Sheer Opulence (Decor Best-Sellers) [Hardcover]

Nicholas Haslam (Author)

Book Description

Series: Decor Best-Sellers | Publication Date: October 1, 2002

With 30 years experience as one of the world's finest interior designers-sought by rock stars, royalty, movie stars, and the rich and famous worldwide-Nicholas Haslam presents his signature style in Sheer Opulence. Never one for pure minimalism or overblown fussiness, the Haslam interior has chutzpah and a touch of opulence that seduces you the moment you experience it. Like the masters of true design before him, Nicholas Haslam has the fashion designer's instinct and originality that enables him to make rooms look glamorous yet livable, practical yet flattering to their owner and their surroundings. Constantly breaking down boundaries, Haslam is legendary for his unique effects, such as stunning mosaic gilt-effect walls, linen carpets, silver-papered ceilings, slashed leather curtains, and Picasso-inspired fabric footstools. Sheer Opulence reveals Haslam's decorating secrets and instinctive approach to design. This is an original and extraordinary visual diary of influences, inspirations, works in progress, tear sheets, and sample boards. It displays the Haslam style in detail, highlighting the houses he has worked on in the US and UK. Photographed throughout with stunning, specially commissioned photography, it is an exceptional showcase of a very distinctive approach to design that reflects Haslam's larger-than-life persona. The rock stars' favorite decorator, Haslam has an impressive client list and his celebrity often matches that of his clients. Yet Sheer Opulence shows how anyone can aspire to this signature look, and bring glamour and style to their own everyday living.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nicky Haslam has not only reinvented himself - he's reinvented English interior design, turning it around, twisting it and coming up with something exquisite and undreamt of by anyone else. Not one to pander to restraint or minimalism, Haslam goes all out for his individual interiors: adding pillars, columns, fake doors don't daunt him in the slightest and his commissions for furniture, lights, wallpaper and carpets, made to order, will no doubt one day end up in an art gallery for their beauty and perfection. Decorator to the stars, and a star himself, he has been fortunate enough to carry out his dreams and visions the world over. In this, his first book, he explains his ideas, methods and the inspiration behind the multitude of fabulous interiors which fill this wonderful book. His sound design advice is lucidly given to ensure the everyday person can translate it into their own homes. As he says, "decoration is about making people look prettier and feel happier" and although most of us cannot afford hand-painted wallpaper or marble floors, we can, as he often does, improvise. For an indulgent, inspirational read, transport yourself to a world of perfection, beauty and "Sheer Opulence" with Britain's number one interior designer. - Lucy Watson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

An interior decorator since 1971, Nicholas Haslam lived in Los Angeles and New York and was the art director of Vogue magazine. He currently lives and works out of London and Hampshire, England. He decorates town and country interiors all over Europe and the US for private clients, who include Ringo Starr, Joan Collins, Mick Jagger, and several British royals.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; 1st Edition. edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823047970
• ISBN-13: 978-0823047970
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,142,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Grand Illusions, March 3, 2004

By 

Mr Worthington (Rochester, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sheer Opulence (Decor Best-Sellers) (Hardcover)

Nicholas Haslam must surely be the most well-connected decorator of his time. As a very young man he was hanging out with the likes of Lady Diana Cooper and company. The book's inside-flap wastes no time in reminding us of his celebrity clientel.He has had privilged entree to some of the most ravishingly beautiful rooms of his time, and he is an astute observer of the elements that go to make up that thing called Style. His essays are excellently presented, his watercolours delightful.

If only he had brought these talents to bear upon his own interiors, which are at their best merely whimsical and at worst faintly tawdry. The gorgeous photography serves to reinforce the notion that all interior decoration is somehow suspect. Use of materials and architectural detail is arbitrary to a fault.In short, nothing quite rings true, and the quality of Character that this designer admires in the works of his predecessors is disconcertingly absent from these hollow excercises. Perhaps when Evelyn Waugh's Mrs Beaver noted that "decoration is not an exact science" she gave the world something to chew on.

Several years ago Mr Haslam moved into the Hunting Lodge, lived in previously by the great John Fowler. A double paged spread illustrates a corner of the diminutive Sitting Room. A bulky sofa having an array of "accent" cushions is thrust further into the room by a table behind it, and above that table are 18century French engravings in gilt frames. The effect is ludicrous. One hardly expected Nicky Haslam to dupicate the Fowler scheme, but at the very least he might have honored the spirit of the place, and restrained himself from tarting things up.
Nonetheless, this is a fascinating glimpse into a sort of unreal, fantasy world where publicity and social skills count for
something alarmingly persuasive. Being a good interior decorator isn't in the least a simple matter, yet the myth lives on in these pages.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dated and ugly faux-toff style, April 12, 2010

By 

Third Time Lucky (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sheer Opulence (Paperback)

I'm reading Nicholas Haslam's autobiography, 'Redeeming Features' at the moment, and so enjoying it that I decided I'd treat myself to his interiors book, 'Sheer Opulence'. It's recently been re-issued in paperback so I figured "no great loss" if I didn't like it. I live in a titchy little terrace myself, but I do like my property porn, and Haslam's reputation as the best in the business suggested something really quite fantastic.

Well, what a disappointment. The cover of this book shows a really lovely, restrained yet homely and restful interior, and definitely whets the appetite for more; then you get into the body of the book and discover it's full of some of the naffest, most dated rooms you ever saw in your life.

If you are a faux-toff desperate to make your newly-minted money look old, Haslam is obviously your man. He seems to love his frilly-knicker curtains, gopping rococo antiques, and fussy fabrics and upholstery; never layers the passing of time or incorporates the patina of age and wear; and he absolutely doesn't know when to stop. It's like a caricature of 'posh', and exactly how a sink-estate dweller who's won the lottery might furnish his new country pile.

Haslam's colourways are also very dated (I suspect the publisher didn't bother to incorporate any of Haslam's newer work), and his room treatments devoid of any real interest because everything is simultaneously excessive and totally bare of any real personality. Even in paperback, and even if you merely bought this book to accustom your design eye to tastes that aren't your own, this book is a complete waste of time and money. I'm returning my copy to Amazon, and you should save yourself the trouble of even borrowing it from the library.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, June 12, 2005

By 

Patricia Don Diego "IMZORRO" (Stevensville, Mt. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sheer Opulence (Decor Best-Sellers) (Hardcover)

Wonderful book, lots of ideas. This is a decorator who is not afraid to combine "grand" with "simple" and makes it all look great. Here is someone who goes beyond what most people think of as proper and good decorating and because of his ideas and boldness, makes rooms come alive.
Anyone can follow the rules and create a nice room, it takes a creative mind to go beyond that, and this book shows that.