As a young woman trying to find herself and her calling, Reiko Gomez volunteered with an India-based charity that sought to provide healthcare to underserved children in New York. What was supposed to be a four-week gig turned into four years that “changed the trajectory of [Gomez’s] life.” During these years, she learned about vastu shastra, the ancient science of designing buildings that are in alignment with the energies of nature. This led Gomez to realize that “a building can connect the seen to the unseen. It can help harness the energy within us by consciously arranging the energy around us.”

It was an epiphany that ultimately resulted in MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY SPACE, which distills Gomez’s twenty years of curating living spaces for Hollywood A-listers, restaurants, spas, and Fortune 500 companies, as well as hundreds of individual homeowners. A certified feng shui specialist, Gomez does more than match carpets to loveseats. She emphasizes that a home and a homeowner are in a relationship, and when one partner wants something from the other partner, they have to make specific requests. In other words, “you have to tell your home exactly what you want.”

Interior designers are a stereotypically bubbly group, and Gomez doesn’t disappoint on this front. Elements of her style may annoy some readers (she uses “literally” three times in three pages), but others will be excited by her obvious enthusiasm. She sprinkles Eastern philosophy throughout the book without going too deep. Despite its hints of mysticism, however, MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY SPACE is more than just a fuzzy concept. Gomez’s extensive examples from her own life and career ground the book in a narrative that seems more thrilling than decorating a house ought to be. Moreover, Gomez offers plenty of practical advice, such as her method for decluttering, which involves (1) setting a goal, (2) making a schedule, (3) finding a “decluttering buddy,” and (4) arrange a gift for yourself when it’s over (not that it ever is: “decluttering should be a regular part of maintaining a supportive living space,” a concept that generations of Felixes have tried to impart to legions of Oscars with varying results).

Grounded in Eastern philosophy but not suffocated by it, Reiko Gomez’s MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY SPACE (written with Peter Kaplan) is an important precursor to DIY home decorating.

~Anthony Aycock for IndieReader