Customer Reviews

The Swimming Pool: Stylish and Inspirational Ideas for Building and Decorating Your Pool

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I am so disappointed that I wasted my money on this book. I had hoped for the amount of money spent that it would have had practical ideas for how to landscape around an average pool. Unfortunately, it is more of a coffee table book that shows glamourous pictures of pools from international locations. The majority of the landscaping tips it does give cover extravagant and costly enhancements and not anything that someone with a normal budget could afford. For an average pool owner, with an average pool, this book does not give any practical advice whatsoever. Furthermore, in the opening pages of the book the author cautions against buying a kidney-shaped pool because she feels they are old-fashioned and reminiscent of the 50's and 60's. To me, it seemed very pretentious to say. We have a kidney-shaped pool and it's absolutely beautiful, as are other kidney-shaped pools I've seen. If you're looking for a book where you can "ooh and ahhh" over the pictures... this one is it. If you're looking for a practical book to help you landscape around your pool, please save your money.

Martha Baker's The Swimming Pool: Stylish And Inspirational Ideas For Building And Decorating Your Pool is for you. From assessments of popular contemporary styles and materials to discussions of key elements which blend for a unified look, The Swimming Pool packs color photos with tips on how to compliment a property with the right design - up to and including furniture, poolside cooking and dining options, and landscaping.

Martha Baker's THE SWIMMING POOL is a coffee table book of some of the most beautiful pool around the world, but it is much more than that. Written with an easy style but always a poignant conciseness that makes every paragraph count, this book gives visual and conceptual ideas for creating the home swimming pool.

Baker is careful not to just limit the text and photographs to the water container in which the swimming takes place: Baker gives as much attention to the logistics of pool layout, landscaping, lighting, and vantage points that make the pool an integral part of the landscape and garden.

Whether the reader is actually planning the addition of a swimming pool to the home, or is more interested in viewing the myriad possibilities of adding water to the garden, this book is an elegant and satisfying resource - as well as a beautifully designed art piece! Grady Harp, June 06

While the book is titled The Swimming Pool, I think it is more about the "outdoor room" The "Classic" pools are still more lavish than will be helpful to the average pool owner. A good book to use for a few weeks from your public library.

Pool Owner [...]