Customer Reviews

Debbie Travis' Painted House Living & Dining Rooms: 60 Stylish Projects to Transform Your Home

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

 

 

I love color and Debbie Travis' books are full of it! Don't pay any attention to the people who discount her books as garish. She is very even handed when it comes to her color schemes--this book includes a whole room done in very pale sea-foam green; an airy, almost monochromatic "zen" room; and even some white walls here and there.

But the focus is on the daring, the new, the experimental and exciting. There are traditional rooms, in which she incorporates elements based loosely on historical architechture into a very livable modern room. I especially liked the Georgian room, in which she not only shows you the typical colors used in the period, but a wall technique, how to create an inexpensive freize, and a fireplace surround.

Each room includes much the same--a wall technique and two or three other projects to tie the room to the theme. Along with historical rooms, find also contemporary, country, and themed rooms. The photography is excellent (although sometimes does not fully show the detail of specific aspects of the project).

Overall the best thing about this book is that is shows color on the walls, something a lot of decorators seem to be afraid of. Once you look at the beautiful tones of the raspberry, burgundy, ochre, and umber Travis uses long enough, you start to see that maybe that might look good in your house. Hey, maybe not for everyone or for every room--but it makes an impact.

This is a balanced overview of different styles and colors, as well as an awesome how-to book. Even if you hate the colors she picks, you can learn more practical skills in two or three pages of this book than in all of Christopher Lowell!

This book has many of the walls shown on her Painted House TV show. I tend to TiVo and tape the shows I enjoy. Debbie has some great wall designs and very innovative wall treatments. What I like about her is she does the entire room decor. The problem that I see with most of the designs in this book AND on the TV show is how VERY TIME-CONSUMING they are. I know these designs get done because she has a team of painters, but I don't. Even though most of her designs are beautiful, they would take A LONG time to actually implement. For example the three marble dado on page 122 and the Elizabethan dining room on page 94. I remember this show, there were soooo many steps and it was all done on the ceiling. That in itself creates a totally different set of challenges.

I think this is a beautiful book with some gorgeous walls, but realistically I would not have the time to do over half the projects in this book so I gave it a 4-star.

I do have some favorites that do not seem quite as much of a time-hog:

~ Fornasetti dining room, pg 38
~Suburban update, pg 44: love the wide horizontal paint stripes
~Faux silk panels, pg 56
~Georgian Living room, pg 64 and the classic dining room, pg 76: has a tuscany feel

If you have the time, skills and help to do some of Debbie's more ambitious techniques this is a great book. If not, it's still a good book for some of the less time-consuming projects. I would also recommend Painted Illusions by Melanie Royals which have some absolutely beautiful techniques. Don't let the subtitle of Stencils throw you off. Melanie's techniques are also easy-to-follow and don't seem quite as protracted.

Want something different for your home, this books has LOTS of unique ideas that make you want to start right now! The directions are clear, consise and easy-to-understand. Ideas for young, young at heart and older people. Very pleased with this book and highly recommend it!

very informative book and doable projects.

very informative book and doable projects.