Style and Substance: The Best of Elle Decor [Hardcover]

Margaret Russell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2009

Style and Substance: The Best of ELLE DECOR offers a unique, closer look at hundreds of dazzling rooms the magazine has published during its first two decades. The book provides an intimate view inside breathtaking homes from around the world with 240 pages of striking images culled from the archives of ELLE DECOR - America's most elegant interiors magazine.

A lush compendium of inspiring spaces, Style and Substance is your room-by-room guide to living well. Showcasing points of view that range from classic to cutting-edge, the book focuses on inviting, personality-packed decorating and how
to do it yourself. With ravishing photos and smart how-to advice from the magazine's coterie of tastemakers and design experts, it features page after page of fabulous yet functional interiors that prove luxury needn't be pricey and affordable design can surely be chic.

- A-list designers, architects, and tastemakers reveal helpful trade secrets and essential inside information

- User-friendly Style Guide boxes deliver experts' how-to advice and inspiring decorating ideas for every room

- ELLE DECOR's Sourcebook provides a compre-hensive list of the magazine's favorite shops and websites for everything you need to furnish your home, all in a wide range of price points.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

For 20 years, Margaret Russell has infused ELLE DECOR with a singular sense of sophistication while helping to preserve its mission to inspire those passionate about interiors with the best in decoration, architecture, and product design. In 2000, she was promoted to editor in chief of the magazine she helped found. ELLE DECOR is now the largest of 25 ELLE DECO editions published around the world.

A graduate of Brown University, Russell began her career at Glamour. Her first book, Designing Women: Interiors by Leading Style Makers, was published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang in 2001, and So Chic: Glamorous Lives, Stylish Spaces was released by Filipacchi Publishing in 2007; she also appeared as a featured judge on both seasons of Bravo's Top Design. Russell was named a vice president of Hachette Filipacchi Media in 2003.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Filipacchi Publishing (October 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933231602
• ISBN-13: 978-1933231600
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.8 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design > Industrial & Product Design

More About the Author

For 20 years, Margaret Russell has infused ELLE DECOR with a singular sense of sophistication while helping to preserve its mission to inspire those passionate about interiors with the best in decoration, architecture, and product design. In 2000, she was promoted to editor in chief of the magazine she helped found. ELLE DECOR is now the largest of 25 ELLE DECOR editions published around the world.

A graduate of Brown University, Russell began her career at Glamour. Her first book, "Designing Women: Interiors" by Leading Style Makers, was published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang in 2001, and "So Chic: Glamorous Lives, Stylish Spaces" was released by Filipacchi Publishing in 2007; she also appeared as a featured judge on both seasons of Bravo's Top Design. Russell was named a vice president of Hachette Filipacchi Media in 2003.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for a designer at any level! November 3, 2009

By Vicente Wolf

Format:Hardcover

As an interior designer I'm always looking for material to use as reference. I think the Elle Décor book offers the best of this venue, especially if one is looking to redo one's space. It offers different styles of approach for a variety of rooms in your home, ranging from more traditional to more contemporary. It's a great tool for interior designers, or anybody interested in redoing their home.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wide variety of stunning and stylish homes January 22, 2010

By San Antonio Book Review

Format:Hardcover

Where on earth can a person with a keen eye for excellent home décor find libraries with rolling ladders, living rooms covered in sumptuous chinoiserie fabric, monochromatic bedrooms with spiral staircases, and dining room walls lacquered in persimmon red paint, all gathered together in one immensely stylish book? The answer, of course, is Style and Substance: The Best of Elle Décor.

Style and Substance features hundreds of beautifully rendered photographs of the homes of designers, architects, antiques buyers, celebrities, and fashion executives. The contents is divided into public spaces and personal spaces, and further divided down by rooms. It is luxurious and makes no apologies for it, and whether a reader's taste in interior design is clean and modern or cozy and careworn, there is something here to inspire everyone. For the former there is Will Kopelman's home office on page 72, with its crisp white walls, glass-topped desk, and Bertoia wire chairs. For the latter, Julie Greenwood's kitchen on pages 116 and 117 will make even the most anti-materialistic of souls covetous, and it's no small wonder as to why: the antique French furniture and Italian chandelier are a sight to behold when contrasted with the exposed stone walls and floor.

The title is in no way misleading. This is truly the best of Elle Decor. This book is a marvel and a wonder, and should be considered a must read for anyone interested in interior design.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not SO CHIC, but great! November 1, 2009

By Charles F. Allen Jr.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As an ardent fan of SO CHIC for its depiction of private lives and private homes, I ordered STYLE AND SUBSTANCE (kind of) expecting more of the same. The book is a delight to the senses and the interiors are elegantly charming and beautiful. I realize that the homes shown in it are ones previously featured in ELLE DECOR, but I was hoping for more of the details of the decorating and just a little more biographical info. These are not intended to be disparaging remarks; instead, they are personal opinion. It is an elegant book that I have now begun reading for the second time since I got it just about a month ago. Ms Russell has done a marvelous job in the editing. You'll once again be inspired, intrigued, and feel glee in peeking into the beautiful private worlds of some very elegant, charming people.