Customer Reviews

More Splash Than Cash Decorating Ideas: Over 1200 Tips, Tricks, Techniques and Ideas to Decorate your Home

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Decorating and design ideas contained in More Splash than Cash are right on target. This book is filled with frugal, creative, innovative methods to improve your home decor.

The author's intentional ommission of photographs inspire the readers to get creative and use their imagination. Simple suggestions such as implementing an idea file or using a small trial amount of a color are effective ways to gain confidence in designing and decorating a home.

Donna Babylon has done a fine job of introducing the elements of interior design to a broad audience, removing the mystery and encouraging readers to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Tips such as introducing various surfaces and textures in a room to alleviate "sameness" in a room, using color to create and maintain a room's mood, and establishing a room's layout by observing furniture arrangement after a party are all simple ways to get started in designing a space.

The Storage Solutions chapter was chock full of effective ways to conquer clutter. Hanging an old window or rack for pots in the kitchen is an ideal way to create more space in an otherwise small area. Containing clutter in baskets, finding hidden storage under stairs and alcoves, using kitchen cabinets throughout your home, building a window seat - these are all practical solutions for a well-organized home, and I frequently include these systems in my own recommendations to clients.

This book is a must read for those intimidated by interior decorating - help has finally arrived!

This book has the most wonderful and inexpensive ways to spruce up your home. No wading through Interior Design philosophy to achieve great professional looks! There are so many wonderful and easy ideas that you will be torn as to which to start first. Donna even has a nice 'how-to' section in the back to help you along. The really great thing about this book is that it is a wonderful gift for anyone - especially someone just moving into a new apartment or home for the first time. It covers furnishings, floors, window treatments, walls, ceilings, and even doors and more! It would also be an excellant gift for newly weds or even college students who are always on a budget would love the section on storage solutions. This would be a perfect item to keep around for when you have an unexpected gift to give. This is a book you won't want to lend to anybody, because you never know when you might want to add a little spice to your home!

I love this book because it is easy to understand and easy to use. Donna Babylon's writing style makes this "how-to" book enjoyable. I have so much creative energy I do not know what to do with it. More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas is a book that will harness all that energy. Babylon wrote this book in a reference style. Look up your idea. When you turn to the page, everything is written in short easy to follow statements. I got flowers for Mother's Day. I have always wanted to dry flowers. In More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas, Babylon explains exactly how to dry flowers in her chapter "Garden Variety." Her directions were so simply stated I could picture what I was supposed to do before I actually did it. One of my favorite sections of More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas is the glossary. Babylon has taken the time to define decorating terms. Having a glossary removes the intimidation factor of decorating. I have often heard the term "Decoupage." Babylon explains it is "a technique using cutouts of paper or fabric applied to various surfaces and coated with varnish for permanence." All her definitions are easy to understand. She does not use decorating technical terms to define a decorating technical term. For me, understanding the terms helps me visualize what the final project should look like. I am more willing to take on a project when I can "see" how it might turn out.

ms. babylon's book is filled with ideas big and small for every part of a home. there are all sorts of solutions for problems and even holiday tips. i have a new home and am using so many suggestions for pulling together a few new things and many old treasures. for example, i love the idea of setting a holiday table using mittens to hold the napkin and flatware for each setting! easy, festive, and unusual without being expensive. there are so many ideas, it'd make a great gift for a new bride or any friend in need of a creative "push"!

I happened to see Donna Babylon on HGTV one day -- and I loved her easy-going style of presenting information. She didn't talk down to the audience, or act like she had all the answers. And reading her book is just like having a conversation with her. It was exactly the lift I needed to inspire me to redecorate my dull white-walls-leftover-shag-carpet house....right now, I'm sitting in my newly remodeled den (which used to be a small bedroom) -- and after I took up the horrible smelly carpeting -- I PAINTED THE PLYWOOD floor -- and everybody just raves about it!! Donna Babylon ROCKS!!!

Every time someone mentions home decorating, my blood runs cold. I can barely get my outfits to match, much less coordinate a room. That's why my initial reaction when I received "More Splash than Cash" as a housewarming gift was slightly less than enthusiastic.

All that changed, however, the moment I opened the book. Written in a clear, conversational style, I was drawn in right away and not the least bit intimidated. So many straight-forward, creative projects...all within the grasp of this walking Home Ec disaster!

My biggest problem with this book? Prying it out of the hands of my husband!

Bravo! Hope there's a "More Splash than Cash" sequel.

More Splash Than Cash delivers the Goods! Finally, a decorating book that delivers MORE than it promises. MORE SPLASH THAN CASH overflows with ideas that anyone from a college student decorating her first dorm room to the more experienced home owner, can take and use to suit her own needs. The ideas are creative and innovative but also are practical and budget minded.

Donna's writing style is easy going and while reading it you feel like you're chatting over coffee with an old friend. Her use of sidebars gives the reader the behind the scenes information they need, a mini lesson, so to speak. The addition of the glossary provides a valuable tool to the reader.

The book is well organized and each chapter deals with a different room or design element. Not to be missed is the "helpful how to" chapter which is one of the most comprehensive I've ever seen.

I'm looking forward to what new tricks Donna has up her sleeve. Hopefully, there will be a More Splash Than Cash II, III and More!

Donna Babylon can't make it any easier for you! Her step by step instructions make decorating any room or piece of furniture fun and easy! Just holding her book makes me want to begin at least 10 projects immediately! She's not just a writer, she's a decorator! More Splash Than Cash will make you a good decorator too!

I really enjoyed this book. If you love decorating, this is the kind of book you can pick up if you have a few minutes and just read a few pages. This is not a coffee table book, it is a book of great hints and tips to spruce up your home. There are no glossy photos, but there is a great "how-to" section for completing some of the projects mentioned. There is also good section on seasonal decorating. If you want ideas for doing fast little projects to decorate your home, get this book.

This book was so wonderful. It was practical and easy to follow and stocked full of hundreds of simple, creative decorating ideas!

The reason I think I loved it so much was that her ideas were actually good! She has wonderful "real life" decorating sense. Also-for someone like me-a beginner, this book was a God-send.

Thank you Donna Babylon!!