Cecil Hayes 9 Steps to Beautiful Living: Dream, Design, and Decorate your Home with Style [Hardcover]

Cecil Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

• Simple, approachable nine-step design process is based on Hayes’s thirty years of experience

• Visit the stars’ homes! Dozens of color photos of Hayes’s designs for celebrities from the NBA, the NFL, music, and Hollywood

• Beautiful rooms guaranteed!



Beauty, elegance, and attention to the smallest details—these are the hallmarks of the work of acclaimed interior designer Cecil Hayes. One of the most celebrated designers in the world, Cecil Hayes at last shares her secrets in Cecil Hayes 9 Steps to Beautiful Living. Readers will discover how Hayes’s nine steps, developed over the course of her career, make it easy—and even enjoyable—to transform a house into a dream home. Stunning full-color photographs illustrate the author’s ideas with examples of rooms she has designed for top stars from sports, music, and movies, including Wesley Snipes, Samuel Jackson, Ty Law, and Timbaland. Clear, step-by-step instructions, cutting-edge design ideas, and warm advice give readers the confidence to create rooms that work well and look stunning.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cecil Hayes is a top interior designer. Architectural Digest has twice named her to its AD 100 listing of the world’s finest designers, and she has won the Visionary in Design Award from the Design Center of the Americas, an NAACP Hall of Fame Award, and induction into the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Southern Living, and many other publications. She lives in Coconut Creek, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823005747
• ISBN-13: 978-0823005741
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #525,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A RENOWN INTERIOR DESIGNER TAKES YOU BY THE HAND AND TEACHES HER PROCESS!, February 13, 2006

By 

Teresa Blackwell "tara-jane" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cecil Hayes 9 Steps to Beautiful Living: Dream, Design, and Decorate your Home with Style (Hardcover)

If you really want to understand the "why" behind interior design, this is the book for you. The book is written in an easy, informative style and Cecil goes out of her way to make it understandable for the average person. Even after working for her for several years, I learned sooo much from this book that its incredible. Cecil's teachning background is readily apparent and she shares the secret of her personal design process wholeheartedly!

Anyone who wants to create their own one-of-a-kind interior design, is contemplating a career in interior design, or who is generally interested in interior design will find this book inspirational. Humorous anecdoes, professional wisdom, and the life lessons of a celebrated interior designer, all rolled into a teaching text on interior design. Highly, highly recommended!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Organized Approach to Decorating, April 11, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cecil Hayes 9 Steps to Beautiful Living: Dream, Design, and Decorate your Home with Style (Hardcover)

This beautifully illustrated book of interior designs shows the work of Cecil Hayes. She has a style all her own which may or may not be to your liking. However, in creating these designs she has come up with a list of nine steps in the decorating process:

Get to Know Your Space

Create Your Personal Look Book

Create a Furniture Plan

Decorate One Layer at a Time

Mix Styles and Periods

Choose Your Colors

Use a Variety of Fabric Patterns and Textures

Decorate with Art and Accessories

Evaluate Your Finished Design.

The rooms pictured here are heavily decorated, Ms. Hayes is clearly not of the minimalist school of decorating. This is, of course a matter of personal choice and is part of her nine steps - Create Your Personal Look Book.

This book is one that's filled with ideas. Even if they don't appeal to you, you'll be able to see concepts in decorating that you haven't seen before. and the steps she describes make very good sense.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Living, January 17, 2008

By 

Creative Energy (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cecil Hayes 9 Steps to Beautiful Living: Dream, Design, and Decorate your Home with Style (Hardcover)

Cecil is very creative. Many of her designs & ideas can be recreated by beginners. The photos of her creations are warm and inviting.