More Splash Than Cash Decorating Ideas: Over 1200 Tips, Tricks, Techniques, and Ideas to Decorate Your Home (Paperback)

by Donna Babylon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Both of these books take a helpful approach to interior decorating. Babylon, designer of home decorating patterns for McCall's, gives tips for every room of the house. Instructions for projects referenced within the text are all contained at the end of the book. Linsley (First Home, LJ 5/15/98) continues with her style of sparsely illustrated advice, this time on how to decorate in a luxurious style within a budget. Both books give instructions on various projects such as painting effects and sewing soft furnishings that are covered better in such books as Jocasta Innes's Applied Artistry (LJ 1/96) or Complete Book of Soft Furnishings (reviewed below). However, the advice in both will give an amateur decorator hundreds of ideas.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Windsor Oak Publishing (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966822706
• ISBN-13: 978-0966822700
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,649 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Right on target! Decorating 101, July 23, 1999

By	D. Williams "Host of By the Book Radio" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Decorating and design ideas contained in More Splash than Cash are right on target. This book is filled with frugal, creative, innovative methods to improve your home decor.

The author's intentional ommission of photographs inspire the readers to get creative and use their imagination. Simple suggestions such as implementing an idea file or using a small trial amount of a color are effective ways to gain confidence in designing and decorating a home.

Donna Babylon has done a fine job of introducing the elements of interior design to a broad audience, removing the mystery and encouraging readers to roll up their sleeves and get to work. Tips such as introducing various surfaces and textures in a room to alleviate "sameness" in a room, using color to create and maintain a room's mood, and establishing a room's layout by observing furniture arrangement after a party are all simple ways to get started in designing a space.

The Storage Solutions chapter was chock full of effective ways to conquer clutter. Hanging an old window or rack for pots in the kitchen is an ideal way to create more space in an otherwise small area. Containing clutter in baskets, finding hidden storage under stairs and alcoves, using kitchen cabinets throughout your home, building a window seat - these are all practical solutions for a well-organized home, and I frequently include these systems in my own recommendations to clients.

This book is a must read for those intimidated by interior decorating - help has finally arrived!

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a very easy to understand and easy to use book., August 11, 1999

By	Lara Nieberding ([e-mail]) (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

I love this book because it is easy to understand and easy to use. Donna Babylon's writing style makes this "how-to" book enjoyable. I have so much creative energy I do not know what to do with it. More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas is a book that will harness all that energy. Babylon wrote this book in a reference style. Look up your idea. When you turn to the page, everything is written in short easy to follow statements. I got flowers for Mother's Day. I have always wanted to dry flowers. In More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas, Babylon explains exactly how to dry flowers in her chapter "Garden Variety." Her directions were so simply stated I could picture what I was supposed to do before I actually did it. One of my favorite sections of More Splash than Cash Decorating Ideas is the glossary. Babylon has taken the time to define decorating terms. Having a glossary removes the intimidation factor of decorating. I have often heard the term "Decoupage." Babylon explains it is "a technique using cutouts of paper or fabric applied to various surfaces and coated with varnish for permanence." All her definitions are easy to understand. She does not use decorating technical terms to define a decorating technical term. For me, understanding the terms helps me visualize what the final project should look like. I am more willing to take on a project when I can "see" how it might turn out.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book actually lives up to it's title with workable idea, November 14, 1999

By	sheri gravel ([e-mail]) (atlanta, georgia) - See all my reviews

ms. babylon's book is filled with ideas big and small for every part of a home. there are all sorts of solutions for problems and even holiday tips. i have a new home and am using so many suggestions for pulling together a few new things and many old treasures. for example, i love the idea of setting a holiday table using mittens to hold the napkin and flatware for each setting! easy, festive, and unusual without being expensive. there are so many ideas, it'd make a great gift for a new bride or any friend in need of a creative "push"!