Pad: The Guide to Ultra-Living (Hardcover)

by Matt Maranian (Author), Jack Gould (Author), Susan Tudor (Illustrator) "NOTHING creates the illusion of spaciousness more effectively than a big mirror..." (more)
Key Phrases: assemble the socket, large hardware chains, looking ratty, Every Saturday, Every Friday, Main Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
You have a futon left over from college, some dingy end tables that Aunt Miller left you, and an apartment whose carpeting dates back to the Me Decade. The decorating magazines and TV shows never seem to talk to you. So what? With some attitude, know-how, and a lot of your own style, your place can be transformed into a fabulous Shangri-La, a swanky venue fit for living and entertaining well. Pad: The Guide to Ultra-Living is filled to bursting with hip, affordable projects for every room in the house and shows how to use basics like lighting, plants, mirrors, and paint to enhance even problem areas. Numerous testimonials from real people with real living spaces demonstrate how a little spunk and individuality can overcome the limitations of the average urban dwelling. Offering a complete lifestyle package, Pad has instructions for building your own home bar, ideas for party themes and recipes--and even collateral hangover cures! This total living guide will have your place all spruced up--and the envy of guests--in no time.

About the Author
Matt Maranian is a freelance writer and former actor now living in Vermont, where he and his wife operate perhaps the hippest vintage clothing store in Brattleboro. He is the coauthor of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, L.A. Bizzaro.

Jack Gould is a Los Angeles--based photographer whose work appears regularly in the New Times Los Angeles.

Susan Tudor has worked as a photo director, fashion designer, textile artist, and graphic designer. She lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811826538
• ISBN-13: 978-0811826532
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #262,797 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't knock it if you don't get it., June 28, 2002

By	verbminx (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

It seems like so many people have reviewed this book on the basis of one or two of the rooms in it: the comments about clutter and nightmare "before" rooms are applicable to perhaps 1/4 of the homes shown in the book, and some lovely examples of the opposite have been ignored. PAD is not about junk-hunting at flea-markets or creating a "look", unless the look you want is retro-modern-surrealism. It is very much about subcultural decorating and lifestyles, and unlike most current design books I've seen, it has some very original and interesting projects in it. The flame pit is great (and extremely adaptable); the resin coasters are something you'd pay big bucks for in a hip little downtown store; the porno lamp is probably a really bad idea and I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. A decorating pitfall that people fall into is purchasing ill-made basics with no personality from cheap chain stores; PAD will rescue you from ugly chintz bedcovers. Many negative reviews of this book have failed to mention that it is text-heavy, which both expands on the photos and puts them in context. A book with a page of cocktail garnishes, plants it might be hard to kill, and directions on how to make a shag-fur covered television cabinet is definitely *NOT* aimed at the Tasteful Decor crowd, so I don't know why those people bothered and why they're bothering to complain: this is Urban Outfitters, not Pottery Barn. This book is for kitsch fanatics, art freaks, and people with a little bit of punk rock in their soul... all others should beware.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Martha Stewart was a punk hipster..., December 4, 2001

By A Customer

...she would have written this fab little book.

Do you enjoy:
- French country decor?
- Rachel Ashwell and her "Shabby Chic" lifestyle?
- extreme minimalism?

If so, you might not "get" this book.

If you're looking for fun, wacky, goofy, off-the-wall concepts of how a person's living space can be decorated, you will probably get a kick out of this book. I did.

I don't know if there are many people who would try and duplicate (in their own homes) the rooms shown in this book - many look pretty unlivable. Then again, the same could be said of the opulent (and often overdone) showhomes in any issue of "Architectural Digest."

I love this book because of the creativity and the total abandon with which many of these rooms are decorated. I wouldn't paper the walls of my powder room in cheap, dime-store toys, or re-do my living room with velvet couches, swag lamps and statues of David...but there are some who have the moxie to do so, and it's all here for you to gawk at in full glorious color.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great home decor projects & advice, unique interiors, June 5, 2000

By	Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I received this book as a gift and at first glance I wasn't sure it liked it. However, the more I looked at it the more I grew to love it. In fact, it's now one of my favorites. The décor is imaginative, wild, eclectic and truly original. It inspires you to look past the traditional and ordinary to create you own style.

There are design ideas for every room of your home including the living room, bedroom, office, bathroom, patio and entertainment room. Throughout the book over 20 different homes are shown and the owners share their design ideas and tastes with the reader. The homes reflect the owners' own unique personal style. There is an office decorated with wall-to-ceiling zebra prints, a bathroom featuring walls covered with cheap toys, and both a bathroom and bedroom come alive with psychedelic colors. There are a few more moderate rooms like a postmodern living room and a Moroccan style guest room. If nothing else some of these room will make you laugh.

Even if you hate all the home's décor the book is worth the price just for the projects. Some of my favorites include a framed mirror, flame pit, minimalist style disk partition, a flaming volcano centerpiece and "Cousin It" tissue box cover. There are lots of lighting projects as well, including a "Hawaiian Eye" swag lantern, a birdcage lamp and cocktail mug lamp. It also shows you how to easily make custom curtains without using a sewing machine and create an inlaid area rug.

There is also lots of helpful advice on growing things. This includes a list with care information of hard to kill indoor plants as well as advice on growing herbs and vegetables in containers for those that don't have a yard. A list of what alcoholic beverages to store in your home bar, advice on how to garnish and variety of punch mix recipes are also included. There is even advice on picking party music and transforming an ugly room into something wonderful and affordable.

As a bonus you get an excellent resource list including most major flea markets in almost every state across the U.S. A warning for those who are sensitive, there are a few sexual pictures and words in this book. If you looking for a book with unique decorating ideas, great home décor projects and great advice on everything from choosing carpet to making drinks this is the book to get.