Customer Reviews

Classic Greenwich Style

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

 

 

When this title first popped up on Amazon, I was thrilled to bits. I had pretty much bought up 90% of all Amazon's *Traditional Decorating* titles, besides mistakenly buying trifles like DOMESTICITIES, which is just about as traditional as Quentin Tarantino's bathroom.

But to get back to the subject, I found most of the interiors (except the Chinoiserie-influenced one) suffer from a certain lifelessness. (Doesn't anyone in Greenwich read books that aren't bound in gilded leather or displayed artfully on a inlaid wood surface next to a giant magnifying glass with ivory handles?) The old abandoned mansions of Cuba show more life, peeling mouldy walls nothwithstanding. (What a long word! And probably misspelled too!)

So there goes another book in my shelf of Desperate decorating disappointments, right next to this thing I bought about the Spanish style homes of Santa Barbara, which have really nice tiles!

It's unfortunate that Ms. Rinfret doesn't write as well as she designs. The photos of her work (and her work) are excellent, but the text is sophomoric at best. The number of self-aggrandizing "I" statements led me to abandon reading midway through the second chapter and just peruse the photos - which is the only reason to buy this book.

If you're looking for a beautifully photographed coffee table book, then this is the one for you. The book is a very high quality visual treat; the cover is eye-catching and the photographs are superb. The writing, however, is very amateurish. It has no style or artistic flair, and is very pedestrian when compared to books written by other designers. If you want to read a wonderful book, get "Rooms" by Mariette Himes Gomez. Both the photos and the copy are excellent.

Rizzoli hits the target, once again, capturing the very heart and soul of decorating the typical manor house of the wealthy in Greenwich. But these homes are not just pretty, they are practical and alive. Each room welcomes you, be it an English Country style bedroom, light, floral and beds with thick comforters, or the lure of a paneled library with soft toss pillows, tartan and paisley throws and a pile of gleaming leatherbound books at your fingertips. Each room has its own characteristic and shows how elegance doesn't always mean over-cluttered or gilded wallpaper. The last chapter even invites one into the holiday season with some wonderful ideas for elegant charm. This book is fantastic for either the interior decorator who can afford to repeat each room originally or for the reader of modest income who can study the details and how they work together and create the same look by visiting your local Walmart. The true look comes from putting the right pieces together and Greenwich is sharing that with the rest of us. Another Rizzoli winner!

I would have liked more photos of the exteriors to really capture that Greenwich style, but worse is the misspelling of "Belle Haven," the most exclusive area in town. That made the whole book less so.

Although there is indeed a style that could be called Classic Greenwich, this is not it. This book is filled with newly-put-together interiors by a local decorator, no doubt married into money, trying to emulate a style of Established Old Money. While the interiors are not horrible, they are not particularly great either. A hint of what is to come is given in the one paragraph Forward by famed decorator Bunny Williams and her peak-of-chic antiques dealer partner John Roselli; it says nothing. Rather than buy the book, just take a flip-through at the bookstore.

Good book though photos not so great and the printing above all is not good.

This is one of the most beautiful books I own. This book is filled with gorgeous pictures of rooms that invite you to linger in order to examine every detail. The homes are elegant and classic but they are also very livable. The book provides examples of ways to use color and texture in new ways to highlight classic furnishings and architecture. Even though I have seen several of the images from this book in other publications, the pictures take on a new feel when mixed with images of previously unseen venues. I particularly like the fact that this book provides a mix of classic styles detailing both formal and relaxed settings. In addition, the images depict a freshness that is appealing. Many books on this topic lead one to believe "classic" styles are only for fuddy-duddies. This book clearly demonstrates that classic styles have a timeless charm that appeals to individuals of all ages. I plan to give copies of this book to friends that appreciate a decorating style with staying power. Another book that I highly recommend is Great Traditional Style (published by Meredith Books, Des Moines, Iowa).You can't go wrong with either of these books.

This is a really beautiful and elegant book. Unlike so many that have a beautiful cover but mediocre pictures inside, this has outstanding pics from front to back. A beautiful additon to any coffee table.

This contains some nice Greenwich area scenery, but that is its only positive point. The author does not always understand that patterns must be interspersed with solids to avoid busyness. So many of the rooms fall under the rubric "well-to-do American family home c. 1957." As others have noted, text is generality-laden. Home exterior photos are sometimes OK, sometimes not, and sometimes missing.