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Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating: Inexpensive Projects for Every Room of the House
 
 
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Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating: Inexpensive Projects for Every Room of the House [Hardcover]

Mary Emmerling (Author), Michael Skott (Photographer)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Book Description

October 5, 1999
Decorating with style and creativity -- no matter what challenges real life may bring -- is a Mary Emmerling trademark. In her last book, Mary Emmerling's Quick Decorating, she proved that beautiful rooms could be put together in hours and even minutes; now she brings the same ingenuity and panache to decorating on a budget in Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating. The secret of her system for avoiding expense is keeping the big-ticket furnishings simple, focusing instead on the movable feasts of accessories and flowers, pictures and fabrics. It is a strategy that works every time.

Hundreds of full-color photographs present ideas from which any home decorator can draw inspiration or improvise. Chapters are organized by price, from "Pennies" (using produce and fresh flowers placed in interesting "found" containers, for example) to "Dollars" (such as covering books with a uniform paper to create an instant library) to "Bigger Bucks" (a vintage tablecloth artfully hung as a contemporary window treatment).

In addition to ideas for every room of the house, Mary offers strategies for shopping smart, salvaging old pieces, incorporating objects from nature into a decorating scheme, and creating new uses for everyday objects, as well as a directory to her favorite home stores and antiques shops.

Throughout, Mary's inimitable approach makes decorating itself fresh and fun. Perfect for the beginner and seasoned decorator alike, Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating is an invaluable resource for finding great style without great expense.


Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Decorating with style and creativity -- no matter what challenges real life may bring -- is a Mary Emmerling trademark. In her last book, Mary Emmerling's Quick Decorating, she proved that beautiful rooms could be put together in hours and even minutes; now she brings the same ingenuity and panache to decorating on a budget in Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating. The secret of her system for avoiding expense is keeping the big-ticket furnishings simple, focusing instead on the movable feasts of accessories and flowers, pictures and fabrics. It is a strategy that works every time.

Hundreds of full-color photographs present ideas from which any home decorator can draw inspiration or improvise. Chapters are organized by price, from "Pennies" (using produce and fresh flowers placed in interesting "found" containers, for example) to "Dollars" (such as covering books with a uniform paper to create an instant library) to "Bigger Bucks" (a vintage tablecloth artfully hung as a contemporary window treatment).

In addition to ideas for every room of the house, Mary offers strategies for shopping smart, salvaging old pieces, incorporating objects from nature into a decorating scheme, and creating new uses for everyday objects, as well as a directory to her favorite home stores and antiques shops.

Throughout, Mary's inimitable approach makes decorating itself fresh and fun. Perfect for the beginner and seasoned decorator alike, Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating is an invaluable resource for finding great style without great expense.

About the Author

One of the best known names in American decorating, Mary Emmerling is the author of seventeen books, including Mary Emmerling's American Country Cottages, Mary Emmerling's American Country Details, and Mary Emmerling's Quick Decorating.
She is creative director of Country Home magazine, and host of the Country At Home television show on HGTV. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Phoenix, Arizona.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1st edition (October 5, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0609603256
  • ISBN-13: 978-0609603253
  • Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,286,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Sticks and stones may not break my bones, but ..., April 11, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating: Inexpensive Projects for Every Room of the House (Hardcover)
... they make for lousy decorating. I like Mary Emmerling, and enjoyed her "American Country Cottages" book a lot. It was beautifully photographed, with lots of images of comfortable, lovely, livable rooms. But this book is all rusty wires and birds' nests and peeling lead paint, like a house decorated by the witch from "The Blair Witch Project." I recommend Mary Randolph Carter's "American Junk" for a truly charming book about decorating on the cheap.
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30 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Decorating with rust and chipped peeling paint, January 31, 2000
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating: Inexpensive Projects for Every Room of the House (Hardcover)
I could not believe the book I received is the same one I read about in the editorial and customer review. Both failed to mention that this book is for those who like rustic, primitive decorating with broken items, peeling and/or chipped paint, rusty metal, twigs and branches, torn wallpaper etc. You really should mention this in your review. I don't know anyone who decorates like this except maybe at their cabin in the mountains or cabin at the bay. Please do not compare her to Martha Stewart - this book has copied some of her ideas and quite poorly at that. This should be called junk shop decorating or flea market decorating so that those of us who think we are getting a book about decorating smartly with new things or fixed up items are not fooled. I sure hope I don't have to decorate like this just because I don't have much to spend on decorating. I would not even give it one star. This book goes back by return mail.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars But, this is how my house looks now!, July 5, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating: Inexpensive Projects for Every Room of the House (Hardcover)
One simple word sums up this book: Yuck!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Decorating inexpensively is all a matter of perception-looking at everyday objects in a different way, finding new uses for tried-and-true elements, uncovering beauty in less expected places. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
smart decorating, miscellaneous antiques, peg racks, eclectic antiques, antique mall, decorative accessories, country antiques, home accessories
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating
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