1 comments about Gardens in France (Taschen 25th Anniversary).

1. As a dedicated gardener, I really looked forward to this book for inspiration and enjoyment. Somehow the publishers got the colours wrong and the whole book is a nauseating green colour in all the gardens. There should have been better quality control. However because the price is right, it still has value for learning about the different kinds of gardens in France.

2 comments about New Moroccan Style: The Art of Sensual Living.

1. I confess that I was a bit disappointed by this book. I was hoping for a book about sumptuous Moroccan decorating and living the Moroccan lifestyle. This book really only barely touches on that. The actual focus of the book is concentrated on a few hotels and restaurants located in Morocco but owned mostly by people foreign to Morocco, with the addition of a few homes of wealthy people in the United States who have been somewhat influenced by Moroccan style. This book contains no pictures of the interiors of homes of the average Moroccan citizen at all.
   
   Also, the decorating style advocated in this book is one of an overall Contemporary style with Moroccan influences. In the case of this book, "New" Moroccan Style equals an almost Asian minimalist approach with a few Moroccan handicrafts thrown in. If you're looking for a book with pictures featuring the more well-known "More is better!" Moroccan decorating approach, with layer on top of layer of textile and color, you are bound to be as disappointed as I was. The decorating style featured in this book is very restrained compared to most other books on Moroccan style that I have encountered.
   
   I still give the book four stars overall for content and information. For what the book actually is, it's not a bad book at all. It just isn't exactly what you'd expect it to be, either. The text discussing the origins of Moroccan style, from the Berber influence to Andalusian style, is especially informative. The recipes included in the book, along with pictures, are also a nice bonus.



2. This is such a great book! Spare yet sensual interiors, there are ideas for interiors in here that everyone can do. Moroccan interior design is not based on lots of money, or elaborate settings, but rather arranging things you have in unexpected ways - decide what's pleasing to you, and get bold with color!

2 comments about Van Day Truex: The Man Who Defined Twentieth-Century Taste and Style.

1. Lewis has obviously unearthed a treasure trove of very important material in the form of Truex' scrapbooks bringing to light an amazing tapestry of relationships bridging the worlds of fashion, product design, interior design, design education, and various cultural elites. It's refreshing to read a biography that is illustrated with the subject's own snapshots, original works, and previously published material that has been long unavailable. Parsons School of Design itself celebrated a centennial not long ago giving Truex no more than a few lines in its retelling of its story--the author has filled in a gaping hole in American design history for Parsons as well as Tiffany and Co.

   Contrary to another reader review, I am relieved not to be subjected to the "spice" that is strewn over so many other biographies. Lewis gives us as much personal information as is appropriate to the subject. This will be a requisite acquisition for many libraries, circulating and otherwise, I think.




2. Lewis is to be commended for his valiant attempt at constructing a biography about one of the 20th century's most invisible design talents. Truex had a minor influence on a certain coterie of designers and products that never reached very far beyond 57th and Fifth. His circle was rich, cultured and insular, therefore preventing him from gaining a kind of commercial notoriety that some of his peers were able to. Yet we still reap the fruits of his efforts to this day, with some of most lovely flatware,china and objets Tiffany's has to offer. What is most curious about Truex as a subject, is that perhaps he should have been a chapter in another book. He just wasn't that compelling (except for his fastidious neatness and controlled eating habits). Not to minimize the amount of work it must have been for Lewis to assemble all of this vaguely interesting material. I just wanted to know a little bit more about his personal life. Just a tiny bit more gossip might have been like a dash of paprika!

3 comments about Great Escapes: New Designs for Home Theaters by Theo Kalomirakis.

1. Lavishly illustrated with one hundred gorgeous color photographs by Phillip Ennis, Great Escapes: New Designs For Home Theaters By Theo Kalomirakis by Steven Castle presents extravagant designs for "media rooms" in private homes. These are specialized entertainment oriented rooms set aside to take full advantage of surround sound, acoustics, and visual appeal to bring forth the same quality experience as visiting a theater. Great Escapes showcases the work of interior designer Theo Kalomirakis as it artfully presents his work in creating home theaters of celebrities such as Dean Koontz, Eddie Murphy, Roger Ebert, and others in this unique source of enduring ideas.



2. This is a book to die for. The photography is amazing, the architecture out of this world and what Theo Kalomirakis does for his lucky clients will blow you away. I am already wearing out my copy and I only have had it for two days.



3. Whether your interest is home theater, or movie palaces from the 1920's and 30's, Great Escapes is sensational!
   Once I opened it, I couldn't put it down and trust me with 204 pages loaded with 140 color photos of breathtaking architectural eye candy, this book will demand your focus.
   Kalomirakis brings the elegance of yesteryears movie palaces home with the help of writers Steve Castle, Dean Koontz and photographer Phillip Ennis.
   You can truly see Kalomirakis' love for the big screen in the architectural details he adorns his private cinemas with. No details are spared in Kalomirakis' work from neon marquees and ticket booths welcoming visitors to his theaters to opulent lobbies adorned with domed mural ceilings and snack bars and timeless columns.
   A few times while reading this book, I had to remind myself that the featured theaters I was viewing were in someone's personal residence.
   I have to say my personal favorite theater in this book was created for author Dean Koontz called "The Moonlight." Koontz also has an introduction in the book.
   Even though most of the theaters in this book take up more square footage than the average persons home. And even though theaters designed by Kalomirakis are beyond the financial means of most people, this book can serve as inspiration for those that want to bring home the silver screen on a lesser budget and do it in style.
   Theo Kalomirakis' newest book Great Escapes definitely brings home the look of the movie palaces of yesterday.

3 comments about Terence Conran Kitchens: The Hub of the Home.

1. I was a little sceptical as there were only two reviews, but they were both 5 star so I went ahead. What I got was a beautifully put together book with nice paper and photos... of absolutely nothing that was useful to me.
   All of the kitchens appear to be European (all of the electrical switches and outlets were European). All of the designs were very modern, high tech, contemporary, and... different. They were also very "designer" as in perhaps not very practical, but very different and put together. If you are looking for something unusual along these lines for a city loft or a very modern space, this might be a great find for you.
   There was not a single photo of any kitchen you would consider normal here in the States. Although I read the entire book (faster as I went) there was not a single feature, design, or anything that was potentially useful in my project. There was also very little information, very much an idea book with lots of pictures and little text. The book was not cheap, and it was a complete waste of time for me.



2. I love this book and found it very inspirational when I designed my kitchen. I had already thumbed through the various decorating house and kitchen magazines one might see at Barnes and Nobles. Most of those showed your typical cheesy American kitchen with lots of over-the-top materials badly paired together in one space. The kitchens in this book appealed to me because, as a generalization, they were a little arty, sophisticated and unexpected, without being kooky. I even borrowed a color them from one of the examples. Granted some of the kitchens didn't work but the majority did - and there was a lot of variation among those that did.



3. I am design professional and found this book to be very inspirational when looking for contemporary kitchen ideas for my personal kitchen.

No comments about Eileen Gray: Design and Architecture, 1878-1976.

5 comments about Color Rendering: A Guide for Interior Designers and Architects.

1. I can't say enough about this book--and I can be a pretty tough critic when it comes to Interior Design resources. Are you an absolute beginner at rendering interiors? Intimidated to start? No problem. Wei Dong walks you through the process from beginning to end, starting with step-by-step instructions on how to render various, common materials like wood, metals, and even marble with different media, including markers, pencil, watercolor, and gouache. There are several pages featuring a table of the different techniques, so you can see what the same material looks like when expertly rendered in different media. I found this helpful in deciding which media I want to try. The techniques offered work with other media as well; I used oil pastel with great success using Dong's techniques.
   
   I also found it helpful that in the beginning of the book, you work on rendering materials in very simple shapes, like cylinders and cubes. This allows one to begin to understand how the shape of an item informs how it is rendered, and also works as a lesson on how light and shadow affect rendering. As the book progresses, you see more complex examples (i.e. plans and elevations), and an extra neat feature is that many of these images are reproduced in the back of the book without the rendering applied to them, so you can photocopy them and use them for practice.
   
   Although this book would be especially helpful for beginners, I think it would be helpful to others who want to try different media or who want to work on rendering a specific material with greater flair and confidence.



2. I am a senior interior design student and this book was recommended by one of my instructors. It gives good, very basic step-by-step instructions for rendering common building materials with different mediums (watercolor, color pencil, and markers). One issue that I did find was that some of the illustrations don't exactly follow the written instructions, but because of the format, that's a pretty small issue. This is a book that I'd recommend for beginning design students, but more advanced students may find this book a little too basic.



3. I was introduced to Wei Dong's book in an Interior Design class on Presentation Techniques. It is an excellent book for all but the most experienced Interior Renderer. It focuses on the use of color markers and comes complete with practice exercises that help build your skill and confidence. I highly recommend it!



4. i recieved this book this book in the mail and had been eagerly awaiting its arrival. i don't know how else to express it other than i was very dissapointed. i have see Michael Doyle's fist edition of his Color Drawing and my original intent was to buy the second edition of that, but when i saw this book with its raving editorial review i decided to try this one instead. i mean who could turn down a book with a review like "the most complete guide and study of color rendering of interiors ever compiled" and "exhaustive in its coverage" i thought that this book was going to be wonderful. i think that i might have found it useful if i had never even picked up colored pencils and markers before. There was very little rendering of total interiors just objects or things that might go in an interior. If you are really looking for a complete source then i really wouldn't recomend this book, only a just starting out beginner might find it useful.



5. An excellent reference book for all designers. It gives great advise and tips for all forms of rendering both interiors and exteriors. The step by step instructions were not as informative as they could have been, but overall an excellent book for any designer.

5 comments about New Spaces, Old World Charm (Elements of Living).

1. I'm enjoying New Spaces, Old World Charm very much. I like how the design work in it is of high-end homes (with the exception of the Gissler-designed house) but the author presents what the designers did in the spaces by technique (as well as listing sources) so that no matter what your budget, you can duplicate what is seen in the book. I also like how she presents a variety of design styles, demonstrating 12 individual designer's approaches to transforming new spaces into ones with richness and character. As I pinpoint the style I like best for my own home, I need a book that gives a good overview of different ways to achieve the look. And although this book is about recreating antique and vintage styles, the design pictured in the book is fashionable and eclectic. The spaces don't look like exact duplications of an antique styles.
   
   I also like the resource section, which goes into detail about why the sources are valued by top designers. Even though the book was published in 2004, the sources are still timely. People hire designers to learn the secrets the author gives in the book. I also like that author obviously went out of her way to list trade only and retail sources in each resource chapter to help the readers. She wants the book to appeal to those who can afford trade only and hire interior designers and those who want to spend less and buy on their own or do a combination of the two.



2. Too much space is not a problem for me but maintaining a classic style for my home is, or was before I found this book. Ms. Sample's book didn't overwhelm me as many of the other design books I looked at did with impractical ideas. While it is beautiful enough to suffice as a coffee table book, my original copy is dog-eared and highlighted throughout with ideas and suggestions I was able to use and customize for my own needs. Highly recommended for anyone with classic, old world style!



3. I purchased this book in the hopes that it would assist in my transforming a newly-contructed house into a charming, old-style home. Without a doubt, it did! Sample's guide offers a variety of styles, all of which are inspiring. I particularly enjoy the featured designers sources listed after each home (especially my favorite, Elissa Cullman's Revival Chic) and the trade tips that accompany each chapter. I find Sample's book to be inspirational yet practical, user-friendly and concise, and beautifully photographed. It has a permanent home on my coffee table.



4. I have to concur with S. McCoy who dissed the purple house, I mean blue house. Yes, it was not purple but the color was in overkill. Remember Barney, the purple dinosaur? Well this is the Barney of houses.
   
   On the show Top Designer which airs on Bravo TV, interior design hopefuls are presented with various design challenges. One show asks contestants to pick a color and their challenge was to design around that color. If memory serves me correctly, every student literally designed spaces much like the Barney in this book. Most of the judges harshly critiqued the contestants for literally taking the color challenge and overdoing it.
   
   This book is so so. If you ocassionally pick up a copy of some of the high end mags like Architectural Digest, Traditional Homes, etc., most have resource guides in the back that you could access. This is nothing new.
   
   Also, the designers in New Spaces seem to have conflicting design philosophies. To wallpaper or not, that is the question. To have clean spaces or bric-a-brac. To have the lived in look or a showcase home.
   
   I think the best advice for me came from Ann Leconey, on page 131. Under the header "Use Architectural Shells," she basically set the stage for a well designed room by first, as she puts it," designing the interior architectural shell." According to Leconey you start by choosing the wall finishes, followed by the window treatment, and finish with the flooring.
   
   According to her, you are then ready to move forward with your color scheme, fabric, etc. At least she gave me something that I could work with.



5. There are some beautiful pictures and wonderful ideas in this book. However, it is not what it appears. It "features" the work of several designers, and purports to provide "resources" which are actually thinly disguised advertisements for the listed vendors. I would not have spent $34.95 for this book had I known what it really was. I have no theoretical objection to such a book, but I'd like to know what I'm getting before buying. This was a disappointment.

No comments about Miami Style (Icons).

No comments about The Inspired Workspace: Designs for Creativity and Productivity.