Design influencer Brokman shares her seasonal guide for creating cozy, Shaker-style spaces at home, inspired by her own farmhouse.

The perfect antidote to a busy world that often feels frenetic and unsettling, The Simple Things is a design book that explores the beauty of simplicity and how it can create a sense of wellness at home. Influencer Brokman has garnered a large following online with her posts about life in her Pennsylvania farmhouse (@farmhouse5540). In her first book, she shares a year of small pleasures at home, revealing her secrets for creating a sense of peacefulness through design.   

Quiet moments—a cat dozing in the sun, linens stacked in an antique cupboard, snow falling outside a window, a pile of hydrangeas on the sideboard—are illustrated by Megan’s own photography and serve as inspiration for readers to return to again and again. Instructive captions offer relatable and achievable ways to simplify one’s life and create joy at home. From how to use a neutral canvas of creams and whites to create calm interiors, to using baskets and other repurposed objects to organize and simplify the home, to foraged seasonal centerpieces using found pieces from nature, this is a book rich in ideas for a life well-lived. Enhanced by a handful of simple recipes for cozy cookies and spiced pie, seasonal inspirational essays on topics such as “Rest” in winter, the role of light, and the beauty of thriftiness, this book is a wellspring of peace and tranquility.