Inspiration is an exercise is glowing good taste. Conran's latest monograph is a lavish romp through the design guru's own living space, shaped and formed over nearly four decades at the forefront of national taste-making. Perhaps more than anyone, Conran's taste typifies what might be called the new eclectism, a cultured jumble of modernist and classical influences that has spawned countless imitators, for better or for worse.

Although food, furniture and functionalism is a useful summation of the Conran imagination, it's not all chicken bricks and bent wood chairs. With page upon page of illustrations ranging wildly through the designer's archives - plus a smattering of lifestyle-type family portraits to keep the contents from becoming too sterile - this is designed for a lazy afternoon's browse.