23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The only person in the US who doesn't know who she is!, July 26, 2002
This review is from: Tracy Porter's Home Style: Creative and Livable Decorating Ideas For Everyone (Hardcover)
My affair with this book is love-hate.
I never heard of Tracy Porter or her 'style' until the publisher sent me a beautifully designed shopping bag filled with catalogs showcasing her retail items and the gift of a personal teapot cum cup & saucer -- very clever.
The items from her retail line are much cleaner and more mainstream than the pictures in this book which purports to be from her home.
What Tracy does is give the reader permission to take things out of the 'keeping for good' closet and use them everyday. That's good.
What she also does, and I'm sick to death of it, is use items that have seen better days. If I see one more piece of distressed furniture or one more chipped painted chandelier I'm going to scream.
People -- reupholster your furniture! If something's ripped, fix it. Unless your furniture sports real antique fabrics or finishes or is showing true wear and tear from daily use, repair it. Enough I say!
Tracy bravely uses color in her home. I do think there's too much of a mish-mash in many of the rooms, but that's my personal taste and not necessarily bad.
The other problem I have with this book is this home supposedly has three small (under 4 years old) boys living in it. Yet, there is pin a cushion on chair seat (a delight to the eye), a faux leopard throw hanging off a chest (on top of which sit four painted glasses and a matching glass martini shaker), lampshades with antique buttons hot-glued around the rim, and a dresser top filled with a letter opener, very, very small porcelain dolls, perfume bottles, and hat pins, to name a few.
I hope as soon as the photographer left Tracy ran through the house clearing off all these potential accidents waiting to happen.
There is a very short project section which gives instructions on how to make some of the items shown in the book. If you're a fan of decorating books, magazines, or shows you've seen them all before.
What I did appreciate is the resource directory at the back of the book. In alphabetical order it lists many of the places you can buy nice home design items. Where there is a web site available, it is included, so you're not forced to call.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flight of Fancy, May 12, 2002
This review is from: Tracy Porter's Home Style: Creative and Livable Decorating Ideas For Everyone (Hardcover)
I am a fan of Tracy Porter's eclectic, fanciful style. My only disapointment with this book is that the format was not as large as "Dreams from Home" or "Inspired Gatherings". "Home Style" is an inspirational guide to Tracy's style, and perhaps your own. I find her sense of whimsy and creativity delightful. There a joy and free-spiritedness to her work that is quite refreshing. Her style may not appeal to all, but if you are a fan of Shabby Chic, flea-market finds, romance and comfortable charm, you will enjoy "Home Style".
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tracy Porter is classy, May 6, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Tracy Porter's Home Style: Creative and Livable Decorating Ideas For Everyone (Hardcover)
Tracy Porter's newest book continues to give me ideas for making my home unusual and charming using items from my attic and flea market trips. What attracts me to Tracy is her sense of whimsy, sophistication, and confidence that creates a special look to ordinary surroundings. Tracy shows us how to take things we have or can easily purchase and make our home different from the homogenized rooms we see in so many publications with new, shiny furnishings that tend to all look alike. Tracy's book has given me the courage to utilize a favorite old bench with silk fabric that is glorious but ripped, fabric that is too unique to throw away. Because of Tracy, I display a chipped Minton plate that normally I would have kept at the back of a cabinet; I bring out tattered leather books and golf leaf frames with cloudy glass and marred edges. To mix the old and the new, well-worn antiques and flea market/house sale finds, makes a home special. There is no one like Tracy in making a home exciting without spending a fortune. A skirt of tulle on an ordinary wash stand, unusual flower holders on the wall, and a deep shade of red turn an ordinary bathroom into a delight. Weathered garage doors for the closet and old garden ornaments as table centerpieces, along with aged wooden cornices over kitchen windows, make any home look extraordinary. Thanks to her, I browse shops with a new eye and pull out things from my attic and basement that I thought were too worn to use. Something well used but classy is so much more interesting than something new and tacky. My friends all rave about "the Tracy Porter look."
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