Coeur d’Alene-based designer and color consultant Kathy Banak has released her first book, “5 Simple Steps to Designing Your Own Authentic Home.”

Banak has transformed her twenty years of experience into a simple, practical guide for people who want to transform their living spaces into authentic reflections of themselves. The book offers practical advice, spiritual insights and designer secrets to help readers transform their homes into oases of beauty, harmony and authenticity.

“I’m excited to share with you these insights and trade secrets that can breathe new life into boring decorating approaches,” Banak said in a July 24 press release. “These steps are tools to help you see and feel your home in a new light and inspire you to transform it into your own authentic home. Designing a home is about more than just aesthetics; it’s about creating a space that truly resonates with you.”

The book’s approach revolves around five key steps, starting with discovering the soul of one’s home and decluttering to make room for a new way of living. Banak then delves into the importance of creating a strong color foundation that serves as a starting point for understanding transformative elements such as interior design, window coverings, lighting, and the home’s exterior.

Banak’s guide is published by Newman Springs Publishing. “5 Simple Steps to Designing Your Own Authentic Home” is available at local bookstores and online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Apple iBooks Store.

Since founding her interior design consulting and home decor retail business, Authentic Home, in Seattle in 2003, Banak has transformed hundreds of homes across the Pacific Northwest and New England.