Drawing on experiences of past travels and city dwellings, the architecture and interior design duo known as Stamps & Stamps have forged a style that plays on history while rooting itself in the present. In their first book, Stamps & Stamps: Style and Sensibility, former New Orleanians Odom and Kate Stamps illustrate their approach to designing homes that embody elegance and purpose. To help launch the book, Fireside Antiques is hosting a book singing with Stamps & Stamps today, April 6, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

To learn more about the book that accentuates livable homes that breathe life into a space, we spoke with Kate Stamps to give us a glimpse into Stamps & Stamps’ realm of design, decor and restoration, and how their book came to be.

“It really happened because we have an old friend, Diane Dorrans Saeks, who suggested to us that we should do a book together,” says Stamps. “She had been an early advocate of our work way back in the ’90s, and I’ve known her for so long, so I was happy to jump aboard.”

Written by Saeks and photographed by Kate Stamps, the book is layered with reflections on past projects, including the designers’ sunny Pasadena home, and reveals practical and feasible ways in which to build a personal sanctuary by including cherished keepsakes and personal treasures—a place unique to each client that can never be replicated.

“The architecture and interiors we design tend to be tailored to each client,” says Stamps. “There are threads that run through the book in terms of a sensibility and taste that are consistent, but everyone’s house looks different. In every case, there’s some overlap in my personal style, but really at the end of the day we want to make houses that breathe really well for individuals and for families—making them intimate, educated and personal. I think we’ve gone through an age in decorating and building where things are so neutral and so bland, and I think having character and soul in an interior is something we try very hard to create for our clients.”

Having spent their formative years in the heart of New Orleans—the couple met while studying at Tulane—and through extensive travels to England, Odom and Kate Stamps were exposed to distinctive styles that remain engrained in the groundwork of their signature style.

“Everywhere you go, you bring a little bit with you,” says Kate Stamps. “It’s funny when English friends would come and say, ‘Oh, it looks just like New Orleans,’ and New Orleans friends would come and say, ‘It looks just like England,’ and some of that is conscious and some of that unconscious. We’ve traveled a lot and we’re lucky, because all of those influences play pretty well on us.”

To RSVP to the event, click here.