Customer Reviews

In the Arts & Crafts Style

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a comprehensive book that covers (in five good sized chapters) the origins and influences of the Arts & Crafts style, hallmarks of the style, furniture, objects and accents, and case studies. I am a woodworker and I use this book quite frequently for inspiration and reference. For those interested in this period I highly recommend this book.

An arts and crafts website recommended this book as the place for beginners in the movement. Following their lead, we purchased the book and have not regretted it.

The advice is true. This is excellent background for the movement, giving it a skeleton which can be used to hang more and more on, including sources, wonderful photographical examples, and resources. We're finding it is desirable and so, so useful to restoring our bungalow to have a wealth of books on hand such as these to give ideas for restoration and decorating.

This book has a wonderful compilation of ideas, rooms and history to inspire one to run out to the antique mall. The details of every type of room done in this fashion gives a wealth of ideas for bringing this style into your own home.

I am a librarian and a woodworker and thus have access and interest in many books on this subject. "In the Arts and Crafts Style" is a beautiful book that is deserved of much praise. The color photography is as plentiful as it is beautiful. I appreciate that the subject matter for this book does not seem to be drawn from the same dozen houses that so many others have used (As much as I like them, how many times can we look at the same pictures of the Gamble House, or Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio?). The text in this book is very well written and conveys clearly what is so special about the subject matter. I was also very impressed with the excellent resource list given at the end of the book.

If I had an axe to grind about this book it is that the best photographs of A&C furniture are not contained in the (relatively short) chapter on furniture, but rather they are scattered throughout other chapters. This is a minor irritation in an overwhelmingly well done book.

I highly recommend this book for any collection relating to historic homes, furniture / interior design, and lovers of the Arts & Crafts lifestyle.

I bought this book, plus two others, as a primer on the Arts & Crafts/Mission style. I am building out my basement and wanted to use this style. I was interested particularly in the furniture, interior details (stair rails, windows, decorative wood, etc.) as well as paint colors. This book did not disappoint. There are many full color photos and excellent information on the creators of the style, the styles themselves, and the history of the style in America. I would higly recommend this book if you want to see fine examples as well as read about the movement.

I now have about a dozen books that I bought more or less for pictures and information on the Arts & Crafts furniture. If I kept only one, or could recommend only one, this is the book. If you like looking at photos of furniture from this era, this is your book.

I loved the clock on the front page and that is why I purchased the book. I was pleased to find the photos of very good quality that lend themselves to scaling. I drew up the clock and two or three others to construct my own projects.

I love interior decorating but am a newbie to the A&C movement. When I saw this title in the discount bin at my local bookstore, I was struck by the simple, beautiful cover and brought it home with me. What a treasure! The photography is amazing - full-color spreads of beautiful furniture in similarly captivating surroundings. This is a sight for sore eyes indeed and a study in a renowned aesthetic movement.

The book begins with an introduction to the movement and is divided into five chapters:
Chapter One details influences and innovations with reference to the movement's English roots.
Chapter Two covers Hallmarks of the Style: Attention to detail and the character of the home, then and now
Chapter Three focuses on the furniture: arts and crafts classics and collector's choice [by renowned furniture makers such as Charles Rohlfs,the Roycroft community, etc].
Chapter Four is on Objects and Accents: The Crafted House and Details of Design
Chapter Five focuses on Case Studies. This is also my favorite chapter as various residences built or decorated around the A&C style are featured. The photographs are simply beautiful and defy description!

All in all, I think this is a wonderful introduction to the A&C style and makes for delightful reading, providing lots of inspiration and ideas for those new to the A&C style as well as long-time afficionados.

I am new to the arts and craft decorating style but absolutely adore it and I thought this book gave a really good feel for the interior decorating schemes in general, lots of photos showing repeating common motifs (?motives?) and furniture and also a section at the end showing houses that have used it in a modern sense. I think it is a really good, well presented book!! :)

What a lovely book, for the A&C afficionado and the newbie alike. Dividing her content into Influences & Innovations; Hallmarks of the Style; Furniture; Objects and Accents; and Case Studies, Mayer presents a stunning and inspirational tour of homes and objects from the Arts and Crafts Movement. My sister gave me this when she realized I loved the style, and I nearly wept. How amazing to have someone understand your passions!

The only disappointment in this book is the inclusion of a case study "American Gothic," which highlights an anti-A&C aesthetic with a profusion, Victorian-aesthetic in its genesis, of tiles, metalwork, and pottery, that Stickley, Voysey, et al. would have abjured. Still, this departure from the style's reason for being serves to remind us of how valuable that reason was.