Our meme for the day is A Perfectly Kept House Is the Sign of a Misspent Life, the title of a recent book by Mary Randolph Carter and introduced to us by our friend Kathleen. The longtime creative director for Ralph Lauren, Carter encourages us to embrace the things that come into our lives: collections, clutter, work, kids, pets, and so forth. She uses her own photographs to illustrate eight homes that have a very personal decorating scheme. "The homes I love and the ones I share in this book are put together by people who have a lot of confidence in their own taste," says Carter. "I do believe the personal touch is important and prefer to see a house that is truly lived in and put together by the people who love it."

Above: A Perfectly Kept House Is the Sign of a Misspent Life, published by Rizzoli, is $34.65 at Amazon.

Above: We especially like Carter's "Living with Work" chapter; photo via The Love Bells.

Above: A detail from Carter's own office, photographed by The Selby.

Above: Mary Randolph Carter's own work space at Ralph Lauren. "I love to see and enjoy the things I have, so my life is an open book," she says.