Customer Reviews

Sensible Chic

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

 

 

Overall, I found the book to be inspirational at times, but not very practical.

Random Notes (Pros and Cons):

1) The Makeover Rooms ALWAYS look better than the original, expensive Inspirational Rooms. It also seems like they buy the most expensive pieces of furniture they can find, so that when they do the Makeover Rooms, it looks like they saved a lot of money. For example, on pages 22-23, the Inspiration Room ("Old World Style" Dining Room) cost $57,091 and the makeover room cost $2,290 (and yes, the makeover room still looked better). I think it would be better if they just showed a plain room and decorated it on a budget, instead of all the pretense. Also, the Inspirational Room photos always look grainy, while the Makeover Room pics are perfect.

2) Everything in the book was taken from episodes. You can learn a lot more from recording the show, then from reading this book.

3) Where did they find a cast iron canopy bed for $235?? Finding a deal like that is either pure luck or like finding a needle in a haystack.

4) This is a beautiful book as far as the layout and photos. Although, there is so much packed into one page, that it's overwhelming at times, making it difficult to read.

5) When giving design lessons, the lessons are always based on one of their Inspirational/Makeover rooms. This would be okay if you were going to copy the room's design. Otherwise, not very helpful. I would have liked it to be more generalized, so that the design tips could be applied to all rooms.

6) The green side bars/boxes and other "side" tips that appear on most pages can be very helpful since they are more generalized. There are some good ideas, but some are the same old tips you read everywhere else (i.e buy slipcovers for furniture).

7) Some of the sections I like are (page 11): Starting with a plain room with few furnishings and gradually adding and rearranging pieces to get the look you want. (Page 17): Easy word art project. (Sensible Shopping section): I found some good advice here.

8) The sewing projects: Forget it, unless you're a seamstress.

9) The Style Quiz. The quiz is cute and fun, but it isn't going to help you find your personal style. First of all, it's based on only 5 styles: Traditional, Contemporary, Exotic/Ethnic, Country/Cottage, and Chic. Boxing yourself into a category is not personal style! Besides, most of us already know whether we lean toward a modern, exotic, country, or traditional look. Second, the quiz is just silly, like something you'd find in Cosmopolitan magazine. Can you really find your own decorating style by answering questions like: Your signature scent is: Ralph Lauren Polo Sport, CK Obsession, Opium, Ralph Lauren Romance, or Chanel No. 5?

If you really want to find your personal style, start cutting photos and articles from magazines and catalogs. Pick up fabric, carpet, and paint samples. Tack them to a bulletin board or arrange them in a photo album. Then look over them and you will get a good idea of what your real style is.

I gave this book a rating of 2 simply because they placed more importance on style over substance. There are better decorating/design inspirational and instructional books out there. This isn't a book that I will refer to often and I only bookmarked 3 ideas in it. I think they could have done better.

I enjoy watching the show, but I didn't get the same things out of the book. Basically the book recaps how they acheived their version of the designer room - something that is fun to watch but not so interesting to read about.

I thought this book was disappointing. I was looking for more general ideas on how to decorate, but this book doesn't give that type of information. It shows specific rooms and how they were decorated. Also, in the quiz to find your decorating style, there are 20 question, and I scored 5 points in three of the categories (Traditional, Country, and Ethinic.) So, you'd think there would be a section on decorating in an ecletic style, but there isn't. If you want to see this book for decorating ideas, check it out from the library before buying--you'll be glad you didn't spend the money.

This book is based on the TV show Sensible Chic. It takes an inspiration room and tries to create a "similar" room without the high cost of the inspiration room. Like another reviewer, in this book, many of the rooms DID look better than the inspiration room. This is probably because the "Sensible" rooms were generally not as foo-foo (my word) and less cluttered than the inspiration room. The show and the book are good if you need a jumping off point and don't have any idea where to start. If you find a photo of a room you like, then you can try to create a similar room based on YOUR budget.

One disappointment in the book though is that many of the "Sensible" items are not referenced anywhere. The book tells you how much they spent on each item in the room, along with the cost of the inspiration items, but in the back of the book, there might not be a reference to where you can locate the item. For example, Lesson One is a bedroom with an Iron Canopy bed. The inspiration bed was $6,000 and the "Sensible" bed was $235. In the back of the book, the only resource they list is the designer who did the room. There is nothing about where they bought the furniture, bedding, fabrics, paint, etc. which is a red flag when you are trying to show how to do something on a budget. I thought the lesson was full of good tips though regarding color, texture, fabrics and such. There are some rooms that the resources ARE listed.

I liked the information given in the book and thought it was helpful and easy to follow. Even though the book is text heavy, it is easy to follow because the paragraph that starts new information has titles. There were call out boxes that had specific tips, i.e. "Pattern Perfect" which gave you tips on how to mix fabric patterns successfully. I thought the photography was great!

For those who like these types of before and after shows, there is a new TV decorating show called "Double Take" that takes the inspiration room and tries to create the exact room on a budget, unlike Sensible Chic that tries to create a similar room on a budget.

I do recommend this book. I think even if you have never watched the show, it has some excellent tips and information on how to match looks and decorate your rooms tastefully.

This is put together so well !! I love home decorating shows, on TLC and HGTV, and as a result I own a lot of their books . Most are full of lovely photos , but few real ideas , that real people can use . Sensible Chic , is full of helpful information,creative ideas , and references to stores found in every city . I love Sensible Chic ( the book and the show), because of the way they can take inspiration from an expensive designer room , and create the same look for less . This beautiful book , puts all of the other *home decorating* books to shame !! Buy a copy, you will not be sorry !!

I haven't had a chance to really put this book to use yet. Most of the styles are very modern and my taste is a little more traditional and "old world". I am not sorry that I bought the book, but I don't think I will be able to use it like I had hoped.

I am a big fan of the show! I found the book to have a variety of room styles. They offered tips to create the look and broke down the budget showing how the money was spent. I did expect a little more though. I've seen so many great episodes and I found myself wondering, "how come they didn't include the room from that episode". Nevertheless, it's still a book worth buying.