Customer Reviews

The Home Color Book

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

 

 

by Karen E. Klages, Tribune Staff Writer
"The following titles get high marks for their clever, low-cost/low-stress decorating ideas and gorgeous photographs that show the way."
GOOD READS:

"The Aveses have a mission with this book: To teach people how to choose and mix colors successfully in a room. To do that, they gathered photos and tips from more than 80 interior designers and architects from around the country, including Chicagoans Janet Schirn, Robert Kleinschmidt, Lili Kray, David Seglin and Terrell Goeke of Highland Park."

"The photos in this book (all fully dressed interiors) speak for themselves. (Thankfully the text is short.) They explain better than any words how daring colors and creative combinations can play with the senese and whip up 'atmosphere' faster than any other decorative device."

"The book is organized sensibly by color and is a great confidence-builder for anyone who has lived far too long with bland interiors."

"Tips" is a short list on one page, the rest of the book is photos only. Most of the photos were recognized from old issues of home decorating magazines, others are very dated, late 80's to early 90's decorating styles. Photos are accompanied by captions such as "the blue of the couch contrasts nicely with the color of the walls" -- as if we can't see that for ourselves. A totally useless book. The other review is not really an 1997 exerpt from the Chicago Tribune, it was simply posted by a reader, probably the author.

This is a great book that shows you a wide variety of color schemes and how they are used in various decorating styles. There are large color photos of sample rooms with comments from over 80 professional designers.

The book starts out with rooms that use red, blue, yellow, green, violet or orange as their primary color. Pastel color schemes follow. Here I love the southwest style living room. Rooms using analogous, complementary and neutral color scheme are next. An elaborate tent style canopy bed was my favorite here. Then you are shown how to create mood with color. A variety of rooms are shown that convey different feelings such as nurturing, intellectuality, playfulness, healing and romance.

Many of the rooms shown feature two or three color triangle swatches that highlight the basic colors that were used in its design. Also, in the back, there is a section on altering color to create families of colors that will work together. There are swatches for each of the primary and secondary colors and each one is shown with white, black and its complementary color gradually added. A list of designers with contact information is included as well.

The practical advice on color combinations and using color to create mood were very useful for me. Plus, I got lots of decorating tips and ideas just by flipping through the pages of room designs. This book is definitely worthwhile for anyone who takes pride in decorating their home.