Customer Reviews

Debbie Travis' Painted House: More than 35 Quick and Easy Finishes for Walls, Floors, and Furniture

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tired of white walls, I purchased (and returned) several books in an effort to learn how to make my new home look like those photographed in magazines. In particular, I was looking for an easy procedure for the Ragging Off finish. Debbie Travis' book provides that and more. Each finish for walls, furniture and floors includes a brief description, a list of paint and tools, easy instructions with photographs and several variations of the featured theme. Equally important, her TIP sidebars helped me avoid costly and time consuming mistakes. The most creative chapter, Patterns, includes Squeegee Stripes, Combing, Terra-Cotta Tiles and Stone Blocking. Another favorite is the Carrara Marble effect in the Stone Finishes chapter. This book has something for everyone regardless of style preference, experience or ability. It's an absolute must for novices and professionals alike!

We used the ragging off method in this book to do up a little girl's room. We did it in shades of peach and beige, with a pretty wallpaper border in matching shades from the local building supply store. It didn't cost much and the result is STUNNING. I'm not a fan of a lot of stenciling, faux this and that, but I have to say, this book has techniques that really look amazing.

We practiced on scraps of wood or wall board to gain confidence before plunging in. I can't wait to try some of the other techniques.

If you run out of rooms and furniture to renovate, you can always restore yard-sale finds and donate them to church or school craft fairs. WAY too much fun. This book is a real treasure.

I highly recommend this book to anyone planning to redecorate. I wanted to colorwash my bedroom and looked at dozens of books that contained hopelessly complicated directions requiring obscure ingredients. This book is clear, readable, contains simple directions, and uses easy to obtain ingredients. I have no artistic ability and still got great results. My interior decorator is very impressed and is ordering her own copy of the book!

This book contains excellent, step-by-step instructions and is especially good for people without much experience in special-effect painting. It's also a good source of ideas for manageable projects. The author's writing style is conversational; it is reassuring for beginners (so that you don't feel that any of the projects are out of your league) but not patronizing.

The only criticism I would mention is that I didn't think that much of the author's sense of aesthetics. (This is just my opinion, of course --- many people would disagree with me.) While Debbie Travis is clearly extremely skilled in special-effect painting, she doesn't seem to be extremely artistic. I guess I mean that she's more of a craftsperson than an artist --- examples of her freehand painting are rather badly done, and the photographed rooms/projects often show painted details that are superfluous, teenager-ish, and kind of tacky.

Having said that, however, I want to emphasize that I think that the book has great instructions and very nice photos. It's kind of inspiring, and Debbie Travis is an extremely skilled, likable, and effective teacher.

...guess what? I repainted my entire house myself using her techniques and suggestions, something I NEVER would have thought of doing had I not stumbled upon Ms. Travis' book. The how-to information is laid out in a very easy-to-digest format, complete with sequential photos. She also provides a number of "themed" rooms and color schemes, but I didn't have to follow any of those decorating themes when I painted my own home. And since my faux finish and textured house painting has been so well received, it's a testimony to the book's ability to teach the techniques and then let the reader adapt them to his/her particular tastes and colors. Another nice thing is that the book's down-to-earth approach leaves the reader with a "Yeah, I think I can do this!" level of confidence.

I've always admired wall finishes that I see in my day-to-day travels - in restaurants, public spaces and magazine photographs. With Debbie Travis' book I can now recreate a wall treatment in my kitchen that I first saw in a trendy Seattle restaurant. I can't wait to get started!

This book wasn't intended to make everyone happy with Debbie's color choices or furniture selections, it's intended to teach you painting techniques and preparation, which it does, beautifully. Debbie is fearless and very adventurous when it comes to painting and re-decorating, her colors don't have to suit you, but all of us decorating fanatics can definitely glean some helpful hints from her trial and error in technique.

This book has some excellent, easy-to-follow instructions, which in itself is a major plus. Walls, floors, you name it, there is something here to please almost everyone and the instructions are clear, precise and straight forward. The numerous photographs are also a great plus.

On the downside, however, the reader will find Debbie's talents lie with the actual techniques and not with colour schemes and interior design. Personally, I find many of rooms to be overly trendy, garishly co-ordinated and rather a mismash of "whatever fits, use it." Thoughtful and thorough advanced planning did not seem to be a component of the finished project. The techniques for walls and floors were creative; as for the furniture, there was little to be found here that impressed me.

The book is worth having for the wall and floor finishes and the techniques used, although I must admit I am still a strong advocate for oil-based materials as opposed to water based. The durability and relatively easy maintenance of oil-based materials cannot be surpassed. The extra cost of an oil-based product is money well spent in the long run. There are some great concepts presented here, and some not so great, depending on whether the reader is buying the book strictly for wall and floor techniques or the total finished concept of design and colour.

Clear and precise instructions. Easy to follow but one better be a better good at choosing colors. I think Debbie should have included the exact name of colors and/or brand she used for people who are leary about mixing colors and wanted to duplicate what she has on the book. I have followed the instructions with my own colors and the results are outstanding. I'll recommend this book for anyone even the first time do-it-yourself painter.

This book is the perfect reference for the all the how-to's of painting your home. Great ideas, clear and easy to follow directions, as well as beautiful pictures!