Slob Proof! Real-Life Home Decorating Solutions [Mass Market Paperback]

Debbie Wiener (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 7, 2008

Decorate for the way you really live.

You can have nice things!

This totally practical home-design book offers realistic, attractive, and comfortable design solutions to families overrun by messy kids, muddy dogs, and sloppy spouses who make beige carpeting an endangered species, and make hardwood floors look like a skating rink. What these families (and even sloppy singles) need are reasonable, no-nonsense design choices for rugs and floors, sofas, tables, carpets and tiling, and curtains and blinds that can withstand the wear and tear of real everyday life and still look great.

No need to wait until the kids are in college to enjoy a smart, stylish home. With this book, readers can have their dream house—and live in it too.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Debbie Wiener is a licensed interior designer, and owner of Designing Solutions, a full-service interior design firm specializing in real-life, family-friendly interiors. Her answers to designing dilemmas appear monthly in the Maryland Gazette Newspapers and Times Community Newspapers of Northern Virginia.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; Original edition (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592577695
• ISBN-13: 978-1592577699
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,138,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't go furniture shopping without this book! October 7, 2008

By Judy G. Schwartzman

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book is a must have for terrific tips on decorating your home to make it slob proof. It includes wonderful ideas to make your home beautiful and liveable even if your husband is a slob, you have a pet(s) and your kids are typically messy. It includes a lot of useful information and includes stories and humor that many can relate to. I have gotten decorating books before that I thought reflected my lifestyle, but was disappointed when there was not a lot of information I could use. This book really has useful information to make my home very liveable and beautiful too!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ms from maryland October 10, 2008

By margie schwartz

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book is practical yet beautiful and written with much humor! This is not just a designer's showhouse tip book but a guide book of design for all. Debbie Wiener has definitely tapped a unique niche in the often over the top world of interior design.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes sense to me October 8, 2008

By david13z

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Lots of really good suggestions for the organizationally challenged. I really liked the shopping lists.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes You Can be a Slob! January 4, 2009

By Business Man

Format:Mass Market Paperback

It's about time someone wrote this kind of book. Most design books too overdone, but this book really speaks to families like ours. We both work, we have kids and they have friends over all the time. Our top priority when we buy furniture is to find something that will last. This book told us what to look for in carpets and seating. She lists many online sites that are quite helpful. Plus, the designer is funny and you feel she's just like you- not looking down on your taste and style. Overall, it's well organized and actually quite funny and we could relate to her own family stories. Her hand-written notes help you focus on what's important.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Slob Proof Real Life Design Solutions January 16, 2010

By Kathy Eads

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved this book. I first heard about Debbie on the Jen & Vicky podcast show. She was great and I loved how you could decorate without having to replace everything every two years. I have beige carpet and a dog that has made a mess of it. I can't wait to replace my flooring and I am definetly using Debbie's decorating advise. Buy the book you won't be sorry!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a decorating book filled with advice you can live with! April 29, 2010

By The Cheap Diva

Format:Mass Market Paperback

For design advice that tackles the reality of how you really live instead of offering fantasies on how you would like to live, read Slob Proof! by Debbie Wiener. Thanks to Wiener's years of experience as a professional interior designer and her years of living with a husband and children who are slobs, she is able to design living spaces that are both attractive and practical.

Wiener's friendly writing style and personal anecdotes about how her own family of slobs inspired many of her design solutions makes this a fun as well as practical read. From floor to ceiling Wiener covers it all. She tells you which flooring options, including stone, wood and carpeting, are going to last the longest and look the best. Anyone whose living room has basically turned into a dining room with the stains to prove it will appreciate her fabric suggestions for chairs and couches. Not only does she identify the most indestructible stain resistant fabrics to use she show you how using patterns can cleverly camouflage the stains. Whether talking about wall paint, window coverings, floors or furniture, the author emphasizes stain resistance, stain camouflage, practicality and durability. She also lists specific brands and manufacturers to make the decorating process easier.

THE CHEAP DIVA'S GUIDE TO FRUGAL AND FABULOUS LIVING: How to Shop Smart, Look Your Best, Decorate with Style, and Have Fun for Less Money!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Want a beautiful home that you can live in too?? February 26, 2010

By Jennifer Donovan

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Slob Proof is a to-the-point resource for people who want to LIVE in their homes, not just look at them. Some people like to be able to put their feet up on the sofa, to wear their shoes in their house, and to enjoy pets (and children and grandchildren!).

Debbie Wiener is on your side.

SLOB PROOF offers advice (including lots of gorgeous photos) about how to decorate your home in a way that will not require you to follow around your loved ones with a broom and feather duster to keep it looking nice. She focuses on form and function. Her ideas are such that it makes a home not only more beautiful, but more livable (including a few creative uses of remote controls!).

She explains why color and pattern are your friends, and even recommends some specific brands and products. I would have liked to see more of this, perhaps, and what I was really hoping for was some organizational or storage information -- that's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I know it's not an organizing book, but the fact is that for most of us our rooms and furniture are not showcases, but areas that house work-stations, hold books and games and toys etc.

But if you are redoing any of your rooms -- floors, walls or furniture -- as we have been doing gradually, I can highly recommend this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book got me motivated! January 13, 2009

By S. Fine

Format:Mass Market Paperback

My sister gave me this book as a present and I must admit I am a slob (packrat is more like it) so I laughed outloud when I read the title and continued to laugh as I turned the pages of this very helpful and informative book. I'm so glad it was published!