Customer Reviews

Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics: Expert Solutions for Designing the House of Your Dreams

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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.

...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!

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.

I, too, am surprised by some of the very negative reviews of this book, which I found terrific, so much more valuable than most design books, which are often nothing but a collection of pretty pictures. I have followed Bilhuber's career for years, and have always been struck by the life in his rooms--you can always tell how people would enjoy living and using the spaces he designs, however dramatic his signature juxtapositions of scale, style, texture and color. This strength is borne out in his excellent advice, which emphasizes thinking about good design in terms of function and comfort. Bilhuber walks readers through the process he uses in designing, supplying helpful lists of questions which help determine the order of decisions to be made and one's personal priorities in a given project. The result was a book both inspirational and practical, and one I'll return to often.

this is a book I turn to for decorating courage and when I am insecure in my own ideas. the paint color helpful hints were very helpful once (as per advice in the book I painted a small room benj. moore black bean soup) and a little strange another time (painted a naturally brightly lit room south facing room ceiling atrium white...which made it look like my ceilings were pink during the day, but they do really look perfect at night... mind you the color is perfect on walls elsewhere, even when south facing with lots of natural light...) anyway, this book is a very fun read and contains lots of ideas. I have used it for reference about 30 times in the last year, so I'd say the book is a good bang for the buck.

It's amazing that Rizzoli did such a poor job on the production of this book. Some of the pages were out of sequence, others were missing, some of the printing was crooked, and most of the photographs were fuzzy. Bilhuber is not a good writer, but many of the writing problems could have been corrected with good editing.

The guidelines or suggestions offered were good, but a more detailed explanation with more examples would have been useful in many cases.

Even with these problems, the book would have been worthwhile if the pictures were clearer. Although he may not be a great writer, I think Jeffrey Bilhuber must be a wonderful decorator. He has a real talent for combining traditional and modern elements in an effortless way that makes them look wonderful together. He also shows us that common, inexpensive items, when combined correctly, can look elegant and luxurious. It's difficult to imagine children playing in his rooms, but we don't all have young children. His style is sophisticated and lush, and the rooms in this book draw the reader back repeatedly for another look.

Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics is the greatest book on Interior Design that I have read to date, and I've read a lot. Jeffrey really does lay out the basics in an easy, comprehensible way. Although the homes pictured (which he designed)are more expensive, Bilhuber shares his tricks on how to make every space look fantastic, whether it is a one-bedroom apartment or a 14,000 square foot home. I am studying Interior Design right now, and I appreciate the ideas, aesthetic and attitude of Bilhuber. Bilhuber has a wonderful talent in mixing modern elements with the classic. From what I have read he is quite the history buff, and that is reflected through his design projects. He has a definite aesthetic as well, but he is able to show many styles for different types of people. He has designed purely modern spaces, a Morrocan-style home in Florida, and cottage-style homes on Nantucket. These are all very different styles. Chapter by chapter, Bilhuber gives many ideas on how to take these ideas and reinterpret them for any space. You have to read the text along with looking at the photos. There are hundreds of practical solutions written in the chapters of this book, like covering family room sofa cushions in leather for accidental spills. He actually has done that for a client with children. He is all about creating spaces that relect his client's personalities and needs. He has shown in this book that form and function can truly coexist. I recommend this book to anyone desiring a beautiful and practical home. Everyone can take ideas from this book. Bilhuber has shown through the beautiful photography and eloquent text that it can be easy to create the home of your dreams. I love this book!!!

This book is far more than just a picture book. The instruction in basic design concepts allows you to apply what you learn to novel situations without having to simply copy an idea you see in a picture. I picked up skills from this book, not just ideas.

Rizzoli is known for some of the most delectible art and coffee table books on the market, so I'm surprised at how grainy many of the photos are in this book. Maybe they did it to mask how unremarkable some of the rooms are. I'm sure these highly textured rooms fare much better in person than they do on the printed page. Bilhuber isn't the greatest writer in the world (he occasionally sounds like Auntie Mame), but I actually found some of what he discusses fairly inspiring. Also, he had the good sense to include Benjamin Moore paint numbers for his favorite paints (including a nice selection of whites...and judging from what I usually overhear in the paint store, people have trouble picking out the correct white for their home). I wish more design books included such useful info.

I found the interiors in this book to be very pure examples of "Interior Design as Art." -- Not to be too vague, the interiors of Jeffrey Bilhuber are examples of phenominal composition, of the interplay of light and dark, rough and smooth, curved and rectilinear. These aren't comfy meek suburban interiors. Like the recent books by Sills & Huniford and Vicente Wolf, these are Aesthetic interiors, meant to delight the eye. To those who are unfamiliar with Jeffrey Bilhuber, these interiors may appear to be "Overdecorated" or seemingly uninviting. But there you have the multilayered world of interior design -- If you love the work of such "household names" as Christopher Lowell or the Trading Spaces team, then you're looking at the wrong book. Interior Design as an art form --Yes, as rigorous in its' attention to detail, color, and composition as any other art form - sculpture, painting, collages, etc... -- is not meant to appeal to everyone, because it takes an eye that appreciates subtlety and freshness. These aren't typical "Comfy/Safe" interiors, and shouldn't be. The risk that comes with comfy/safe interiors is bland/boring design. Kind of the decorating equivalent of grey sweat pants. Nothing too risky, nothing too unusual. If we are to develop our own aesthetic senses, then we should have great examples to aspire to. Hence this book.

I think that if you are familiar enough with the design world through publications like Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, House and Garden, etc., then Bilhuber's name will be very familiar. If so, you will probably love this book. If you haven't seen his name in Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, or Womens' Day (and have looked), then you'll find his interiors foreign and unapproachable.

In other words, if you want to make oatmeal, you don't look for the recipe in a cookbook on Haute Cuisine.

Great Book - Fabulous Images, Amazing Interiors