88 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Design concepts, not just pretty pictures, January 7, 2004
This review is from: Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics: Expert Solutions for Designing the House of Your Dreams (Hardcover)
I was surprised at the number of negative reviews this book got. Maybe because the book is so different than the majority of decorating books which are little more than collections of pretty rooms; they lack explanations of the underlying design concepts or discussions of problems and how to deal with them. This book gives you ideas and theories on dealing with low ceilings, awkward layouts, poor lighting, support columns and other real-life problems and explains why certain solutions work. (ie: doing x will add visual weight here and distract from the bad feature over there).
Yes, many of the rooms are sophisticated "adult" rooms. Many, but certainly not all, are in apartments (one of the appealing points for me, actually). He gives design principles (such as accentuating the positive and minimizing the negative) and shows real examples. Not everyone lives in the suburbs, buys furniture at Wallmart and wants their house to be a children's romper room. But even if you do, and you would never pick the same furnishings as Mr. Bilhuber, the principles can be applied to your own choices. Perhaps some people are put off because he does not give you pat decorating formulas (a la Martha Stewart's white plus one color always works well) but encourages you to look, think and consider...something a lot of people are not comfortable doing, I guess.
So far this book does a better job explaining the design concepts better than any others I have found. Even if you don't like the specific details in his rooms, his advice (decide how much and where you want to spend your money, start with things that you love, test colors in the actual room, at different times of day, think about what you want to use the room for and design it that way, etc) is sound and can be applied to your projects and your taste. I liked his explanations of what he was thinking, what principle he applied, and why an approach works, and what would or would not work in a space. However, if you are looking for a book that gives you rote formulas, this is not it.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This Book is Worth $40 Because...., July 1, 2006
This review is from: Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics: Expert Solutions for Designing the House of Your Dreams (Hardcover)
...it gets you thinking about where to spend your precious decorating dollars. (Bilhuber advises against dumping your budget in kitchens and bathrooms in favor of making bigger statements in foyers and living rooms, for example.) I cook almost all my family's meals so I was EXTREMELY tempted to replace the white appliances in a home I recently purchased with stainless steel ones. I have instead decided to spend that money having the home's interior professionally painted and perhaps purchase a new oriental rug for my living room. When I think about which will make a bigger impact (freshly painted walls and a lovely rug in the first room people see or silver GE Profile appliances versus white ones in the rear of the house) it's pretty much a no brainer. I suppose it's fine to throw a wad of dough at a kitchen remodel if you're filthy rich and can also afford to decorate the rest of your house to the hilt. Bilhuber seems to recognize that that's not the case for the bulk of us, however. The book has also inspired me in smaller ways like decorating with ferns and pinpointing paint colors based on my favorite possessions such as the oat-colored cashmere cardigan I always turn to. Now if I could only decide whether to paint my ceilings Benjamin Moore's Atrium White as he suggests or Swiss Coffee, which is my favorite!
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Information on Design Techniques, March 18, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics: Expert Solutions for Designing the House of Your Dreams (Hardcover)
For those of you seeking pretty pictures and how to copy the rooms, look in a different book or a magazine. The pictures are only incidental to the information inside. Instead, you will find out how this designer thinks so you can begin to see solutions and develop your own ideas. This is not a "step 1, step 2, etc." book, you will have to think and apply principles yourself.
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