Room Redux: The Home Decorating Workbook [Spiral-bound]

Joann Eckstut (Author), Sheran James (Author), Andras Halasz (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999

Learn to decorate like the pros and discover every rooms potential with Room Redux. Interior designers Joann Eckstut and Sheran James have developed the book that could make their job obsolete. Starting with how to appraise your needs and create a furniture floor plan, and progressing step-by-step toward the big decisionscolors, fabrics, walls, floors, and furniturethe authors friendly, savvy style demystifies the process and frees up the decorator within. Lively and instructive illustrations will empower even novice home decorators to develop their own style, and the fun scrapbook for-mat will keep those creative juices flowing. Tabbed for quick access and complete with graph paper and furniture cutouts for floor plans, plus pockets for clippings, fabric samples, and color swatches, the format is utterly approachable. For renters looking for quick-and-easy fixes as well as homeowners ready to overhaul entire rooms, Room Redux is the one-stop resource for guidance, inspiration, and great results.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Room Redux can be used in several ways: as an introduction to basic design concepts, as a problem solver, and as a workbook. The book starts off with the premise that most rooms are not perfect to begin with, and if you're going to decorate or redecorate a room you'll have to make the most of its shortcomings.

Questionnaires help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of each room and how and where to begin. Authors Joann Eckstut and Sheran James provide workable solutions for problem areas common to many homes. Are the windows in your living room too low? Hang the curtain valance higher or mount a shelf above the window and place sculptures or pictures above it. Want to spruce up some boring built-in bookcases? Add new face moldings, baseboards, and cornices, or hang pictures along the edges.

The authors' solutions are often refreshingly quick fixes that don't require a major amount of remodeling--just a bit of time and ingenuity. Suggested projects are marked "quick-fix," "moderate," or "major" so that decorators can know ahead of time what they're getting into.

The book contains pockets for collecting fabric swatches, pictures, and article clippings. And if you've ever moved a roomful of furniture only to discover its new layout doesn't work, you'll be inspired to use the enclosed graph paper and to-scale punch-out furniture to preplan your room to your liking. Color drawings present a variety of fabrics and furniture styles, and handy charts provide tips on lighting placement and dimensions for spaces between furniture. Infinitely practical, Room Redux picks up where the coffee-table decorator books fall short. --Kris Law

From Library Journal

A number of books published recently, including Home Decorating for Dummies and Sharon Hanby-Roby's My Name Isn't Martha, but I Can Decorate My Home (whose new book is reviewed below), provide amateur decorators with advice on decorating their homes. Eckstut's book is the best to come out combining theory, solutions, and how-to advice. Divided into chapters that discuss color, fabrics, furniture, lighting, window treatments, walls, and flooring, this book provides detailed information about the choices available. The best feature is the focus on evaluating one's own style and living spaces. The sources listed give a variety of choices, with toll-free numbers and web sites. Although this book is highly recommended for public libraries, it is still a workbook (with cutouts of furniture to use on floorplans), so the pages will need to be protected. Pretty's book gives examples of floorplans for each room of the house, with suggestions on how to create a particular look. Purchase where interior decorating is popular.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 272 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811817903
• ISBN-13: 978-0811817905
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good teaching and ideas on a budget, November 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Room Redux: The Home Decorating Workbook (Spiral-bound)

No, there are no photos, just sketches. But I have plenty of decorating books with pretty pictures. This one teaches how to decorate in a way that surpasses any other book I own. Each chapter starts with questions about the topic of the chapter and what you feel you want to do with your room in response to that question. By the end of the chapter, you can answer the questions for yourself.

For example, the chapter on color has ten questions: 1) Are you worried about keeeping colors consistent from one room to the next, 2) Are you using color to adjust the personality of your room, 3) Do you want just white, 4) Are you trying to revise the look of the colors of your room wothout overhauling your entire scheme, 5) Are you trying to duplicate a color you fell in love with on vaction 6) Is the quality of the light getting in the way of you color choices 7) Are you wondering whether you should paint the same color over everything on your walls, including the moulding, 8) Are you looking to color to make your room feel larger, smaller, taller, shorter, or wider, 9) Are you nervous about using a wild color you find yourself attracted to, and 10) Do you like the color you chose for your wall, but find its effect somewhat bland.

Determining the answers to these questions is well presented in the text. Topics in the color chapter include how light in your part of the world(northern hemishpere, though it would be easy to adapt to the southern hemisphere) affects color, depending on which window it's coming in through and the season. How changing light bulbs can change the effect of the color. How colors interact with each other and why you should be careful about what background you place those carpet squares against when trying them out. I've tried combining contrasting colors and this is the first book that really tells me why it didn't work when I did it and how to make it work better. It tells me why I hate my kitchen. What you learn here will let you look at those picture books so you can decide what makes the room work.

So many good sections and tips. Many of the tips can be used by someone in an apartment who can't paint the walls, and there suggestions in all price ranges. It may be common knowledge to someone trained in this stuff, but to me most of it was new and valuable. What wasn't new was so well presented it makes this book a one-stop guidebook.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly practical and helpful, January 8, 2001

By 

Kristen (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Room Redux: The Home Decorating Workbook (Spiral-bound)

The problem with all those Other decorating books is that they're all glitz and no brain...or all money and no real world budget...or all fancy-shmanzy photos and no explanations, helpful pointers, etc. You get the picture. This book, on the other hand, EXPLAINS things (what a concept). For example, I was delighted to find a chart listing different kinds of wood, what they're typically used for, how well they take staining, etc. Another list describes fabrics, and how formal/informal they are. Wonderful for the clueless and dirt-poor freshly college-graduated couple.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very stylish, organized and useful; a valuable home guide., September 3, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Room Redux: The Home Decorating Workbook (Spiral-bound)

The book does a terrific job of organizing home decorating into understandable platforms. It's surprising how fresh the perspectives are. And how complete the survey. So many previous books my wife and I have bought go way over our head (and budget). This book gave us solid ideas we can use that will make a real difference in the look and feel of our home.