Customer Reviews

Vintage Vavoom: Romantic Decorating with One-of-a-Kind Finds

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book disappointing. I was looking for inspiring pictures and tips that might give me good ideas about how to arrange my own vintage accessories.

Instead the book seems directed toward people who are just starting out in a home, or beginner collectors. Lots of space is dedicated to extremely superficial and obvious advice on where to find vintage items (antique malls and flea markets--who knew?!), getting the most for your money (pedigree and craftsmanship are indicators of value--hmm!), and buying things you love--because apparently some collectors buy things they don't love?

Inspiring photos could have helped make up for the lacking text, but I also found those disappointing. Most are close-ups of one or two items, with very few wider views of rooms or large-scale arrangements. The latter part of the book deals with mixing and matching items, which was more what I had in mind, and I did find a few useful pictures and ideas there, but not nearly enough to justify the cost of the book.

The book also features workshop ideas at the end of each chapter, wherein the reader is encouraged to create an idea binder with torn-out pictures from magazines, or to practice creating vignettes in corners or on shelves. Again, this may be helpful for people who are new to decorating or collecting, but as a longtime collector who has a pretty solid idea of her style and tastes, it was not information I needed.

I enjoy Romantic Home magazine, but this book is not what I'd hoped it would be. I'd recommend Mary Emmerling's design books for inspiration on arranging, mixing, and displaying vintage items instead.

Some pretty pictures, but not much else, and all of the pictures started to look the same to me after a while. The writing style is grating: "vavoom" really is kind of a ridiculous word and gets old fast. The advice is the same-old, same-old. I love a pretty book, but I didn't even finish looking through this one. Buy a magazine and use your savings to buy one of those one-of-a-kind treasures. I don't like to be negative, but I also don't like to spend my money on something that's just not that great.

I received my copy of this book yesterday. Beautiful pictures, helpful tips, a "how-to" on designing your own Dream Diary for your personal decorating style and ideas. Each chapter ends with a Dream Diary Workshop and there are lists of items to inspire collections. This book is such a treasure trove of ideas. Love it...

This book is basically for the "beginner decorator" that wishes to decorate in the more "romantic style".

Advanced decorators might find most of the information redundant.

However, if a person is a "beginner" in this area of decorating, then they will find this book very inspiring.

The photos are simply amazing---just as the photos in the magazine ROMANTIC HOMES are.... Colorful, large and bright!

The book begins with an information chapter, explaining the purpose of this book.

Basically, this book is like a mini-workshop because it shows the reader how to put together a "Decorating Journal", in order to organize their decorating style , from start to finish.
Thus, each Chapter in this book covers an area that is linked to the decorators' journal.

Most advanced decorators (of the romantic style) already know what they like, so this is why I state that this book is mainly for the beginning decorator.

This book is quite expensive, so if you can find this book "on sale", I think it would be worth while, even for the advanced decorator...Why?----Answer: because of the amazing photographs.

I think the photos in this book are what are truly amazing. The information itself, is slightly too basic though.

Even if you're not wealthy, you can still pick up used treasures, such as the ones shown in this book, and put them together to create a unique and pretty home.

For example: An ancient, chipped flower box is set on an elegant dining table. Pink roses spill out of the flower box to create a really stunning visual statement. Vintage fabrics, many of them lovely with antique lace, can be put together with other fabrics to bring a sense of history to any room.

There are tips on how to flea and how using treasures from your childhood can make your home special.

Outstanding! Great pics and interesting writing. Gathered a few new ideas to implement in my own home.

Refreshing look at vintage style done well! Excellent step-by-step guide on how to obtain this look in your own home. The photos are gorgeous as one would expect from Romantic Homes and even the copy is beautifully written. There are many home decor books out there today from which to choose that range from cutesie to pathetically self-important. How nice to find a treasure like this one that really provides solid information and creative ideas that marry nostalgia with good taste and can even do so while being mindful of the average home owner's budget. Vintage Vavoom is destined to become one of my all-time favorites!

I have many decorating books and many from the publishers of Romantic Homes, who were the creators of this book, and I have loved them all with the exception of this one. This was not an inspiring book at all and vavoom is a silly term when used in context with decorating.

This book is so inspiring if you love vintage decor...it shows you interesting and beautiful ways to display your older treasures!

I bought this because my wife wanted it. She has read it and she simply wants me to tell you that it deserves three stars.