Customer Reviews

Rooms to Inspire: Decorating with America's Best Designers

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

 

 

The title of Annie Kelly's new book is spot-on -- the rooms featured here truly are inspirational. Although many of the interiors have been published previously in magazines or books, the images here offer a fresh perspective.

For example, 12 pages are devoted to Kelly Wearstler's Hillcrest estate. The pictures show a slightly different view than what was published in Wearstler's second book, Domicilium Decoratus, and Annie Kelly provides detailed analysis of the residence.

Other designers included in Rooms to Inspire, but not mentioned in the publisher's description, are Miles Redd, Lynn von Kersting, Suzanne Rheinstein and Steven Gambrel. For me, one of the most inspirational homes featured is the author's -- Annie Kelly is a decorator and design journalist.

This book is a feast for the eyes. I purchased it initially because I love Kelly Wearstler's decorating and it features one of her homes, but the whole book is amazing & full of wonderful interior decorators, from traditional with a twist to modern & minimalist. A great addition to any coffee table collection.

I decided that it was my responsibility to make the rating higher for this book, after seeing what a couple of other reviewers said. This IS NOT a book that you would find at Home Depot, and the homes are not the style that you would see on HGTV. Of course Vidal Sassoon's home or Kelly Wearstler's are filled with rare furnishings, but the purpose is to show individuality and set a basis of thought for people to visit their local thrift store or vintage furniture store. These homes are personal, and Tim Street Porter's photography is wonderful. Don't forget that the book is a great price.

Fantastic inspiration....
The choice is varied and interesting, the photos are beautiful. This book is a must for design lovers and professional alike.
Hope you will do a sequel... Cannot wait.Bravo...

I thought this book would be filled with stuffy, fancy designs. So when I picked it up from the library I was pleasantly surprised to see color schemes and designs that were accessible to everyday living. I actually picked up quite a few ideas and dog eared a few pages.

First off all this book is probably not for readers who live in the suburbs, eat apple pie, and love back yard bar-b-ques.

Its more geared for the reader who is cosmopolitan (at heart), has experienced many different peoples and cultures, and is interested in seeing what is possible for the mind that is not limited by mass consumption, and the regurgitated ideas of mass media. Yes, the homes and rooms all belong to people of means, either interior designers or those that can afford to hire them. This is NOT shabby chic interior decorating.

That being said, and I am not a person that can afford an interior decorator, the book was a fascinating voyage into the most creative American interiors. Antiques are there. Art is there. Expense is there. Frugality is there. Risks are there. And conservativeness is there. The rooms are wonderfully photographed giving the reader a full view of exactly what is going on in each home/room.

The article accompanying each set helps the reader to understand the underpinning ideas behind each place, which to me is better than a how to manual on what/when/where/how. Many of us live in places that were built before contractors embraced the conformity of suburban sprawl and thus find ourselves in digs where no two are the same. Ideas thus have to adapted and personalized in order to work. I believe that a person could take this book and develop a personal style based on their own beliefs about how one's home should make one feel, not a crass and thoughtless imitation of some mass marketed brand that gains the approval and acceptance of other mindless opinions. It takes a confident and informed person to do that and this book will help you to get there through beautifully photographed, wildly differing, and wonderfully inspiring spaces with intelligent commentary thereupon.

If you are passionate about your space, an urbanite(at heart), and have access to the new and the old, the internet, strange and beautiful spaces, good resources for fabric, paint, millwork, etc. this book will inspire you. If you're a lame, a copycat, suburbanite(at heart), wannabe, wallmart shopper, mass consumer, hypnotized HGTV watcher or the like, you'll hate this book.

Have seen most of the spaces in magazines. If you like shabby chic, this is the book for you.

Some of the rooms are to die for, some are quite odd. Two pictures shocked me, from pages 23 and 27. The first shows a "sitting room" with a small ottoman where a half melted candle sits in a shabby little dish... The second is that of a master bedroom where a table sits on the foot of the four-posted bed, covered by a shabby linen... Strange indeed, for such high nosed people!

I bought this book expecting to get some ideas on how to decorate my modest house. I love magazines like Country Living and Country Home where their decorating ideas are practical and easy to replicate. This book is best suited for someone who has a lot of cash to throw around. Too rich for my blood!! It would be nice to be able to preview a few random pages of the books before purchasing. That would be most helpful for decorating books as you cannot always go by the cover. If you have similar tastes to mine, check out all books published by Country Living and Better Homes and Gardens.

This should be retitled "Rooms to Expire" - the looks presented therein will date faster than your milk carton in the fridge. Lotsa pretentious photos and vapid dialogue. I bought this a while ago and I honestly can't remember anything in it. . . a precursor to the longevity of these "fashionable" interiors perhaps? Someone please channel Billy Baldwin. . . . .
Stylemaven