House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets: Exclusive Design Ideas from the Pros [Paperback]

Inc. Sterling Publishing Co. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | Series: House Beautiful

House Beautiful gives us an inside look at how interior designers create their magic. It's savvy, elegant, inspiring, and sure to equal the success of 750 Decorating & Design Ideas, which has sold nearly 65,000 copies.

Even those of us with great taste and a natural talent for decorating know that there are certain insider design skills and secrets accessible only to professionals with years of experience. House Beautiful: 750 Designer Secrets gives everyone access to this precious knowledge. This spectacular, expansive collection of more than 400 photographs leaves no doorknob unturned, as some of the country's most creative decorators reveal their design know-how. They'll help amateurs understand scale and proportion, as well as how to decorate with color and pattern, add atmospheric lighting, shape the shell, hang and showcase art, and fix up small spaces. There is ample advice on creating family-friendly areas, bedroom basics, smart storage, and outdoor rooms. Take advantage of House Beautiful's unrestricted pass to the world of interior design! A Main Selection of the Homestyle Book Club.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's hard to decide if the elegant color photographs from House Beautiful or the snippets of wisdom from a selection of interior designers are more instructional. The answer? Let your senses decide as you leaf through this showcase collection, with secrets clearly numbered and visuals just as patently coordinated. However, these tricks of the trade are definitely meant for the hoi-er polloi, since most readers can't afford to subscribe to, for instance, this sample dictate: "If you're on a tight budget, splurge on a superbly built sofa--everything else can come from Pottery Barn." On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to dream, does it? Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 439 pages
• Publisher: Hearst (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588164764
• ISBN-13: 978-1588164766
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Inspirational, July 28, 2006

By 

Amy Hilliard (VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets: Exclusive Design Ideas from the Pros (Paperback)

I love looking at House Beautiful books. I find the pictures to be inspirational. However, I usually don't think the text is very informative. I was pleasantly surprised to find House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets to be an exception to the rule. It does contain beautiful photographs, but the "secrets" are useful and/or inspirational comments by designers. I have to admit I don't recognize the names of most of them, but I find the information to be consistent with other interior design/decoration books I have read. The quotes may not always be particulary earthshattering, but there were enough good ones to justify giving House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets a 5. Out of 750 quotes you are bound to find something that is useful to you!

Now, just to give you a clear picture of what the book does and does not have to offer: no where is there a set of explicit instructions for how to incoporate the comments dirtectly to your home, but that is not the intention of the book. It is suppose to make you think for yourself how to add your own sense of style to your house. The book is set up so that there is a picture or two on a page and quotes by several different designers. The pictures illustrate the comments. I choose the following quotes because I thought that they are good advice and/or they made me rethink how I decorate my rooms.

"The most important thing is what you feel when you walk into a room." Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz

"Not interfering with views is decorating 101." Scott Salvator

"You don't need a lot of elements to create a dynamic effect." Jeffrey Marks

"Anchor a large room with a sense of symmetry." (quote from the author).

"I edit rigourously for scale, form, and color." Celeste Cooper

"Incorporate a common thread-such as a neutral color-to unify electric furnishings." Kelly Harmon

The one drawback to the book for some people might be that the pictures portray a similar style of decoration. If you like a mix of modern and antique, you will probably like the book, but those who like other styles, may or may not enjoy the pictures in the book. However, I think that the information given by the designers applies to any style.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pics, not much else, September 4, 2007

By 

L. V. Hudson (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets: Exclusive Design Ideas from the Pros (Paperback)

The book is lovely, but it could've been so much better if it had more desciptions of what you're looking at. Instead, it's full of little phrases that may be helpful, but they are also somewhat pithy. I wish I had purchased a couple of magazine subscriptions instead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Contempory Design Only, February 18, 2011

By 

K. Webster "BlueKat" (Castro Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: House Beautiful 750 Designer Secrets: Exclusive Design Ideas from the Pros (Paperback)

This book really only shows contemporary design - if that's what you like, then it's a great book. Just wasn't what I was looking for - I sent it back.