Customer Reviews

Yes/No Design: Discover Your Decorating Style With Taste-Revealing Exercises and Examples

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Before reading Yes/No Design, I never really thought about my personal taste in decorating, nor did I bother to explore my own creativity. When I found myself with the task of decorating my living room, I felt completely overwhelmed. I had read tons of magazines and asked for the opinions of my friends, as well the opinions of their interior designers. Once I read Diane Love's book, I found myself wondering what was it that I liked when it came to color? Furniture? Fabrics? I had no idea. The exercises in Yes/No design truly helped me, for the first time, locate my own imagination and style. I realized that lemon was going to be the color of my living room, and not yellow. I realized that an airy room was what I wanted, instead of a darker, stuffier one. Yes/ No helped me organize my thoughts, and in the end, helped me to decorate my home in only one way, mine!

Yes/No design was written for the purpose of understanding various elements of design that appeal to each of us. Often we cannot understand why certain colors or styles are comforting and pleasing to the senses. This book acts as an explanation to why we feel the way we do regarding certain environments. I especially enjoyed the workbook section and visual guides. The reference guides are not unlike those found in several european do it yourself guides. This book often has an upmarket almost Ikea-esque feel to it. It encourages readers to use their own surrondings and ideas rather than changing for the sake of another persons style.

Unlike some of the other people who reviewed this book, I did not find the quiz to be helpful. However, the benefit of the quiz may depend upon how knowledgeable you are about interior decoration and/or how fixed you are in a particular style. The reviewers who seemed to be helped the most were novices. That is why I gave this book 2 stars instead of 1. On the other hand, I think the basic tips provided by this book have been covered better in other books, and the pictures are only so-so.

At one point the author says "listen to your intuition." That is what I suggest people do instead of buying this book.

However, if you don't yet trust yout intuition the following are some good books:

Color Your Home Beautiful: Ideas and Solutions
- It has beautiful photos, a variety of well-chosen color combinations in a variety of styles, dozens of color swatches, useful tips, and quotes from designers.

Ultimate Home Style Guide by Katherine Sorrell
- Almost all styles are represented here with enough details on colors, fabrics, and other style elements to create the look your self.

Better Homes & Gardens: New Remodeling Book
- Despite the fact that remodeling is in the title, this is a good basic book about interior design. I like it better than BH&G: New Decorating Book.

Too many teeny photos of rooms. I can't SEE anything. One vague exercise after another. Example: Look at the rooms shown here. "Find three words ... that best express your reaction to each room. Write the words on note paper and stick on the photograph..." AND THE POINT IS? The exercises will continually leave you hanging. If they are connected in some way, then one would have to spend hours and hours going through this book like a textbook.

The tips in the book also lean toward the vague side. "The elements that make up an architectural style are numerous and varied. That's why it is important to consider each detail to determine which features are the most attractive and least attracitive. No space is perfect, but by paying attention to the details you can make every space work decoratively." AND THE POINT IS? What do I DO about what I have just read? I dunno. I get so frustrated when a book that looks and sounds interesting ends up being a vague mishmash of photos (mostly of places that bear no resemblance to the typical American home, by the way) and non-specific writing. Another example is a page simply called DOORS, that shows 6 badly shot (shots are cut off in a strange way, too) photos of doors with a vague caption that telle ms that doors are decorative elements, that one can look at salvage places for interesting ones, and repeats, "Don't overlook doors." Well, great. Could be be a little more specific here?

Also, the book seems big and heavy, but they used heavy paper, and it's really only 160 pages. A ripoff.

I have a shelf full of books on design but Ms. Love's is the first to take me inside myself. Most books are full of advise on color schemes and furniture styles and such but none that I'm familiar with challenge/help the reader turn often intuitive likes and dislikes into a strategy for creating a style of h/her own. On top of that, the book is fun -- and visually beautiful as well. Hats off to Ms. Love for a beautifully conceived book that combines intelligence with design savvy to help us novices find our own individual styles.

This book is excellent for those who don't understand what their personal style is. If you are already certain of what your style is and why, then don't bother with this book. Love walks you through the excercises to teach you how to express yourself and explain why you do or do not like something. It helps bring our subconscious reactions to the surface where we can recognize them. I think it is most helpful to avoid expensive mistakes. How many times have we seen something that looks good, but it our own house it is not satisfying? Then we redecorate, hoping to get it right this time. Love's object is to help you avoid those costly mistakes and find the most satisfying environment the first time.

Diane Love's "Yes/No Design" is a joy. It's a gift that I gave myself not knowing the profound effect it would have upon me.

Having had little or no faith in my aesthetic sense, "Yes/No Design" helped me trust my choices through the simple understanding of my likes and dislikes (for things such as colors, sizes, shapes, space, and patterns). The book is beautiful, thought-provoking, validating and inspiring. I realized I don't have to be an "expert" to create a lovely home.

"Yes/No Design" helped me get in touch with who I am, what I enjoy and appreciate, and what makes me comfortable. For me, decorating my home has become a metaphor for changing and improving my life and my attitude. Diane Love has shown me that beauty most definitely comes from within.

I have had this book for a few months now, so I have given it a fair try.But I still don't like it. It's difficult to use, to act on. It looked interesting, and I like the idea of learning more about my own tastes and why I like what I do. It's just that the book didn't fulfill its promise. In searching for help in this area, I came across The New Decorating Book, which has made it easier for me to understand my own tastes and also has taught me the design basics I need to decorate my own home. The book even has a quiz which helps people to understand their decorating personalities. My daughter's home ec class was using The New Decorating Book, which is how I found it. I also like Real Life Decorating, because that book gives me ideas and talks about understanding how my personality and lifestyle affect how I decorate my home.

The book looked good and sounded interesting, so I bought it. Mistake. The idea of learning about and expressing your own taste is covered so much better in so many other decorating books. This is very hard to use, as an earlier reviewer said. And the tiny pictures do not help that situation at all. Again, there are many better books on the topic.

Not only is this book intelligent, but it calls on the reader to find her own creativity. So often we are told what to like and where to buy it. While these things can be helpful, if what you really want is to express yourself in your surroundings, then Yes/No Design will lead you within to uncover and create.

Living in a consumer culture, it is easy to get out of touch with our own expressive sides, and I really like how Ms. Love encourages us to take that journey back to our most original selves. If you are willing to complete the exercises and look at them as a whole, what you can find is nothing short of your self.

I think Yes/No Design is a text on how to distill out the essence of design as an act of personal creation. Rather than paying Ms. Love to tell us what to like, we are gaining something far more valuable with the purchase of this book -- a guide to our own creativity which we can then use to decorate our homes and every other area of our lives.