Capturing the Adventure and Passion of Style in the Wild

“Safari Chic” (Gibbs Smith, $39.95) is tailor-made for the armchair traveler and designer.

The idea of a “passionate guide to style in the wild” germinated when the author, Bibi Jordan, took a post-divorce backpackers’ safari to Africa with her two children. Afterward, she returned to Africa, as a Playboy magazine model, where she went on to write about and photograph the “wild exteriors and polished interiors . . . “ of safari camps, lodges and bush homes in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana.

“The whole idea of the book is to bring adventure and passion into the readers’ lives,” Jordan said in an interview.

The final chapter of the 191-page coffee table book is dedicated to achieving a decor of romance and adventure at home.

Jordan, who lives in Woodland Hills, said, “My inspirations are from Africa, but [I do my] shopping in the States. Like [using a] creamy-colored canvas dropcloth for painters from Home Depot.” Jordan hung the dropcloths from wires suspended from the ceiling of her garage studio.

“I can pull them closed like a tent,” Jordan explained, which gives her a tranquil atmosphere. She stashes books, camera equipment and files behind the closed cloths and then opens them, like curtains, when she is ready to work.

She also draped mosquito netting bought at Pier 1 Imports and IKEA over her bed as well as her daughter’s. “Besides mosquito netting around the bed, put an old trunk or two at the side or end of the bed,” Jordan suggested. “That is really easy to do, or use old suitcases bought at garage sales or swap meets.”

*

Even Santa Claus needs a place to put his hat. Fleece Santa Hats by Sure Fit Inc. are decorative holiday touches designed to go over the backs of some kitchen chairs, such as ladder-backs up to 19 inches wide. The machine washable hats are $9.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

*

As of today through this Tuesday, IKEA stores will rent holiday trees for $20. OnJan. 6, customers who return the trees to IKEA for mulching will receive a $20 IKEA gift certificate. The store will donate $1 per mulched tree to a forest restoration project with American Forests (a nonprofit conservation organization). On a bah-humbug note, IKEA in Burbank will not be participating.

*

Candace A. Wedlan can be reached at candace.wedlan@latimes.com.