Customer Reviews

Found Style: Vintage Ideas for Modern Living

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

 

 

This book is full of wonderful, artistic ideas; each page better than the last. I wistfully moved from an old, 1920's bungalow into a brand-spankin'new townhome and have referenced Found Style many times for ideas. This book isn't for the cookie cutter, Christopher Lowell set; it's for creative people who prefer to have homes that reflect who they are artistically. I don't want my home to look like a Pottery Barn showroom. I want to create a comfortable and cozy, yet clever environment that you just can't find at a home decor store. Just as the name implies, the book imparts creative ideas for found objects, salvage and thrift store finds. For those of us who love frequenting flea markets and thrift stores, Found Style is the perfect book for giving us ideas on how to use our finds in clever and unique ways. It has enabled me to turn my suburban, builder beige townhome into something distinctive with vintage character.

I own 2 decorating books, and this is one of them. What separates this book from the other "vintage" or "flea market" books is that the syle is MODERN and artful, not the shabby chic-ish or country styles that I detest. These looks are for people who love the look of vintage and flea-market finds, but with a hip, modern, and arty spin.

This book really made my day: full of fabulous, inspiring photos of the exact style I aspire to in my home: vintage but never cutsey, a little edgy and raw, but still cozy and natural and playful. Ingenious ideas here, and a great blend of folksy, country and urbane and sophisticated. I only wish there was a whole series by these two.

This is one of the best decorating books out there if you love the vintage look and mixing new with old. Ideas in how to use what you may already have and how to incorporate antique and "junk" items in new ways. This book includes chapters on living rooms, home office/art studio, kitchen, bedroom, bath, etc. I look through this book again and again and see something new each time. I hope David and Amy are working on another book!

Designers and decorators have a habit of publishing books which insult a reader's intelligence. The pictures in this collection seem to have been taken in one home - almost all the walls are an antiseptic green, or shabby white. The problem is this: placing an andirondack chair with the paint peeling off beside a rusty steel fan may look really hip if you live in a home which features heavy crown moulding, huge floor to ceiling windows, and pine plank floors. Try this ensemble in a dreary, typical living room with builder-grade carpet and aluminum windows. Your house will look like crap.

People look at these pictures and they may feel inspired, or visually pleased, without really understanding why. What they are taken by is the room itself, as an example of good design, NOT what's in it - which is what the authors are focusing on in an attempt to recommend an authentic style. A traditional home with 5-inch baseboards and gorgeous built-ins on either side of a great looking fireplace looks beautiful EMPTY. What you put in it is almost irrelevent. THAT is what good design is: When a room looks great before you install a single stick of furniture.

Also, who needs a close-up of a wilted weed draped over a milk bottle? Or a roll of white toilet paper sitting in a wire mesh basket? Give me a break. You can find pictures like this in store catalogues. And how long could anyone tolerate working at a wobbly desk where the wood is badly blistered and peeling? How do you CLEAN something like this? Answer: you can't, because it's old and worn - not to be confused with an antique, which has enduring style and function.

If you like to follow fads like the "shabby chic" look, and wish to fill your home with flea market finds, make damn sure you have the right house, the right room, classic architecture, thick mouldings, french doors, hardwood floors, and 12-foot ceilings. Otherwise, you'll have to buy yourself a good miter-saw or hire a finishing carpenter to give your home the "bones" it needs to make this crappy stuff look like something.

David and Amy Butler have done it. The have completely captured the found, flea market, vintage......style. This is definitely a fresh look at home decors that have not been repeatedly used in other publications. The book stays true to the found style, never straying from their devotion to vintage finds. They have found homes filled with great stuff and great ideas. This is the new must have for vintage enthusiast. I thank them for the greatest book in this genre, yet. Hoping that another book will soon follow.

The book placed vintage items in houses vs. looking at vintage items and creating new functional things with them. I was looking more for ideas for projects. This book did not spark anything creative in me. I can purchase vintage items and place in my home just like they did. This book was just a bunch of pictures...things that anyone can do.