5 comments about Pottery Barn Living Rooms (Pottery Barn Design Library).

1. I am rather insecure when it comes to interior design, yet I have the desire to have a beautiful home on a budget. This book helped me not only identify a color palate for my living room, but gave me ideas to easily change the look for the change of seasons. It helped my husband and I create our own casual, yet polished look that we are proud to call home!



2. I really have enjoyed this book. Though I have not found every page useful, there are enough ideas to make it worth the purchase. The chapters cover many important design aspects in a living room: your style, space, color, texture, furnishings, lighting, windows, storage, accessories and display. Be aware that it is naturally focused to the Pottery Barn style of decorating - which can be somewhat generic. But there are enough inspirational ideas that you can interpret and make them work for you whether you shop at Pottery Barn or not.



3. GREAT book and great series (all the Pottery Barn Design Library books)! I have an interior design background, and this series is the best I've ever read --- great design and storage ideas that are easy to do and the ideas are multi-faceted, so you could use in another room, etc.



4. I have read/used three of the Pottery Barn books listed in order of my opinion of them: Baths, Living Rooms, and Bedrooms. Baths was very good, with beautiful photographs, interesting and innovative ideas, and some useful design advice. Most of the book provided a several page showcase for an individual bath with discussion of what made it special.
   
   Living rooms was OK. It's content was more canned, but it still had some inspiration and enough ideas that were useful that although I would not put it amongst the best such books, it was worth an hour or two to browse.
   
   Bedrooms hit the bottom of the list for me. The content seemed especially canned. The ideas were not fully developed and most of them appeared to me more appropriate to someone's first apartment than an established home (so it just needs the right audience?). Lot's of the pictures involved just using eclectic pieces and did not involve actually developing a decorative theme.



5. I think Pottery Barn livingrooms gives clear, memorable design ideas that all point to achieving a sense of calm in your nest. Beyond that they show you how to mix textures, periods and shapes to make your space interesting. And maybe best of all they give us rooms that are nicely edited so that every special detail, or object's qualities can be appreciated. It's a very good guide to good taste.

5 comments about Living in Bali (Taschen's Lifestyle).

1. Since it is legally impossible for foreigners to own real estate on the highly protected island of Bali, this book contains a list of law-breaking millionaires who cannot enjoy beauty unless they own a part of it...



2. Having visited Bali many times over a period of 35 years and being very familiar with life and housing there, it is important to mention that this book is not about living in Bali for the Balinese. The homes in this book are exceptional for Bali and for the most part would be special almost anywhere.
   
   The book covers some breathtakingly beautiful houses and the photography is excellent. Whether one is interested in Bali or not, architects, decorators, and those who appreciate creative design will thoroughly enjoy this collection of gorgeous photos of stunning architectural creativity. Those who do not know Bali will likely be blown away by its natural tropical beauty. For those who know and care about Bali, this work artfully ties all of the above together in a most satisfying volume.



3. Great photography and awesome scenarios. It really brings the feeling of being in Bali. And the decorations show the artistic side of the new interiors of the open living. It inspires my clients when they come inside my furniture store. Of the books I have from Bali, this is certainly the best!



4. Overflowing with inspiring photography, this is a beautiful book! We also love the text appearing in English, German and French as well - it adds to the international appeal of the content. It is an incredible value for the price - we expected to pay twice as much. We have recently visited one of these homes, and the photos actually do it justice!



5. LIVING IN BALI is more than just a pretty picture book, though the lush photography by Reto Guntli is superb. This is a romance with a place few have had the pleasure of experiencing - the tropical paradise still very much in place in Bali.
   
   Author Anita Lococo wisely leaves most of the journey to the level of serenity encountered by the way of life, the state of mind, the natural beauty of the landscape, and the plethora of flowers and exotic foliage to the images that flood the pages of this very beautiful book edited by the always sensitive Angelika Taschen. Here is a mood, a spirit and a place that indeed does exist and the book allows us to enter the secrets of the contemplative life that results from the communal life with nature that rules the homes of Bali.
   
   The writing is informative and gentle and the many full color photographs manage to transport the viewer in time and sensation to a Paradise Available. This is yet another in Taschen's fine collections of books intent on making us open our eyes and minds to the levels we all can achieve - with a little help from books like this. Grady Harp, March 06

No comments about Classic Kitchen Style: The Essential Handbook for a Timeless Design.

5 comments about Christopher Lowell's You Can Do It! Small Spaces: Decorating to Make Every Inch Count.

1. Fortunately I bought this for $5. I will take it back today for a refund!
   
   Here are the good points:
   --he uses his trademark 7 layers of design. There is a chart at the back, on a couple of pages explaining this concept. Good concept, nice short description. Now I don't have to bother with his other books.
   
   --he discusses decluttering oh so briefly (but then spectacularly doesn't follow his own advice)
   
   -- and he explains the poverty attitude where people hang onto stuff out of fear of the future instead of making use of what they like and letting go of the excess stuff.
   
   --he breifly explains the Japanese method of using layers of foreground, middle and background to create depth in small spaces. Not how to do it though. Just that you use layers, that you can see bits thru, like a city skyline (his analogy, and a good one) where the skyscapers are all differing heights and you see vignettes of the city thru the gaps creating a sense of depth.
   
   --he uses colour in a rich way. With less clutter in the photos, the blends of deep rich colour would be stunning instead of overwhelming. Reminds me of shopping at Pier One.
   ----------------------------------------------
   
   
   NOW as to WHY NOT TO BOTHER:
   
   ----The amount of clutter is overwhelming. The man layers on top of layers with no sense of open space to let a person breathe. None of the objects show to advantage when they are as jammed and cluttered as a dime store clearance rack.
   
   -----The man wastes a LOT of space in the book with cutsey pictures of himself with a yellowish box in all sorts of poses. Less than attractive and a real slam to the poor buyer who might actually have been hoping for more pictures or more explanations in those same spaces. Another reviewer counted 43!!!! of these self portraits. Obviously he thinks he did it all himself since the staff weren't worthy to include in any of the pictures showing the projects halfway. That would be ok if the rest of the book was worthwhile.
   
   -----The text is confused and jumpy. He bounces around like he is on some kind of speed drug or something.
   
   -----He invents language. It took me half way thru the book before I figured out what HE meant by the term "merchandising". Hint--it isn't about selling stuff which is the normal definition.
   
   -----He uses dated hardware on the cabinets in the kitchens, even when he changes them out. That bright brass went out in the late eighties, and brushed nickel was a nineties look. This decade is going thru oil rubbed bronze and the newest hint of any type of gilding is a weatherd gold look. Anything but bright shiny brassy "gold".
   
   -----He CONFUSES OPEN DISPLAY SPACE with true STORAGE WHICH IS CLOSED (to hide stuff that is less than visually appealing).
   
   eg *** Nowhere is that worse than the master bedroom with the huge pillars. He is so delighted with his "storage" shelves in the massive headboard unit, that he decides the room won't need a dresser of any kind. A few towels, a basket or two and some books are what he stores in this master bedroom.
   
   Most normal people might want some hidden storage for underwear and the like but not him. I presume that the cramped closet space will be sacrificed for more drawer type storage as a result.
   
   And WHY???
   
   so he can display a few more mismatched towels and create a straight walkway thru the bedroom to another area of the house.
   
   Somebody tell him bedrooms are not hallways, and somebody tell that mobile home company to mke the door to the sun room off the kitchen area.
   
   Problem solved, without creating a runway thru a private space.
   
   THE CONFUSION between storage space and display space IS COMMON to a lot of designers but this one goes over the top. He keeps claiming that he has added tons of storage to these trailers but in fact there is very little storage added, that wasn't already there in kitchen cupboards and closets.
   
   WHAT HE CALLS STORAGE IS REALLY DISPLAY SPACE and he does do a nice job styling the shelves full of useless but pretty stuff. Too much of it, but that seems to be his trademark design.
   
   IF YOU TRY THIS AT HOME please remember storage space is CLOSED space, while display space is open to view and is only intended for a few spare items of great beauty. Display items are focal points, and too many simply means visual clutter.
   
   ---In every possible corner he crams fake plants, visual clutter, junk and trivia. He discusses the necessity of being able to move thru a space but then ignores such practicalities as vacuuming room. In order to clean these heavily dust collecting spaces, you need to get in there to dust, and to vacuum.
   
   It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that running a vacuum thru these spaces is an obstacle course that would take days of effort.
   
   MY CONCLUSION?
   People don't live like that normally unless they have a Molly Maid who can help them clean every week and a storage unit out back where they can park the real necessities of life, that you don't want out on display such as underwear, or spare rolls of toilet paper or that truly ugly but effective shampoo bottle.
   
   This man should do store displays for Pier One and similar home decor stores. He has the rich colour sense that is so attractive in these places, but he should leave the design of small spaces to people who truly understand them.
   
   A good place to start is the magazine Style at Home which will give you all the richness and colour and design, without the clutter or dated combinations. I suggest a subscription to that magazine instead of the cost of this book. Their annual small space issue in in the spring, but the rest of the year they include tips for smaller spaces with each issue.



2. If you have small spaces (and who doesn't!) this is the book for you. I devoured every page. Christopher's designs are impeccable, classy and you WILL be able to douplicate them yourself.



3. I don't watch cable tv and Christopher Lowell isn't familiar to me, but I was eager to read this book as I have a number of small rooms. I was extremely disappointed to find that all the rooms in the book were comparatively huge. I was hoping for decorating tips for rooms 12 x12 and smaller. Oh, well. Some of my friends who have bigger rooms have been happy to borrow it.



4. This was a bit of a let down, as I'd loved Lowell's Dream Decor On A Budget. This one is choppy and hard to follow. Reading his descriptions and then trying to find what he's talking about in the photos is tough.
   Some of the rooms are delightful and there's quite a few do-it-yourself projects included (mission style table, settee-divider, island bed).
   They included too many photos of Lowell, making it seem like a fan club book rather than a serious decorating guide.



5. My chief complaint is the photographs used to illustrate how Lowell's ideas and sketches were carried out DO NOT at all compare to the photos of the empty original rooms. It is extremely hard for the eye to determine the angle and placement. Several photos I couldn't even figure out what area of the room I was looking at. The AFTER photos are too close up and it's impossible to use them as a reference or anything more than a vague idea. BAD PHOTOGRAPHY.
   
   I did get a few ideas for small spaces. I found a lot of use of the same colors over and over again, same plush fabrics and lawrence-of-arabia style draping. A bit lush and overdone for the typical home perhaps? I like his ideas very much though about clutter and making the most of your surroundings. But please re-issue with better photographs of the results of his ideas and works! What a disappointment in that regard.

5 comments about The Private House.

1. Rose Tarlow's very beautifully illustrated book THE PRIVATE HOUSE will disappoint decorators, would-be decorators, and possibly students. This is not a textbook meant to offer 'how to' steps to force-feed the recipes for private spaces.
   
   Instead, this book is a gentle read of how the highly respected Tarlow has created beautiful rooms and homes with elements of furniture, art, antiquities, and memorabilia with choices in fabrics and wall and furniture treatments that make one's home a castle. She deftly demonstrates how to make use of available light, making hallways, niches, windows and rooms focal points for praising light as an art entity.
   
   The writing is simple and readable. The photography is elegant and descriptive and offers the eye many moods and examples of ideas of how each of us can make our own space uniquely ours. And that is a lot for a book on home enhancement to do! Grady Harp, October 05



2. If you are ever in LA, treat yourself to a visit to this designer's showroom. It's like stepping into another world that has been completely removed from the hustle and smog of the city...find more of this type of inspiration in her book. A total pleasure to read and absorb...my only regret is that i never got a chance to take her class at UCLA...



3. As an interior designer, my library is bulging with design books. Yet, time and time again, I reach for "The Private House." Insightful and genuine, "The Private House" always provides me with a bit of stimulation, a bit of grounding, and a subtle reminder to always use the best and most unusual furniture, fabrics, and art available to a client's budget. The information provided within the pages of "The Private House," are worth the journey - constantly.



4. Rose Tarlow knows more about art history and interior design through the centuries than any living person. Unfortunately, she really isn't interested in teaching you a thing.

   I read the book carefully and then went through it a second time to see if there was a single design principle or piece of advice I could come away with. Amazingly there wasn't.

   Rose plays her card close to her chest.




5. I waited a long time for a Western interior design book that speaks directly to me; it was worth the wait. Paul Goldberger says it best in his foreword: "Rose Tarlow's work celebrates the reality of living -- the way in which, out of a complex mist of memories, emotions, aspirations, and knowledge, each of us builds a life that is like none other. Her rooms are like no other, and they are marked by a natural grace." Her wonderful, delicate text and intensely satisfying photographs are to return to time and again; this is a treasure that is much more than an obsessive-compulsive personal summary of what antiquaire Rose Tarlow teaches in her UCLA master interior design class. As she also writes (and I've long agreed), "If I were forced to choose, I would much prefer to live surrounded by carefully selected and much loved books than by indifferent art" -- add the fabulous At Home With Books by Estelle Ellis to your purchase. A true connoisseur.

2 comments about Salons and Spas: The Architechure of Beauty.

1. This beautiful book is written by an architect. This is important when looking for more than just nice SPA photos. Not only she (the writer) very carefully chooses modern SPA environments, she also presents them in a whole-space manner, attaching simple but effective professional drawings.
   Besides, she verbally offers a brief, deeper look in the transition of city-SPAs: from indifferent beauty and relax centers to the focus of modern Architecture.
   This professional background does not however deprive the book of a rather introductory character, combining modern Architecture with simple description.
   As a member of a now in-design city-SPA in South-East Europe, I and the designing architect found in the book precious modern inspirations.
   The writer (she lives in New York) provided a modern work going enough beyond the surface, and counting among the few really helpful on the subject.



2. I'm in the process of building a second location (salonspa) and this book had the most amazing pictures and the visual of the blueprints gave me such a different perspective of things that I had not even thought about. I love this book it was well worth the price.

5 comments about Home by Design: Inspiration for Transforming House Into Home.

1. We are in the process of building a house and this book has been exceptionally helpful for framing what we really want.



2. I found this book to be well laid out and full of good ideas for not only planning the construction of a new house but for doing renovations as well. Reading this has mad me want to buy her other book about Small Homes.



3. GREAT!



4. This book is fun to own. Lots of good ideas that can be realistically applied. The pictures are beautiful and the writing truly energizes and inspires one to look with new eyes at the way space is used not only in ones own home, but also in public buildings and spaces which one occupies as daily life is lived. I refer to this book often, and would recommend it to anyone interested in beautifying and simplifying their environment.



5. This book has wonderful design ideas if you are working with an architect designing a new home, if you are or remodeling an old one. If you already have a home and want to incorporate her ideas, it might be a little difficult. It is a very educational book with beautiful photos, however, I wouldn't recommend it if you aren't planning on doing any major renovation or construction.

3 comments about Scandinavian Modern.

1. Purchased this book as a Christmas gift for a mid-century modern furniture dealer. He was thrilled with the contents and thought it would be great resource for his research library.



2. The photos had a detailed description of the pieces in the room and the designers. Good for training your eye in Scandinavian Modern design. Loved the open feel of many of the rooms & appreciation of natural surfaces. Very much what I remembered about travling through Finland. Like the Shakers & Japanese, the outside influences the Scandinavian style. Highly recommend this book.



3. This is very good book about Scandinavian living. It has photographs from the homes of famous Scandinavian designers like Aarnio and Kjaerholm, to name few. I personally love this book because it has information about designers and manufacturers.

2 comments about A Good House Is Never Done.

1. Author John Wheatman earlier wrote Meditation on Design, and has been selected as one of House Beautiful's Top American Designers.
   
   Wheatman believes that real design incorporates things that have meaning to the inhabitants. Well said in the foreword by Sara Susanka, AIA: ". helping readers understand how to make a living poem out of the place they live-a poem that continues to grow and change with the years."
   
   Most design books show rooms that are so perfect-and unattainable for most of us. However Wheatman shows real rooms used for cooking/dining, playing/working (office) as well as sleeping and bathing. The tips, techniques and ideas are all about new ways to think about everyday activity-as well as your common and treasured items.
   
   I found myself saying, "Oh, I could do that." as one photo showed a collection grouped, whether antiques or hobbies (like matchbook collection displayed as wall hanging).
   
   The photography by David Wakely was superb with rich colors and unique angles. Together with Wheatman's words, you'll be ready to make your home a place of inspiration, beauty and vitality.
   
   I like to go antiquing (or rather, bargain hunting) and when I select a certain piece that makes me smile-or my heart thump, I know that I am in for pleasure every time I see it in my home. This book about design didn't make me hate my own house like many do, but that I could do little things to make my house better-more filled with things that give me pleasure, displayed in unique ways.
   
   As the title states: A good house is never done.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: This is a book that will give you easy-to-implement ideas for your own home.



2. This book had so many great ideas and new ways to think about arranging and ordering your home. I really liked the way he wrote about sleeping, bathing, working, cooking, dining, and playing areas and not bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. I read this while out of town and came home and rearranged my living room. I can't stop looking at the space in my house in quite different ways. I want to move everything around based on the ideas I got from this book. It is actually a fun read too.

5 comments about Junk Style.

1. I bought this used and I'm glad I didn't pay full price. I found nothing new.



2. I am an antiquer and flea market junkie. This book is OK, but it isn't the best. (I also don't like the word "junk.") The points this book makes about mixing things and repurposing things is better made in Flea Market Decorating, a book which also shows a broader variety of locations types as well as flea markets from around the country. I also like the original American Junk book, but it only shows objects versus nice big photos of real rooms.



3. I love this book! As an avid junk collector (much to the humour of my family!) I found this book to become one of my favourites.
   I have read this book so many times- there are just so many inspiring pictures in this book. The book contains many different interiors and all different types of junk style. A great book.



4. There are a couple of things that could have made Junk Style better and appeal to a broader audience. Most of the pictures are set on a stone or hardwood floors, and I can only think of one that was set on carpet. I'm not a big fan of carpet, but that is what I have to work with in my house and would have liked to have seen what other have done with junk finds in carpeted rooms. I would also like to have seen more pictures with colored walls. The author seems to have a strong bias towards white walls, at times making the rooms seen somewhat lifeless and sterile.

   With the criticism out of the way, I'd also like to say that Junk Style was very inspriational to me. I read through it twice in the first day that I received it. The photos are gorgeous and some of the finds inside are quite worthy of jealousy. I would recommed this to anyone who enjoys spending time at yard sales, flea markets, and other second hand stores.




5. Brilliant & beautiful, lots of nice photographs, plenty of inspiration, etc, etc. Just get it! :)