Creative Walls will inspire you to organize and arrange your collections on any surface in your home to create character, charm and elegance. Any wall is perfect for display, whatever its size, shape or style. In this inspirational guide, Geraldine James, veteran collector of all things beautiful, shows ways to organize and display your treasured collections to celebrate their uniqueness and your creativity. Fans, teapots or clocks can illuminate a little corner, whereas a teenager's bedroom will transform instantly when hoarded football memorabilia makes the leap from the floor to the wall in a bold, clever arrangement. Look for unusual spaces and items: line up a series of themed prints above a picture rail, set heaps of floral china plates in grand style above the fireplace or simply add a mirror into a display to instantly create another in its image. Chapter by chapter, discover how to arrange virtually anything from scratch, rearrange the collections you treasure to best effect and begin a journey into colour, texture and themes to create elegant displays that give a home character and charm. From a memory wall of sepia family photographs to witty collections of kitsch art, this clever guide shows how to create a look that will bring any space to life.
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About the Author
Geraldine James started her career in fashion as a contemporary designer buyer, and from fashion she moved to home and gift. Geraldine soon developed a passion for collecting and finding the most unusual and beautiful things. She now works as a home buying manager at Selfridges and, as part of her role, spends time travelling extensively to find exciting new products for the store.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 56 people found the following review helpful
By Dora
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am disappointed in this book because the ideas presented are limited and repetitive. The book has a bizarre focus on antlers and taxidermy! Based on the description, I was looking for ideas on how to display various collections of crafts and artifacts, but it seems like this thick book shows the same few images over and over again. It really only has enough content for a magazine spread rather than a full-length book.The text is unhelpful, merely a pep talk without technical details. I like the free-wheeling, be yourself attitude, but I need more specific ideas.
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By Brandi Hyde
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book snapped me out of a rut. I have been feeling bored with my home, and every magazine seems to have the same white kitchen, over and over, and framed botanical prints. BORING!
"Creative Walls" made me want to collect some crazy thing and stick it on my walls, just because. The look is bohemian and eclectic. While the style has a certain leaning to natural elements (yes, including taxidermy), it feels more new and fresh than anything else I've seen.
The author does have a distinct style; there is a cohesiveness through the pages that some will love and some will hate. However, the approach could be adapted to any style; you may find a new way to freshen a modern country decor (like mine) or make a spare modern space feel more homey without being outdated.
A caveat: They are starting with AMAZING spaces. If you live in a suburban subdivision with normal sheetrock and "builder beige," you could copy something straight out of this book and never get the same effect. Almost every room has aged plaster with gorgeous patina, and tremendous architectural interest. Um, hard to go wrong there. You could hang a Beatles poster in a room like these and it would seem artful.
Also, note that the subtitle refers to "your treasured collections." This book made me wish I collected something! It will be most useful if you already have a collection you wish to display in an uneexpected manner. If not, maybe you'll find some ideas of things you might like to collect.
If you are looking to add to your walls, and you are bored by what most mainstream media offers, and perhaps a bit more inspired by an Anthropologie catalog than Pottery Barn, this book is for you.
"Creative Walls" made me want to collect some crazy thing and stick it on my walls, just because. The look is bohemian and eclectic. While the style has a certain leaning to natural elements (yes, including taxidermy), it feels more new and fresh than anything else I've seen.
The author does have a distinct style; there is a cohesiveness through the pages that some will love and some will hate. However, the approach could be adapted to any style; you may find a new way to freshen a modern country decor (like mine) or make a spare modern space feel more homey without being outdated.
A caveat: They are starting with AMAZING spaces. If you live in a suburban subdivision with normal sheetrock and "builder beige," you could copy something straight out of this book and never get the same effect. Almost every room has aged plaster with gorgeous patina, and tremendous architectural interest. Um, hard to go wrong there. You could hang a Beatles poster in a room like these and it would seem artful.
Also, note that the subtitle refers to "your treasured collections." This book made me wish I collected something! It will be most useful if you already have a collection you wish to display in an uneexpected manner. If not, maybe you'll find some ideas of things you might like to collect.
If you are looking to add to your walls, and you are bored by what most mainstream media offers, and perhaps a bit more inspired by an Anthropologie catalog than Pottery Barn, this book is for you.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This volume contains luscious photos of out of the ordinary living spaces. It's less 'how-to' and more 'why not?!' We see our walls every single day; why shouldn't they say something about us in the process?
If souless interior design books full of color wheel suggestions, proportion advice, and staid, predictible arrangements is more what you're after, definitely skip this. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, but this book just oozes soul...which typically is only found within people who aren't afraid of odd collections and a wee bit of junk littered amongst their heirlooms.) I may be a bit Type A, all more the reason my home shouldn't be! This book is intended for the person needing inspiration or confirmation their no rules style is perfectly acceptable, if not highly appealing. If you need help determining how to get started with a very specific look or theme, or how to affix wall hangers on dusty artwork, this will not prove helpful.
This title proudly mingles with my other current favorites, "etc." by Court, "A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of a Misspent Life" by Randolph Carter, and " The Way We Live With The Things We Love" by Cliff. If you're familiar with any of these, you will enjoy "Creative Walls". It's the Queen of England meets a yard sale. And as another reviewer stated, it's all eye candy to me!
ETA: those with a keen eye will notice Amazon has listed this as a 9-12 reading level book. While this does include kid and teen rooms, this is definitely a typo! Some sophisicated children would certainly eat this right up and in the loosest terms this is indeed a picture book, but wish Amaon or the pulisher would correct it as it did initially throw me off, lol!
If souless interior design books full of color wheel suggestions, proportion advice, and staid, predictible arrangements is more what you're after, definitely skip this. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, but this book just oozes soul...which typically is only found within people who aren't afraid of odd collections and a wee bit of junk littered amongst their heirlooms.) I may be a bit Type A, all more the reason my home shouldn't be! This book is intended for the person needing inspiration or confirmation their no rules style is perfectly acceptable, if not highly appealing. If you need help determining how to get started with a very specific look or theme, or how to affix wall hangers on dusty artwork, this will not prove helpful.
This title proudly mingles with my other current favorites, "etc." by Court, "A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of a Misspent Life" by Randolph Carter, and " The Way We Live With The Things We Love" by Cliff. If you're familiar with any of these, you will enjoy "Creative Walls". It's the Queen of England meets a yard sale. And as another reviewer stated, it's all eye candy to me!
ETA: those with a keen eye will notice Amazon has listed this as a 9-12 reading level book. While this does include kid and teen rooms, this is definitely a typo! Some sophisicated children would certainly eat this right up and in the loosest terms this is indeed a picture book, but wish Amaon or the pulisher would correct it as it did initially throw me off, lol!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too Weird
Nothing in this book I would use. The compositions were just too way out there. Just looking at the book was unenjoyable.
Published 3 months ago by Jo Ann Bates
5.0 out of 5 stars
visually inspiring
I really like this book. It's colorful and visually stimulating. I got some great ideas from the book for creatively decorating walls. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Dee
2.0 out of 5 stars
Impossible to Read
I FOUND THIS BOOK IMPOSSIBLE TO READ with its mixtures of fonts and lower and upper case letters within the same sentence, FOR NO APPARENT REASON. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Andrea
1.0 out of 5 stars
If by creative walls, they mean cluttered walls....
Bought this thinking I'd find new and interesting ways to display collections of objects and art, but not even halfway through the book I felt like my eyes were going to throw up... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. Nathan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Walls, you wail?
Room after room of inspirational eye candy! Encompasses so much more than just frames and the walls on which we hang them. Read more
Published 18 months ago by S. Fishburn
3.0 out of 5 stars
Take a look, then keep on walking
I've looked through this book dozens of times, trying to figure out what it's supposed to be inspiring me to do. Read more
Published 19 months ago by K. Kasabian
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth the money
Lovely pictures, but that's about it. The text doesn't add anything - it just describes what you can see in the pictures, sometimes in 2 different ways!
Published 19 months ago by Meka
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic experimental ideas
I love this book. The author's passion for wall decorating comes through clearly. She challenges the reader to push themselves creatively and personally. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Tiffany France
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wanted to love it
I wanted to love this book, but I echo a previous reviewer who described it as repetitive. There are many, many shots from the same home, with the same themes and the same general... Read more
Published 23 months ago by K. Waldron
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky little book
Enjoyed the book quirky, different but good ideas and inspirational text. Not sure some of it was that realistic if you do not own an old house with features layers of old paint... Read more
Published on May 6, 2011 by Cledwyn
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