Customer Reviews

Designers Here and There: Inside the City and Country Homes of America's Top Decorators

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Reading this book is like being invited into top designers' homes. The big, glossy photo layouts are gorgeous. While I could never afford such places, I got lots of ideas for color schemes, furniture placement, and objets d'art. I love Ms. Keith's breezy prose style, including stories of how the designers found their properties and what they did to make them reflect their very different personalities.

As a designer and colorist I especially enjoyed seeing the juxtaposition of these famous designer's everyday homes with their vacation getaways. It is like seeing the yin and yang of their talents and personalities. Keith's writing and interviews with these creative people gives me real insight into their philosophies and approach to home design. I picked up many ideas from both the beautiful photos as well as the writing that I will put into play in my own and my client's homes. As a color consultant I was especially inspired by the Noriega-Ortiz South Beach home. I hope volume two is in the works!

I purchased the book to see the Eureka Springs, AR home of John Marrs. I've since studied every page in the books, some more than once, and enjoyed all the spaces highlighted. This interior design book features some unique and interesting spaces. Photography is excellent. Definitely my favorite decorating book! I believe this book will find many enthusiastic readers.

I bought this book as a gift for a designer friend of mine, and spent quite a while enjoying it before I parted with it. The photos are captivatingly gorgeous and Ms. Keith captured the essence of each designer's style with her engaging writing. It was so much fun peaking into these great designers' homes!

The concept behind this book is brilliant: showcase 19 interior designers and each of their two homes. Primary residence and play place where they relax and vacation are featured for each designer.

This allows us to see how one design personality and point of view can be translated into two places.

The book is also brilliantly laid-out. About 8-10 pictures devoted to each designer with 2 pages of text describing their vision for their homes and why they decorated it the way they did. It features homes from all over the United States: about 1/3 in California, 1/3 in New York and New England, and 1/3 in the South and Midwest so there's a diverse range of styles.

Why buy a book on designers' homes? Because designers use their homes as laboratories to experiment with design ideas. They're not afraid to take risks and try something new to add comfort or wow factor. Like having two bedside tables on the same side of the bed. Have you ever noticed that there's just NOT enough room for all the paraphernalia: books, lamp, clock, picture of your UPS man (just kidding), glass, glasses, flowers etc. on the table beside your side of the bed? Designer Vicente Wolf solves that problem stylishly by having 2 tables at different heights on one side of the bed. It looks surprisingly good and is very functional.

Another useful way to use this book is to go through each page and choose the feature you love most in the room on that page as designers are on the perimeter of innovation in design. It's often difficult to articulate what you want in your home from memory, but if you look at lots of rooms, ideas will jump out at you and you'll find yourself saying something like: I've always loved beds in alcoves.

I went through all the rooms in this book and listed the design ideas I liked best and would like to try in my home some day: tiger-print pillows, bullion-fringed sofa, art in the bathroom, black and white drawings, mirrors on mirrors and art on mirrors, leopard-print rug, red chintz slipper chairs, use of curtains as room dividers, round table in corner by a window and the two bedside tables of different heights on the same side of the bed idea.

A bonus at the end of this book is a list of 4-5 design tips from each designer of what they feel is important in design. You can see how they used the ideas in their own homes in previous pictures. Here's a sampling of some of the great tips in this book:

* Simplify. Too many estate sale finds give a room the appearance of a blown-up flea market(reviewer's comment:ha-la! Love that phrase "blown-up flea market"--can just picture it or maybe I have)-Michael Berman

*Think of dark wood as an accent color. Four-poster beds, hardwood floors, and chair frames are beautiful paired with bright white and deep, leaf greens-Lee Bierly & Christopher Drake

*Scan your space and ask yourself if each object is either useful or beautiful. If not, remove it-Lawrence Boeder

*Buy with your heart. Search out special pieces with stories behind them. Invest in items that transcend trend. You will keep timeless pieces forever-Barclay Butera

*Use texture and geometry. Be bold-Eric Cohler

*Even a small dose of color, when repeated a few times, is enough to keep the eyes dancing or unify an entire space. And give yourself and your guests a chuckle with a weird piece of art or an outlandish piece of furniture-Christopher Coleman

*Mix styles, periods and materials for something unexpected and new. Add a bit of whimsy or fantasy to take the seriousness of each room down a notch-Andrew Fisher and Jeffrey Weisman

*Remember, if it's not comfortable you won't use it. That means comfortable on the eyes, too! Encourage children to start collections early. It makes accompanying you to auctions and flea markets more fun for them, and it can develop lifelong interests-Beverly Jacomini

*Bring fine art into your home. The internet provides unparalleled access to excellent selections worldwide-Alex Jordan

*When in doubt, lay it out. Cut furniture patterns to scale from paper and arrange the pieces on a floor plan to find the best placement for each object-Pam Duncan

*Contrasts make a room unique--smooth with highly textured, elegant with humble, antique with contemporary, curvy with straight-edged-John Phifer Marrs

*Repeat one color throughout a room to imbue it with a feeling of calm. Give a every room a bit of the "wow" factor. A space should take your breath away-Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz

*Keep window treatments simple and in styles that let in the light-Eve Robinson

*Buy furnishings and accessories with some age to them for a boxy apartment; they provide character-Stephen Shubel

*Ascertain each room's positives and negatives. When you design it, you will have a clear understanding about what to play up and what to hide-Vicente Wolf

This book is beautiful AND useful. With the diverse range of excellent styles, you'll probably find a room you could just move into. Check out one of my favorite homes: Steven Shubel's fisherman's cottage in Sausalito, California--a fisherman's cottage dressed to the nines in black and white. "It's like Marie Antoinette in a T-shirt," Shubel jokes. Whimsical French elegance indeed--hmm...I think I've found my style!

I absolutely love this book! I buy design books very often and this was a unique treasure. A great window into some of the country's best interior designers with many inspirational angles of creative space planning. I am very excited to see what Michele Keith will release next!
-Interior Design Grad Student, FL

This is a book you will want to display, read--and reread--and mine for inspiration and concrete ideas. I discover something new every time I look at the abundant photos and read Michele Keith's fascinating descriptions of the designers' style preferences and choices. The Designer Tips at the end of the book offer additional ideas.

Designers Here and There is a fabulous book that provides inspirational ideas for interior design. The concepts are creative and classic. I keep this book on my coffee table, it is a great conversation piece for when I am entertaining friends. It is a wonderful tool to have when you are looking for ideas to spruce up your living space. And it is great book to read when I have a moment to relax and just want to browse through the beautiful photos....

I have an absolute passion for books on interior design and have a collection of them that I read over and over. Having just received this book a few days ago, I am still devouring it. The photographs are gorgeous and give you such a clear picture of each designer's style. It is such fun to see the difference between the city and vacation homes, and I am finding something interesting in each one. I love the five tips given by each designer at the end of the book.

This is an excellent illustration of the designers lifestyles and the yin and yang of there personal lives.