Home Decorating For Dummies [Paperback]

Patricia Hart McMillan (Author), Katharine Kaye McMillan (Author)

Book Description

Series: For Dummies (Computer/Tech) | Publication Date: August 28, 1998

Worried about spending a fortune decorating your house but ending up with more of a mess than a makeover? Let Home Decorating For Dummies spark your imagination and help bring your ideas and enthusiasm to life with practical, money-saving suggestions on space planning, furniture selection, window treatments, and accessorizing your own home. Give your home that million-dollar makeover easily and economically with this wonderful hands-on guide to creating your own sense of style and grace...on any budget!

Hundreds of ideas, resources, and budget-wise tips from this decor-savvy mother-and-daughter team of interior designers will inspire you to new heights of interior design projects yourself. Glance through more than 30 pages of full-color photos for some great inspiration, from bright lighting ideas to moldings, wallpapers, fabrics, accessories, floor coverings, and more. Discover the fundamentals of decorating and design, make a room fit your style with the right colors and textures, and create looks with timeless appeal in any room of the house. From floor to ceiling, you'll be impressed with this book's clever solutions to all those familiar decorating woes.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Designed for the do-it-yourselfer, this new book from the McMillans (House Comfortable: The Art and Science of Comfortable Living, LJ 9/15/96) provides all the basics for home decorating, including styles, lighting, room-by-room design, and accessorizing. The Dummies format works well here; tips and pitfalls are highlighted with icons, although there are too few pictures to illustrate some points. Kitchen design would have benefited from a checklist of design considerations similar to the one provided with bathroom design. Given the popularity of the series, this is a worthwhile purchase for public libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

"Home Decorating For Dummies will help you design your own magic environment." — Oleg Cassini, Designer

A Reference for the Rest of Us!

"Thanks to Home Decorating For Dummies, even a novice can learn to achieve comfort with style." —Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub, Home & Garden Editor, Sun-Sentinel Newspaper, South Florida

"The co authors demystify the entire process to help you achieve professional results." —Olivia Bell Buehl, Author of Tiles: Choosing Designing and Living with Ceramic Tile

Give Your Home a Million-Dollar Makeover —Easily and Economically!

Create a Look That Says "Welcome Home!"

Worried you'll spend a fortune decorating and end up with house of horrors? Let Home Decorating For Dummies ? spark your imagination and help bring your ideas and enthusiasm to life with money-saving, practical suggestions on space planning, furniture styles, window treatments, and accessorizing with art and personal mementos. This hands-on guide shows you how to find your own sense of style and create a space you'll be proud to call home.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (August 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764551078
• ISBN-13: 978-0764551079
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Interior Design > Decoration & Ornament

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At Last -- A Book For Mere Mortals!, December 30, 1999

By 

Syrie Bianco (East Hampton, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Decorating For Dummies (Paperback)

Good,Solid advice on actually furnishing your home stylishly and comfortably instead of just fantasizing about the unaffordable and unattainable. I found a lot of helpful information to get me through each stage of a project. I really liked the way the authors wrote...very down-to-earth and friendly, unintimidating and real. I only wish there were loads of pretty pictures too!

91 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is basic but not really for dummies!, July 20, 2000

By 

JD (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Decorating For Dummies (Paperback)

After checking out many books from the library and pouring over glossy photos of rooms as large as my whole house, I felt more discouraged than inspired. If you can get past the name of this series of books, this particular "Dummy" book has all the same information about interior design as the books that cost three times as much. Get those out of the library and look at the photos for free. There are only a few photos of rooms in this book. It is mostly just the basics of what you need to understand very basic interior design concepts. Is everyone but me living in a house with 12 foot ceilings, rooms that are 400 square feet and windows looking out on the ocean!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, September 9, 2004

By 

atlantis4569 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Decorating For Dummies (Paperback)

This book isn't bad at all. I find myself picking it up when I'm trying to watch t.v. It has pretty good details about different things...fabrics, lighting, flooring, walls, etc. As another review stated, 'I wish it had more pictures', and I also wish it were longer. I really don't think it could have had any more detail though. It's well worth the money, no doubt. My next book will be "remodeling for dummies"....