Customer Reviews

Etcetera: Creating Beautiful Interiors With the Things You Love

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received this book as a gift. I just bought an old house that needs 'doing' from top to bottom, and there are parts of this book that are quite useful, such as one of the central ideas of putting together your own unique color palette (though the author does strongly hint that her color palette is really the best...)

However...you should be warned that this book has a very idiosyncratic style, both in content and the way it's laid out. The style put forth here by the author is a sort of a shabby chic meets tiki bar meets the casbah meets raiding your favorite "ethnic"-Asian import store meets flea market...kind of thing. Very handmade, probably needing quite a lot of maintenance and discipline to keep it from looking like a big mess. The design of the book and pages themselves reflect this aesthetic.

If you dream of moving into an Anthropologie-controlled world, or love raiding vintage shops and flea markets for your home and your wardrobe, this is the book for you. If you're just not sure about what you like in terms of interior design, this book *might* be for you...it might push you in one direction or another. However, if you're into modern/contemporary or minimalist styles, and dislike clutter (even if it's artistic clutter) run the other way fast.

This book is definitely not for novice. It inspires from a different level and is not a "how-to" book or a "before and after" magazine. It shows the creation process of a true artist, in a honest way. I love the way the book was produced, with vellum sheets and beautiful typography. Highly recommended.

Etc. is not the average book of decorating tips and household hints, but it is a beautiful guide for artists, stylists, and designers. One can be inspired by the texture, objects, arrangements, layouts and color. Etc. is just a beautiful book to dream over.

I bought this book for the pictures. I kept it for the inspiration. There's just enough information here to get the wheels turning, to see inside the stylist's creative brain, to spark ideas of one's own. This is, by and large, my favorite book on styling (second only *maybe* to Interior Alchemy, but I think this may actually be better, since there's more to it).

It's bound to be a classic, imho.

This is a wonderful book! From the typography to the graphics to the layout, this is a book I return to again and again. It's hefty in size and each page is an inspiration. No, it is not a "how to" for the novice decorator. It's a great book to get your creative juices flowing and to make you look at the things you already own in a different light. If one needs a step-by-step tutorial on decorating, the result will not be individual; it will be a copycat version of another's vision. This book invokes creativity at every level. Highly recommended!

I bought this item for a gift for my sister. She is very artsy and had been wanting this book for a while. When she opened it for her birthday she couldn't put it down! Awesome book!

Gorgeous book full of inspiring, tactile styling which will get any flea market loving, wannabe interior designer salivating. This book is a feast for the senses!

Hmmmm, well, I didn't quite know what to expect with this book. To be honest, I ordered it purely out of curiosity. I have read many a review complimenting the book as a must have. My first impression at actually holding the book was WOW this is a beautiful book, even before opening it. It is a whopping 256 pages, brown paper wrapped, vintage/recycled, typewriter text style book. Last night I read it from cover to cover and I feel let down. I didn't get that "one thing" from it nor the urge to bookmark a page. I felt there was repetition to the stories of her mother traveling in her search for fabric, and really Sibella, brown sticky tape to hang a picture? The presentation of the pages was inviting, but I found it hard to really study the pictures because they all seemed so muted to me. Her style is not unappealing to me. However, I made no connection with the book. I will try and read it again in a few months and see whether I missed something. I want to love this book and am so far disappointed. I give 10 out of 10 for the book design.

Absolutely love this book, so different and I adore everything Sibella Court does, and I will be visiting her store in Paddington very soon, can't wait :)

Having said that, I will say I do love neutrals, just not in the chalky way they appeared here. Perhaps I am simply a fan of glossier paper and clear colors, even when dark or moody. There are lots of thoughtful and inspiring vignettes in the book but some just border on being too cluttered and dusty-looking for my taste.