The name 'Sister' has a cosy resonance but when you read Martin Wood's excellent book on the life and work of Sister Parish - in fact 'Sister' was a nickname - you soon realise that this icon of american interior decorating, who died in 1994, was a lively, gossipy, sometimes waspish character. She was highly selective in taking on clients and thought nothing of wheeling a tea trolley round their grand homes, loading it with anything she considered 'off'. That tells you something about her determination, a crucial quality when setting herself up as a decorator - without having told her husband beforehand - in New York in the Thirties. In spite of male dominance in the world of decorating and the economic situation at the time, she went on to build a hugely fashionable practice, her most famous client being Jacqueline Kennedy at the White House. She continued to work until just a few years before her death, the last three decades in partnership with Albert Hadley, whose restrained, clean-cut, timeless modernism proved the perfect counterpoint to her 'busier' vision. At the outset of her career, she was heavily influenced by the English country-house genre, particularly as prectised by her friend Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler, but she developed an individual variant by fusing it with an American look, often imbued with French elements. Sister Parish decorated more by intuition and 'eye' than training. In contrast, Suzanne Lovell, who is based in Chicago, qualified as an architect, and this comes across strongly in the impeccable rooms shown in her book, Artistic Interiors, which concentrates on projects designed with collections of fine art and objects in mind. Although unmistakably modern, Suzanne Lovell's carefully detailed style has a classic quality, frequently incorporating antiques as well as furniture by early-twentieth-century luminaries. She displays whimsical folk art with as much sophistication and integrity as highly important works by celebrated artists, past and present, and the books text is adept at explaining the thinking behind the designing. Not surprisingly, functional rooms hardly feature in Sister Parish or Artistic Interiors, which makes Michael S. Smith: Kitchens and Baths a valuable companion volume for gaining a more rounded impression of top-end American design. However, Kitchens and Baths is more than the title suggests. This inspiring book doesn't overdose on pictures of purely functional spaces, as there are lots of glimpses of adjoining dining areas, bedrooms and so on, putting everything into context. Michael S. Smith has an assured style, with traditional elegance and aesthetics permeating present-day practicality.

-Leonie Highton