Dwellings: Living with Great Style [Hardcover]

Stephen Sills/James Huniford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Two of today's most acclaimed interior designers share their secrets in this ultimate guidebook for creating a beautiful home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here is not simply design guidance but design wisdom, tested and proven throughout the duo's 20-plus-year career." -- Architectural Digest, September 2004

About the Author

Stephen Sills and James Huniford are two of today's most acclaimed interior designers, whose clients include Linda Wells, Jane Pratt, and Anna Wintour. Their firm was recently included in New York magazine's Top 100 Architects & Decorators and their work appears regularly in Architectural Digest, House and Garden, and World of Interiors.

Michael Boodro was a features editor for House and Garden and then spent 11 years as a features, then arts, editor at Vogue. He later served as editor-in chief for Garden Design. He is currently an editor for the style section of the New York Times Magazine, and recently had articles in House Beautiful and Elle Decor.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; 1st edition (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821228463
• ISBN-13: 978-0821228463
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Offbeat. Know what you are buying..., January 15, 2004

By 

Usonian33 (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dwellings: Living with Great Style (Hardcover)

This is NOT a "decorating book" for for someone about to redo a room in their home, and looking for ideas. The book has a curious layout I found interesting: small size, no dustjacket, heavy on text; that should tip off potential readers that this one is a little different. It is more like a design essay (and it's highly readable), with photos, close-ups of fabrics, endpapers spread throughout with fancy script font, etc. There is no "how-to" here, no HGTV budget tips, no "oh THAT'S what I'll do with my lamp!" inspirations. You just sort of curl up with this and learn about their approach to design (they probably hand this to potential clients). The book is a luxury, so spend money elsewhere if you are looking for design reference.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Stylish but vacant, December 5, 2003

By 

P.J. Whitter (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dwellings: Living with Great Style (Hardcover)

I found this book to be like a stylish but vacant house. It looked good from the outside, but once I got inside the book, there wasn't very much in there to keep my interest. I actually became annoyed with myself for spending money on this when I tried to read this book and realized that the authors have nothing new to say. I've read it all before. Many times. ("It is your personality that brings a room alive." Oh really? I read that 20 years ago in my mother's old Better Homes and Gardens decorating book. "The bed will influence all other choices in the room." I paid money to read that? )
I also find it annoying that they keep talking about themselves in the writing.-who cares? The pictures are too small. Although the rooms look pretty enough, I kept wanting to see more of each room or to have room pictures used larger, because it was frustrating that I felt I couldn't see enough of the rooms or enough of what is in the rooms. (They take a whole room pictures of a bedroom or a living room and use it on the equivalent of maybe a quarter of a page and put some fabric design or wallpaper pattern behind it. Ick.)
I definitely did not get my money's worth on this book.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money, December 5, 2003

By 

tommie van deusen (San Francisco Bay area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dwellings: Living with Great Style (Hardcover)

This book looks good at first glimpse but then it falls apart. The admittedly stylish graphic design cannot compensate for the small pictures, the trite prose, and the old ideas. I expected this book to offer something really fresh but it didn't. I feel majorly ripped off.