments I get is when you guys tell me that you took something from one of my designs and incorporated it into your homes. Even if it was as simple as discovering a new paint color or noticing a cabinet detail for the first time, knowing that something I have said or implied has made an impression is the best feeling ever. I quite literally live and breathe design, so sharing it gives me great joy. Interior design has been a huge part of my story and has made me happy for as long as I can remember. If you learn anything at all from this book, I feel like I succeeded in what I set out to dowhich is to be a source of inspiration for you and your home.

So, how do I end this book and summarize all that we just talked about in a nutshell without sounding redundant or cheesy? I think the best way is the only way I know how. Honor the fact that I am a little quirky, a lot obsessed, and so very, very grateful for the opportunity to share this huge part of who I am with you.

My favorite part of design is that its always evolving; our styles and aesthetics can and should change as we do. The process of design is meant to be a good time and will only ever be as fun as what you make of it. The experience you had creating your spacebe it playing a game of furniture Tetris or swimming through a sea of endless options of white paint swatchesshould be memorable. When you make sure to pour a bit of yourself into your surroundings and honor how important loving your space is, the result will always be perfect.