Mood Indigo: Decorating with Rich, Dark Colors (Hardcover)

~ Vinny Lee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

According to author Vinny Lee, "dark colors don't have to be overpowering or somber." If you've ever considered painting a room scarlet, or allowing a deep blue chair into an otherwise light and unthreatening white room, Mood Indigo will inspire you further in the direction of such bold statements. Lush photographs and commonsense advice are intended to spur on the amateur designer with a penchant for darkness. Chapters and photo galleries are divided by color: blues and greens, reds and purples, browns, and grays and blacks. The introduction explains and explores the irrefutable logic of the color wheel. Whether you're envisioning a "tone on tone" room in varying shades of the same color, or a room where red and gold run up against each other, this book makes a good guide. Highlights include a green room that looks like part of an underwater palace, and a persuasive argument about the beauty of black walls. --Emily White

From Library Journal

These two books demonstrate the effective use of bold, dark, and vibrant color in interiors. Lee, interiors editor of the Times magazine of London, successfully shows that "dark colors don't have to be overpowering or somber they can be inviting and comforting." Although she begins with an overview of how light, texture, and tone can affect dark colors, most of her book is a gallery of photographs grouped by different colors and showing the use of each in a variety of interior design styles. The subtitle of Ferer and Palazzo's book is misleading. Rather than providing practical advice for modern decorating, the authors present bold, colorful, and eclectic examples of contemporary interior design by visiting the homes of celebrities and designers such as Bette Midler, Donna Karan, and Bill Blass. Purchase Mood Indigo for large interior design collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications; 1st Edition. edition (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823031365
• ISBN-13: 978-0823031368
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,034,261 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hooray!, August 13, 2001

By	"littleotter" (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I had been looking at design books for months now and was bored out of my mind seeing page after page of white-on-white color schemes (most of which were heralded as 'fantastically innovative' -- how innovative can they be when they're filling every single book?!) I knew that wasn't what I wanted, but I needed some ideas to spark my creativity.

And then I found this book! It's big, it's beautiful, and as other reviewers have pointed out, it does an excellent job of showing different styles of rooms. (Yes, dark colors don't have to be baroque or ultra-modern! Although those are pictured here too.)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now All I Need Is A House To Paint..., July 31, 2001

By	Paul Clegg "...Paul" (Pacifica, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I passed by this book and just by accident, the word "Indigo" caught my eye. As I love all things purple, I just had to pick it up and flip through it. WOW. Finally, I found a book on home decorating that didn't include lots of *beige*. I absolutely love the pictures in the book, which range from some very interesting country motifs, to Victorian, to post-modern. The book's divided into sections describing the treatments of different shades; a chapter on reds and purples, blue and greens, browns and so forth. Pick your favorite color, find the chapter, and browse.

I have to admit I haven't even read the text, and still feel the money I paid for this book was more than made up for in the quality of the full-color, gloss-page plates... It really goes to show that with a little inventive color selection, you can create a really outstanding, comfortable environment.

Now I just have to find a house to buy and redecorate. :)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite interiors, beatufiul high-quatily coffee table boo, April 29, 2002

By	Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This is a beautiful interior design coffee table book. It is packed with large photos of exquisite interiors that use strong colors including blues, greens, reds, purples, browns, grays and blacks. The wonderful photos are printed on high-quality glossy paper making them appear even more vivid.

In additional to the gorgeous pictures there is also advice on color, texture and light. Color scheme basics are covered with a discussion of tone, shade, balance and the moods each color creates. There are also suggestions for sources of inspiration for each color in nature, history and various cultures.

The interiors shown are simply fantastic and filled with rich, dark colors. There are no large rooms of empty white here. I loved a relaxing bathroom with shades of plum and a cabinet decorated with multiple hues of green, blue and yellow. I also enjoyed a Japanese style bedroom with red walls, a wood chest and a huge hanging white kimono. A dark blue living room with nude outlines on the wall and an artistic cozy brown couch is another of my favorites.

I really appreciated a great list of suppliers and helpful index included in the back. This is a great book of useful ideas as well as being a wonderful display piece or gift.