No Compromise Decorating [Hardcover]

Lynette Jennings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2004

Tips to make readers savvy decorators, using what they have, what they like, and how they live.

Before-and-after photos show how 10 home owners worked with Jennings on room makeovers.

Each room highlights no-compromise decorating principles to help do-it-yourselfers succeed with makeovers.

Emphasizes personalized decorating rather than imitating designer or prepackaged styles.

Down-to-earth advice and ideas on how to use color, fabrics, furnishings, and accessories.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Meredith Press (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0696217554
• ISBN-13: 978-0696217555
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,577,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as her last book, April 13, 2004

By 

M.D. Roettger (Clayton, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Compromise Decorating (Hardcover)

I have been waiting for this book since her last one came out. What took so long? This is just great. I feel like Lynette is talking directly to me. She writes about the decorating process but relates it to life, in general. What she has to say about how we all make compromises and end up with a home that doesn't seem to fit us rings so true. The photos in this book are gorgeous. I also like her real home makeovers. They are so obviously real homes. It's cool that Lynette went into real homes and did redecorating to prove that anyone can have a home that reflects the way they really want to live. This is a great book. There's nothing else like it and no one else like Lynette.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, March 5, 2005

By 

Rosemary "Busy professional mom" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Compromise Decorating (Hardcover)

This book is not what I hoped it would be. It seems to be mostly a pep talk on how to avoid trying to make your house conform to other people's tastes. I don't need such a pep talk - the "getting to know me, getting to like me." What I do need, however, is pointers on how to make my house conform to my tastes. Clearly, Lynette Jennings is an excellent decorator - but I want her to tell me how she does it! The system she gives in this book she doesn't even follow. For example, she tells people to sort their furniture into what they love, what they think is so-so, and what they don't like at all. Then, when actually decorating their houses, she often completely ignores this list (and even says so on occasion) and uses furniture the owners of the house had been ready to discard. Another example, when she talks about putting colors together, she refers readers to the color charts in her previous book! I want step by step pointers on how to achieve certain looks. There is very little of that in here.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, October 26, 2004

By 

Kate Smart "Private" (Private) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Compromise Decorating (Hardcover)

I'm giving this book the highest rating because Lynette Jennings consistently puts as much effort into her text as she does the beautiful pictures. She writes in a way that is intimate, comforting, and surprisingly informative: she is not interested in encouraging people to adopt design ideas simply for their popularity. Rather, she expresses strongly held convictions that design and decorating are tools by which one can create an environment that is deeply personal and reflective of one's individual tastes.

Reading this book made me aware of many decisions I have made about decorating that have been influenced by designers who are more concerned with being "edgy" or "correct" than what is genuinely pleasing to the homeowner. I have often imagined what other people will think upon entering my home and this is wrong. Your home has to be satisfying to you: for example, a black & white print may be "correct" in a particular scenario and many of us succumb to what the designers dictate which has something to do with a vague notion of "taste". Ultimately, if you don't like black & white prints, if they leave you cold, what would be the point in hanging one on your wall? Just to impress people, to show people that you have your finger on the pulse of what's "in" ?
Lynette Jennings is bold in her colour choices, uses big pieces in small rooms, and basically breaks so many "rules" that many of us have come to accept as givens. This is an excellent book.