What are the top 3 things to making your house interesting and personal?

1.  Travel

2.  Travel

3.  Travel

Traveling helps us to know ourselves better.  Personal experiences in our lives are what make us grow and learn.  By exposing ourselves to different environments, people, scenery, fashion and so much more can enlighten us and make us think about our own surroundings and how to create that "experience" in our own homes.

I am reading The Well-Traveled Home by Sandra Espinet.  This amazing designer spent the majority of her childhood on an airplane in tow with busy parents, tagging along all the while being exposed to numerous countries, cultures and home environments.  She draws her inspiration from her extensive travels to South America, Northern Africa, Europe and Asia, as well as living in several countries throughout the word.

Sandra's book is filled with more than 180 attractive photographs of luxury homes that include details that create an art form all her own.

"Fitting the right pieces into the right rooms within a plausible design scheme is my ultimate happiness. It is how I process and make sense of the data dump world we all must wade through."

I love how she used traditional mexican accents and a bright and energetic backsplash.  She designed the bar stools out of pieces of reclaimed wood!

This outdoor space is serene and filled with several global influences.  I love the 3 exotic lanterns above the table.

Sandra lives between Los Angeles and the coastal town San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico.  She has been featured in HGTV's Christmas special and has been featured in Architectural Digest, Texas Home & Living, Residence China and numerous other publications.

I love what she wrote here "Few may want to comb the Indonesian islands scattered across three thousand miles of the equatorial Pacific for authentic textiles, or sleep in the Moroccan desert like a Bedouin on the hunt for Berber rugs or hitch a ride on an elephant through the Thai jungle in search of a local woodworker.  But I do, and I always will be on the search for more compelling and exotic examples."

By the way a Bedouin is  a nomadic Arab of the desert. (noun)  - Yes, I had to look it up :)

You turn the pages very slowly with this type of book.  There are details and objects that are so individual and unique, you'll want to take it all in.  To see more of Sandra's inspiration, follow her Pinterest board here.

We are offering one lucky reader the chance to win this book!  We will arrange to have an autographed copy sent right to your door!!  Please do the following to increase your chances:

Follow this link to enter!  - Contest ends Wednesday, 10/9/13 at Midnight! - Good Luck :)