21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tutorial with Photos on Decorating, September 28, 2011
This review is from: New Decorating Book (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating) (Paperback)
Today we apartment and home dwellers want to be involved in decorating our homes. But we need to be informed on an abundance of topics to do so. This is an affordable "how-to" book that breaks the process down room-by-room with hundreds of ideas, and photos to illustrate the ideas, on how to create a room. It's great for those new to the process and those who are looking for ideas they haven't considered before.
Ten design basics are introduced for each room: living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, offices, entries etc. Then, examples of popular styles of the room (playful chic, nature inspired, urban modern etc.) are illustrated along with a possible color palette for each room, important room elements are highlighted and our favorite before-and-afters of the room are shown. Three common flaws and three suggested fixes are covered for rooms. "Style made simple" regarding rooms covers topics like curtains, storage, headboards etc. Scattered throughout are short "try this" tips on the photos for DIYers (one example: cover self-adhesive lampshades with fabric).
There's styles for almost any taste featured in the House Tours section--my favorite section--including 10 styles such as modern cottage, classic bungalow, refined rustic, fresh traditional, modern family, today's farmhouse, artistic cottage and scandanavian modern. The styles tend to be more informal, but the tips could be adapted to more formal and glamourous styles as well which would be fun to do.
The workroom section at the end offers nuts and bolts basics on how to decorate with lessons on pattern, color, scale, balance, texture, paint, wallpaper, fabric etc. There's a complete "try this" section on wall art, storage, organization and projects followed by a "know-how" section on window wardrobes, lighting and room arranging.
I've been team-teaching interior design through continuing education for 10 years, and there's ideas in here I would like to try. For example, for armless dining chairs with leather-like round backs, make a slip-cover skirt for the chair that reaches to the floor in a striped fabric with a solid horizontal panel at bottom to match the leather color of the chair--it was very casual chic and you can change them seasonally. The self-adhesive fabric covered lampshade looked great, too!
You can spend hours going through this book and marking ideas you like. There's an average of 5 tips per page and almost 300 pages--so 1500 illustrated tips in current styles for you to peruse and highlight at your leisure. It's like an illustrated textbook on design--although much more fun than most textbooks you've encountered. I think it's one of the best introductory books on design available. It's a great introduction to and overview of the design process and like a refresher course if you've been studying design for awhile. I love the fresh, colorful, eclectic, welcoming room on the cover--it's representative of the styles you'll find inside.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book's a keeper!, October 8, 2011
This review is from: New Decorating Book (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating) (Paperback)
Better Homes & Gardens has come out with another fantastic decorating book. I love this book because it is FILLED with tons of ideas for every budget and design style. I am an interior designer, blogger and decorative painter so I am constantly looking for new ideas and inspiration. I have already read this book cover to cover at least three times and still I find something new that catches my eye. I highly recommend if you can only buy one decorating book a year, this is the one! Also if you missed the last BH&G New Decorating Book, do yourself a favor and find it.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting Decorating Ideas, December 7, 2011
This review is from: New Decorating Book (Better Homes & Gardens Decorating) (Paperback)
I purchased this book, sight unseen, counting on the good reputation of Better Homes and Gardens. I am completely delighted with it. Every page is a full color example of wonderful interior decorating ideas. The book is divided by rooms and purposes. I delight in just paging through it and imagining all these creative ideas in my own home. I HIGHLY recommend this book for the interior decorating enthusiast.
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