The Paris Apartment: Romantic Decor on a Flea-Market Budget [Hardcover]

Claudia Strasser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 1997

The Paris Apartment is a popular shop in New York's East Village, where visitors can step back in time and immerse themselves in the beauty and romance of antique furnishings. Reflecting an unusual mix of design influences (Baroque, rococo, neoclassical and Art Deco) and personal taste, its style is luxurious, playful, and wholly original.

In The Paris Apartment, Claudia Strasser, the founder and owner of the shop, offers readers the quintessential guide to achieving this romantic Parisian look without having to spend a fortune. With easy-to-follow instructions and helpful advice, she shows readers how they can transform their homes into a living environment that reflects both their personal style and timeless French elegance. Laid out in the form of an entertaining diary, the book helps Francophiles define their fantasy home, find inspiration, select a color palette and use light creatively. She also includes instructions for making canopies and valances; advice on dyeing fabrics and restyling furniture; tips on budgeting; guidance on shopping at flea markets and auctions; and a glossary of terms. Color photographs throughout illustrate the ideas and techniques shown in the book.

As interest in the home experiences a resurgence, and as Americans become more careful about their spending, nesting has become the pastime of the '90s. People want luxury homes without spending a fortune. With its unbeatable combination of style and solid practicality, The Paris Apartment  is a home-decorating guide to treasure and draw inspiration from for many years to come.

 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you love chandeliers, flowing draperies, and bric-a-brac--if you believe you were a Roman senator, a Gothic queen, or Madame de Pompadour in an earlier life or have fantasies of La Belle Époque or the Golden Age of Hollywood--The Paris Apartment is the decorating book for you. Claudia Strasser includes before-and-after pictures of real people's apartments, transformed from dark cracker boxes to intriguing showplaces. She gives shopping tips on finding the best furniture, how-to instructions on distressing and painting your flea-market finds, and ideas for choosing the period and colors that best suit your personality. Best of all, Strasser estimates the average cost of a no-holds-barred transformation to be $1,800 for an entire apartment, including furniture--less if you already have the furniture, are clever with your hands, are somewhat restrained in your taste, or live near the best flea markets. The Paris Apartment is the perfect combination of inspiration and instruction for budget-conscious glamour mavens on a budget.

About the Author

Claudia Strasser is the founder and owner of The Paris Apartment and lives in New York City. This is her first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Collins Design; 1 edition (April 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060391693
• ISBN-13: 978-0060391690
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Interior Design > Professional Reference
  • #19 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Interior Design > Decoration & Ornament

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's be clear here., August 13, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: The Paris Apartment: Romantic Decor on a Flea-Market Budget (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book IF the reader is clear about what it's going to contain.

It has one really outstanding feature: the idea that you can let your personal fantasy inspire the way you decorate and live. At a time when too many people are slaves to someone else's fashions and want what they're told to want, this is a breath of fresh air. How much more exciting to start by thinking "inside, I feel that I'm a Roaring 20's flapper!" rather than "well, I guess I should get something to match the plaid couch"!

Having said that, it's true that not every photo in the book will appeal to you. After all, these are very personal looks she's showing.

And yes, it helps a lot if you're at least slightly artsy or have gifted friends, although she does make a couple suggestions about getting artists to work for not-too-much-$$.

Other caveats:

-- this is absolutely not a hand-holding how-to book. If you want instructions on a paint technique or something, this isn't the place to get it. This book is about inspiration, not step by step instruction.

-- yes, you can find real bargains on furniture and accessories IF you're willing to hunt for a darn long time. If going to yard sales is fun for you, you're golden. If you want your place decorated NOW, you're going to have to pay a bunch more than she's talking about. Again, buy this book for inspiration rather than because you want budget decorating tips.

-- there should be more (and sometimes clearer) photos.

61 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect - though not quite, May 18, 2000

By 

Carrie Laben (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Paris Apartment: Romantic Decor on a Flea-Market Budget (Hardcover)

The 'Paris Apartment' style is not for everyone, but it is certainly a much needed reaction to the Pottery Barn, pre-fab, one-size-fits-all approach that is sweeping the nation.

There were but two faults with this book. Firstly, it could have used more photographs, or at least captions to clearly indicate which photographs were a result of which techniques so that one doesn't have to read a whole page of text while trying to find a quick reference. Secondly, the author rather glibly assumes that one has access to patient friends who can paint murals and make stained glass for free. This may be a reasonable assumption in Manhatten, but it certainly isn't in Podunk USA and those in Podunk also want to live well.

(I must confess that I was also baffled at how everyone seemed to have a landlord who was perfectly okay with having the ceiling painted, the overhead light fixtures replaced, and the walls embellished with mouldings. Is it only in college towns that slumlords want their slums back in more-or-less the same condition they were rented out in?)

But on the whole, The Paris Apartment contains a wealth of jumping-of-points from which the active imagination can conceive of marvelous things to do with even the most awkward room.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an inspiration!!, October 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Paris Apartment: Romantic Decor on a Flea-Market Budget (Hardcover)

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time! I flipped through it quickly, taking in all the details, and was so inspired that i completely redecorated my studio without spending a DIME... i used things i already had but hadn't thought of using for decorating.. old fabric and necklaces, bits of cording, etc... and did it all in ONE DAY... the change is amazing, i feel like i have my own personal retreat now.. it's become MY place. i've never seen another book like this and i probably never will!