Bunny Williams' Point of View: Three Decades of Decorating Elegant and Comfortable Houses (Hardcover)

by Bunny Williams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An Affair with a House continues to be a top seller for STC, with more than 45,000 copies in print
Shows readers how to realize their own taste and design preferences

You learn from people with great taste,” says Bunny Williams. She should know. As a novice, Williams worked for legendary decorators Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, absorbing everything she could of their peerless design sense. Striking out on her own, she rose to the top rank of the interior design profession, where she has stylishly remained for the last 30 years. Now, it’s our turn to learn from her.

Part memoir and part how-to manual, Bunny Williams’ Point of View showcases many of the drop-dead chic but always cozily comfortable residences whose interiors Williams has designed during her astounding career. As Williams tells it, every design decision she makes is based on a bedrock principle: “Knowing what you value is essential.” Her conviction that every person’s home should manifest their personality guides her as she creates environments that fit each client precisely, “like a couture suit.”

By showing you how to plan and then accomplish that plan for each room of your house, Williams inspires you to take account of your own values—and to realize your personal vision of how you want to live. As she says about the book: “My point of view will help you discover yours.”

About the Author
BUNNY WILLIAMS, a world-renowned interior designer and garden expert with her own Manhattan-based company, is the author of Stewart, Tabori and Chang’s An Affair with a House. Her work is regularly featured in such publications as Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, House & Garden, the New York Times, and Town & Country. With her husband, antiques dealer John Roselli, she owns Treillage Ltd., a home and garden decor shop in New York City. They live in Manhattan and Connecticut.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (October 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584796243
• ISBN-13: 978-1584796244
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,393 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Author is better than the book, January 5, 2008

By	Usonian33 (United States) - See all my reviews

I was fortunate enough to see Miss Williams give a lecture on this book, complete with slideshow presentation. It was a delight to hear this funny and engaging woman relay the stories behind these interiors.

That personal touch doesnt really come through in the book. It's telling that the most interesting parts are about her own NYC apartment and her home in Costa Rica. Her previous book--about her Connecticut farmhouse--is like sitting down with an old friend (it even has recipes). This isn't in the same vein, and thus all the disappointed reviews on here.

Still, Williams is a legend, and the work she has done for her clients is worth studying. Many of the interiors look as though they have evolved and been collected over time, which is a hallmark of her style.

Her rooms are at least more interesting than the sterile, joyless snoozefests featured lately in Architectural Digest and Elle Decor.

Her best advice: pick neutral finishes for your kitchen cabinets, and above all a neutral backsplash, using accessories to satisfy your color cravings. Your tastes will (or should!) evolve over time...and that expensive turqouise backsplash wont be easy to replace. All Americans need to read that chapter and sign it!

43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Grand Disappointment, November 25, 2007

By	Classicdude (River City) - See all my reviews

Regular readers of decorating magazines will have seen most of this before; probably about 90% of these projects have been previously published. And within the book many of the rooms are repeated several times, adding to the feeling of deja vu all over again. Despite the decorator's talent and the attractive photos, most readers will not feel satisfied after thumbing through this book. Undoubtedly some clients declined to have their homes in the book, but it hardly seems like three decades worth of work. It looks more like a decade and a half presented here. And besides, if she worked for over 20 years with Parish-Hadley and about 20 years with her own firm, how were the first 10 years spent -- answering phones, getting coffee, and returning samples? If the same effort spent to publicise this book had gone into the development, one cannot help but think it would have produced a much better result. While the architecture of the houses and apartments is generally top notch, and nothing about the decorating is objectionable (well, with the exception of some hideous taxidermy prominently featured in one project), there is not much substance to either the decorating or the text. This is not necessarily a book one would return to over and over to pick up subtle nuances of design. But it would be an attractive additon to any coffee table.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!, December 11, 2007

By	N. Huyck "book lover" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I saw the less-than-stellar reviews on here and decided not to buy the book. Well....during Christmas shopping, I saw the book at a bookstore and decided to take a peak. So I grabbed the book and found a comfy chair. Well, I'm glad I did. I bought the book and read it cover to cover.

I found it interesting to read how her childhood experiences led her to become a decorator. Her art classes taught her to see the "whole composition" and helped her to understand color and light; Her early job at an antique store helped to educate and train her eye; Tours of historic homes taught her about furniture arrangement and serve as a source for inspiration and art museums serve as the inspiration for color combinations.

This book also offers an interesting look at how she approaches a project, where she always starts, where she gets her inspiration and what guides her when making design choices.

While the homes in the book belong to the uber rich and many of her design choices are way beyond most peoples budget, the underlying message is to educate your eye to good design and create a comfortable home for the way you live.

I highly recommend it.