Buying books might not be the greenest things you can do (unless you’re reading them online or on that new handy Kindle), but sometimes a good design book can’t be passed up.

I received a few bookstore gift certificates this Christmas. Rather than load up on the latest fiction releases, which I can just get from the library or trade for from friends, I thought I’d look into some green design-minded books — ones that can both share new ideas but also dress up my coffee table. I love leafing through photo-filled books or design magazines on lazy Sundays. They help inspire visitors and help me subtly brag about my impeccable taste (if I may say so myself).

Some goods ones I’m looking into:

Sustainable Living: 25 International Examples
by Dominique Gauzin-Muller
This definitely looks like an aspirational collection. Full of photos, this book spotlights 25 eco-friendly homes from 18 countries around the world — some in rural settings, others in urban areas, which is a nice mix to show how green can apply to wherever you are.

ecoDesign: the Sourcebook
by Alastair Fuad-Luke
I’ve seen this one on lots of best-of green design lists. While it is a few years old now (published in 2006), it covers the basics for greening up the different parts of your home and choosing smarter design.

The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture
by Alanna Stang
Domino‘s review wins me over and sums it up well: “a well-designed book about well-designed homes.” Published in 2005, this book spotlights 35 homes in 15 countries with lush photos, drawings and info on their “greenness.”

And, of course, if you’re looking to see green dream homes regularly, Natural Home Magazine features unusual and more-typical eco-friendly homes in every issue. HGTV’s sister site Ecologue has a few of their favorites too.

Does anyone else have recommendations? What is your favorite design book?

As you could probably imagine, working at HGTV has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the big pluses is I get to see one fabulous home after another on our shows each and every day. The disadvantage? I don’t get to live in one of them! So for the winter holiday, I decided to live the good life in the only way I could afford to: VACATION in one! I went searching all sorts of sites from Vacation Rentals by Owner to Vacation Rentals.com, etc. in search of the perfect home. I ultimately found this beauty in Palm Springs and gathered ten of my closest friends to join me on the trip of a lifetime to the California desert. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny!

Exterior of Palm Spring Rental

Ultimately, we got to stay in an absolutely gorgeous mid-century contemporary home (my favorite type of architecture), and met the owner of the home, who was one of the kindest and most charming people I have ever come across. Upon our arrival, she even baked us cookies and a cake! Talk about great customer service.

In the Living Room of the Home

But the coolest part was that we had the opportunity to stay in a Wexler Butterfly Home for a fraction of the cost of a 5-star hotel, pool and spa included, and yes, it looked exactly like it did in the pictures.

Stunning Views of the Interior

I’d highly recommend this for your next trip, before automatically just calling to make generic hotel reservations!

From woodland creatures to the king of the jungle, add a touch of nature to your home with these fun and unique animal prints.

Lion and Rabbit 2 from Catherine’s Animals

Fauna in the Forest by Matthew Doubek from CharmingWall

One-of-a-Kind Prints from Binth

Joy from Alena Hennessay

Pop Art Posters from The Poster List

Hoot Wall Art by Amy Ruppel From Urban Outfitters

Share your favorite animal print finds in the comments.

Make over your space with paint! Our newest Design Star, Jennifer Bertrand, has some easy-to-do paint techniques for updating furniture, kitchen cabinets, walls and even creating an outdoor rug.

Jennifer Bertrand, winner of Design Star season three.

Want to add visual interest to your walls? Follow her step-by-step instructions on painting horizontal stripes around a room.

Freshen up your kitchen cabinets with a new coat of paint. Plus, see how to add a cool antique touch to them.

Don’t miss any of her step-by-step videos and get all the rest of her projects here.

If you haven’t checked out HGTV’s new show, Dear Genevieve, what are you waiting for? It’s one of the network’s newest makeover shows, and it’s hosted by a designer you may recognize. I first fell for Genevieve Gorder when she was an unpretentious, bouncy, barefooted designer on Trading Spaces whose work was almost always wow-worthy. As the host and designer of Dear Genevieve, she’s slightly more composed but just as passionate. From what I’ve seen so far, Genevieve carries her own show with grace and exuberance and offers up plenty of good design and creative ideas to boot.  

If you’ve missed Dear Genevieve, here’s a look back and a sneak peek of the episode premiering tonight at 8:30 p.m. On the show’s premiere, Genevieve went above and beyond for a family of six, even taking them to get their first family photos in more than a decade for wall art that’s truly memorable. Genevieve created several storage solutions and activity zones and left this deserving family with a stylish, functional space. Check it out!

Before: A Space Plan That Wasn't Working

After: Fabulous for the Entire Family

Before: Boxed-In and Mismatched Basement

We all know that old cliche: new year, new you!

Every time January 1 rolls around, I’m inspired to rethink my ways. Sometimes that might just be to eat healthier (and give away that stockpile of holiday sweets asap) or get a snazzy new haircut. Other years, it’s a total overhaul of my home space. Usually, I clean out my closet (and donate or giveaway the unwanted stuff), refresh my slipcovers, change the bedding, bring out different dishes, and maybe throw some new paint on a wall or two. Nothing like an update to your surrounds to punctuate that fresh-start feeling.

We at HGTV are lucky enough to have a long holiday weekend, and I plan to take advantage of the time to do a little housecleaning and New Year rethinking. To get prepped — and inspired — I’ve been looking around for ideas and tips from a few of my usual home and design sources. But first, I realized, I’ve got to get control of the clutter, which only doubles after the holidays (thanks to new gifts and just general rearranging for the seasonal decorations).

Here are a few good sources I’ve found:

Clear the Clutter, Live Stress Free
The first, best step for sprucing up is to ditch the clutter. After all, you don’t see any of those fab makeover rooms on HGTV overrun with trinkets, old magazines or, well, much of anything that doesn’t serve an immediate design or practical use. This article has a few quick — and eco-friendly — first steps to take.

Clever Organizers
I’m a sucker for creative reuse — so when I saw this HGTV gallery spotlighting a few simple ways to transform aluminum cans into simple (and often decorative) organizers, I was thrilled. The kitchen utensil holders are delightful.

Declutter Your Life
The eco-pros over at Natural Home Magazine also have this lengthier piece, filled with tips for how to reuses your existing space creatively (because, really, who has the money for a total remodel these days?). There are suggestions for rethinking furniture positioning and understanding how your rooms relate together in a holistic (and whole-istic) way.

Mission Organization
And maybe I won’t be going whole hog like the folks on this show, but I still love to watch the video clips just to see how others have tackled their biggest problem spots (e.g. overrun countertops, managing multipurpose rooms). You can see the next episode on HGTV on January 5 at 9am ET.

For more visual inspiration, check out this gallery of stylishly organized spaces.

What’s on your home resolution list for 2009?