Cachet Color Your Mood Lori Weitzner’s Ode to Color (Harper Design, New York, New York, 2016; $50) is no ordinary decorating primer. Rather, the book initiates a sensory journey so rife with culture, spirituality, literature, and art that even readers with little interest in design will find food for thought in its richly crafted pages.

The New York textile designer, whose fabrics, wall coverings and trim beautify residential and commercial spaces worldwide, wrote the book to put readers in touch with their emotional responses to color. “If people understand why they like these colors, maybe they’ll be more comfortable using them in their homes,” explained Weitzner during a chat at Century in the Washington Design Center on March 16. “The book takes you through 10 worlds of color that I’ve lived with and breathed all my life.”

In chapters named for these 10 palettes—from riotous Garden Party to sultry Night Shadows—she brings colors into vivid relief. Waterside, for example, pays tribute to blues with vignettes of the author’s work, a J.M.W. Turner seascape, an essay on the joys of blue jeans, a Walt Whitman poem, Joni Mitchell lyrics and a dazzling surfer photograph by Pamela Viola. A DC-based artist whose photography appears throughout the book, Viola accompanied Weitzner during her presentation at Century.

Since her book came out, editors constantly call on Weitzner to predict the next big trend in color. But, she says with a laugh, they miss her point. “The trend,” the author reflects, “is finding what’s right for you.” weitznerlimited.com