Overview

Far more than a guide to homemaking and being a fine host—although it is definitely all that too—The Inviting Life is about how to live each day with a desire and determination to turn the ordinary into something lovely. It’s also a book about why we should bother. Whether the subject is décor, ambience, shopping, feeding weary travellers, mixing cocktails, planning dinner parties, or getting yourself motivated for spring cleaning, Laura Calder affirms the value of our everyday activities and shows how beauty, creativity, and delight have the power to change the world. This one-of-a-kind book is both a page-turning narrative about Laura’s own hosting and home-making adventures and an invaluable work of reference. It’s a spur to ideas for everything from creating a welcoming living space and making a respectable salad, to putting guests at their ease and writing a thank-you note worth receiving. Written with candour and humour in Laura’s inimitable and engaging voice, The Inviting Life offers empowering guidance for anyone looking to take more pleasure in their life and home.

Full Product Details

9780147530523

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for The Inviting Life Laura Calder's charming voice transforms the idea of making our homes feel more inviting into something that is not only easy and enjoyable but a vital part of our day-to-day happiness. --Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before Laura Calder's charm, wit, and advice are truly encapsulated by a single word: inviting. In this book, Laura opens her front door to the reader with a smile, and inspires the confidence in us to do the same. --Anna Olson, author of Bake with Anna Olson I have waited a long time for a book about hosting and homemaking that wasn't chiselled out of a stone tablet and handed down from Mount Celebrilifestyle. The Inviting Life is no lecture series, but rather a thoughtful, fun (and funny) take on household hospitality and domestic dash. This book will make you rethink your home and how you live. Believe me--it's really good stuff. --Thomas Smythe, designer and columnist, House & Home magazine A home full of warmth and the comforting scent of cooking, an enticingly set table, free-flowing conversation, and kindness. Welcome to Laura Calder's world and her wonderful book. She is the real deal. --David McMillan, chef and co-owner of Joe Beef In The Inviting Life, Laura Calder shows us how to live in our spaces like we mean it. Her simple, unpretentious but creative tips and tricks will have you eager to get your next dinner party on the calendar the moment you put it down. A lovely guidebook with an important message: the social life is the meaningful life. --Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect Laura Calder understands that the role of a host amounts to more than cooking, cleaning, and becoming exhausted before your guests arrive. In prose as witty, stylish, and uplifting as Laura herself, she shows that the key to making guests feel welcome, comfortable, and truly happy is to connect people--and connect yourself--to your home and to your world. --Charles MacPherson, author of The Butler Speaks. Laura's charming book is a soothing antidote to the plugged-in and switched-on chaotic world we find ourselves residing in and reminds us of the simple joy and contentment to be found at home. --Sophie Conran What a lovely book. I so enjoyed it. --Plum Sykes From The Inviting Life: In what I think are rather hospitality-hungry times, we might set aside for a moment concerns over the proper use of fruit knives and correct curtsying technique, and focus, instead, on doing whatever we can in everyday life to make the places where we live - wherever they may be - welcoming, restorative, nourishing, and bolstering, for ourselves and for anyone who enters into our sphere.

Praise for The Inviting Life Laura Calder's charming voice transforms the idea of making our homes feel more inviting into something that is not only easy and enjoyable but a vital part of our day-to-day happiness. --Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before Laura Calder's charm, wit, and advice are truly encapsulated by a single word: inviting. In this book, Laura opens her front door to the reader with a smile, and inspires the confidence in us to do the same. --Anna Olson, author of Bake with Anna Olson I have waited a long time for a book about hosting and homemaking that wasn't chiselled out of a stone tablet and handed down from Mount Celebrilifestyle. The Inviting Life is no lecture series, but rather a thoughtful, fun (and funny) take on household hospitality and domestic dash. This book will make you rethink your home and how you live. Believe me--it's really good stuff. --Thomas Smythe, designer and columnist, House & Home magazine A home full of warmth and the comforting scent of cooking, an enticingly set table, free-flowing conversation, and kindness. Welcome to Laura Calder's world and her wonderful book. She is the real deal. --David McMillan, chef and co-owner of Joe Beef In The Inviting Life, Laura Calder shows us how to live in our spaces like we mean it. Her simple, unpretentious but creative tips and tricks will have you eager to get your next dinner party on the calendar the moment you put it down. A lovely guidebook with an important message: the social life is the meaningful life. --Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect Laura Calder understands that the role of a host amounts to more than cooking, cleaning, and becoming exhausted before your guests arrive. In prose as witty, stylish, and uplifting as Laura herself, she shows that the key to making guests feel welcome, comfortable, and truly happy is to connect people--and connect yourself--to your home and to your world. --Charles MacPherson, author of The Butler Speaks. Laura's charming book is a soothing antidote to the plugged-in and switched-on chaotic world we find ourselves residing in and reminds us of the simple joy and contentment to be found at home. --Sophie Conran What a lovely book. I so enjoyed it. --Plum Sykes For those who delight in the nuanced art of etiquette and take pleasure from entertaining, the book is a conversational, whimsical read full of contemporary good ideas. --NUVO Magazine From The Inviting Life: In what I think are rather hospitality-hungry times, we might set aside for a moment concerns over the proper use of fruit knives and correct curtsying technique, and focus, instead, on doing whatever we can in everyday life to make the places where we live - wherever they may be - welcoming, restorative, nourishing, and bolstering, for ourselves and for anyone who enters into our sphere.

Praise for The Inviting Life Laura Calder's charming voice transforms the idea of making our homes feel more inviting into something that is not only easy and enjoyable but a vital part of our day-to-day happiness. --Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before Laura Calder's charm, wit, and advice are truly encapsulated by a single word: inviting. In this book, Laura opens her front door to the reader with a smile, and inspires the confidence in us to do the same. --Anna Olson, author of Bake with Anna Olson I have waited a long time for a book about hosting and homemaking that wasn't chiselled out of a stone tablet and handed down from Mount Celebrilifestyle. The Inviting Life is no lecture series, but rather a thoughtful, fun (and funny) take on household hospitality and domestic dash. This book will make you rethink your home and how you live. Believe me--it's really good stuff. --Thomas Smythe, designer and columnist, House & Home magazine A home full of warmth and the comforting scent of cooking, an enticingly set table, free-flowing conversation and kindness. Welcome to Laura Calder's world and her wonderful book. She is the real deal. --David McMillan, chef and co-owner of Joe Beef In The Inviting Life, Laura Calder shows us how to live in our spaces like we mean it. Her simple, unpretentious but creative tips and tricks will have you eager to get your next dinner party on the calendar the moment you put it down. A lovely guidebook with an important message: the social life is the meaningful life. --Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect Laura Calder understands that the role of a host amounts to more than cooking, cleaning, and becoming exhausted before your guests arrive. In prose as witty, stylish, and uplifting as Laura herself, she shows that the key to making guests feel welcome, comfortable, and truly happy is to connect people--and connect yourself--to your home and to your world. --Charles MacPherson, author of The Butler Speaks. What a lovely book. I so enjoyed it. --Plum Sykes From The Inviting Life: In what I think are rather hospitality-hungry times, we might set aside for a moment concerns over the proper use of fruit knives and correct curtsying technique, and focus, instead, on doing whatever we can in everyday life to make the places where we live - wherever they may be - welcoming, restorative, nourishing, and bolstering, for ourselves and for anyone who enters into our sphere.

Praise for The Inviting Life Laura Calder's charming voice transforms the idea of making our homes feel more inviting into something that is not only easy and enjoyable but a vital part of our day-to-day happiness. --Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before Laura Calder's charm, wit, and advice are truly encapsulated by a single word: inviting. In this book, Laura opens her front door to the reader with a smile, and inspires the confidence in us to do the same. --Anna Olson, author of Bake with Anna Olson I have waited a long time for a book about hosting and homemaking that wasn't chiselled out of a stone tablet and handed down from Mount Celebrilifestyle. The Inviting Life is no lecture series, but rather a thoughtful, fun (and funny) take on household hospitality and domestic dash. This book will make you rethink your home and how you live. Believe me--it's really good stuff. --Thomas Smythe, designer and columnist, House & Home magazine A home full of warmth and the comforting scent of cooking, an enticingly set table, free-flowing conversation, and kindness. Welcome to Laura Calder's world and her wonderful book. She is the real deal. --David McMillan, chef and co-owner of Joe Beef In The Inviting Life, Laura Calder shows us how to live in our spaces like we mean it. Her simple, unpretentious but creative tips and tricks will have you eager to get your next dinner party on the calendar the moment you put it down. A lovely guidebook with an important message: the social life is the meaningful life. --Katrina Onstad, author of The Weekend Effect Laura Calder understands that the role of a host amounts to more than cooking, cleaning, and becoming exhausted before your guests arrive. In prose as witty, stylish, and uplifting as Laura herself, she shows that the key to making guests feel welcome, comfortable, and truly happy is to connect people--and connect yourself--to your home and to your world. --Charles MacPherson, author of The Butler Speaks. What a lovely book. I so enjoyed it. --Plum Sykes From The Inviting Life: In what I think are rather hospitality-hungry times, we might set aside for a moment concerns over the proper use of fruit knives and correct curtsying technique, and focus, instead, on doing whatever we can in everyday life to make the places where we live - wherever they may be - welcoming, restorative, nourishing, and bolstering, for ourselves and for anyone who enters into our sphere.

Author Information

LAURA CALDER was born and raised in Eastern Canada. She is the author of four cookbooks—French Food at Home; Dinner Chez Moi; Paris Express; and French Taste—and a contributor to The Globe and Mail. She wrote and hosted the internationally-aired series French Food at Home, which won a James Beard award. After a decade spent in France, Laura now lives and hosts in Toronto.

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