2 comments about Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers, 2nd Edition.

1. Pretty good with examples, and ways to utilize color. This is a keeper in the collection for me.



2. This book is pretty good. It explains the different color wheels, how we see color, value, saturation, harmony, and so much more. It is pretty thorough and easy to read. I recommend this book for anyone needing to understand color theory.
   
   Minetta Minnick

5 comments about Seaside Interiors.

1. Elegantly arranged and edited architecture/design book with focus on seaside homes. Very good coverage of each featured home; excellent organization on the page, with text in English, French, German.

   What sets this book apart is its tremendous variety of taste, environment, ideas, style. Locations really run the gamut; the book is divided into continents, so Africa (for example) gets just as much attention as does Asia. The scope is fabulous: non-chic locations like a rustic cottage on the Baltic Sea, a windswept beach house on the English Channel. The north African featured homes are especially interesting. So there is a beautiful array of styles and ideas on how to highlight a special environment.

   Not a source book (no index or listings of architects and products), but an excellent style book. The photos are first-rate, with beautiful balance of detail shots and whole rooms. Quite a lot of landscaping can be seen, even if it's about "interiors", so that's a bonus.

   Need not be decorating a seaside home to be able to love and even use this book.




2. While I purchased this book on vacation in the charming town of Seaside, Florida, I had the good fortune of actually staying nearby in one of the featured homes--Matarangi. The photos in the book don't begin to do justice to the views and architecture, though in superior coffee table book manner, they do try. The book allows one to travel to far off homes and enter their beauty, while never leaving your own home. However, if the opportunity ever arises to enjoy one of these splendidly represented homes, I heartily recommend it. If not, select this book and start enjoyable seaside travel dreaming via your armchair or backyard chaise today.



3. A really beautiful book for architects, interior decorators and people who are interested in decoration. Filled with lovely pictures and not too much words. A ''must have'', collectors book. It gives you nice ideas, makes you want to redecorate your home and makes you dream of having such lovely houses. Just get it and you'll really enjoy it! It's worth every cent!!!



4. In our search for books on this topic, we came across this one, which we love because it's a great dream book. Our other favorite is Second Home, which is great for both daydreaming and planning. Second Home shows a wider variety of homes around the country (all gorgeous) but blends information on choosing a location, decorating, and so on, into the book. Seaside Interiors gives a lovely look at homes with no information on how to make your second home come true. I like both books. If you can only buy one, then I recommend Second Home instead.



5. This is a magnificent book to add to your coffee table, photography collections, decorating books, or just for the sheer pleasure of the absolutely beautiful photos. The book is a journey in itself; of lovely homes...perhaps of more unique architechture than the average home, but offering wonderful ideas on colors and at the same time showing many pictures of day-to-day living...in the most beautiful of seaside locations that one could imagine. Simply wonderful!

4 comments about The French Country House.

1. A quaint blend of the old world and the new. "The French Country House" is a look at this unusual and unique combination of two worlds. The French countryside, although showing modernization, is still a look back through history to hundreds of years ago where many of the buildings and objects of the medieval period still stand stoically, relics of an elder era. The full color photographs, beautiful and poignant, tells the stories of the centuries in worlds simply cannot. "The French Country House" is a riveting and highly recommended book of photography.



2. Once again, Christiane De Nicolay-Mazery gives readers a tour of some of the most exquisite, private & prestigious residences and retreats in France. However, this book is different from her other two books in that not only does it focus on individual residences it incorporates a chapter on France's national treasure of Mauny historical wallpapers and a chapter on the Le Manach family, who has produced some of the world's most exquisite silks for centuries. Also, there is a sense of fantasy and intimacy with this particular book. The photography is absolutely beautiful. I collect many fine books but the photographs in this book were clearly taken by someone who is not just any `interiors' photographer. There are also many exceptionally beautiful pictures taken outdoors. I feel a bit funny noting that the photographs have an abundance of soul but I don't know how more clearly to convey it. They are full of nostalgia. Also worth noting is that the author writes beautifully. She writes much more eloquently than most authors that write about interiors, architecture and the environs. She has much more to offer the reader. I'm assuming that the person who gave the book a poor review was expecting a cliché French Provencial book with pictures of Pierre Deux fabrics, roosters and fields of lavender. Instead you will explore a beautiful world in the French countryside with exposure to Meautry (Baroness Guy de Rothschild), Le Mesnil & Saint-Marcel-de-Felines among others. I should mention that I do not know the author or the photographer. I've written glowing reviews for her books because she has truly aided me in exploring interiors and architecture that are of the utmost interest to me in France. She has presented her material like only someone of style would do for their reader. I look forward to her next book.



3. This is one of my favorite books. Originally I had the French edition and even with my poor translating skills, the sumptuous photographs easily keep me quite contented. The photographer, Bernard Touillon, will be familiar to those who know his work in
   Cote Sud magazine. Touillon's photographs are like beautiful paintings. Bathed and shimmered with natural light and sensitivity, the images take you into a intimate world of interior history, textures and forms. As soon as I saw the "total waste of money" comment in another customer review, I felt compelled to ensure this book is noted to those that appreciate an opportunity to look at a book that conveys not only
   lovely rooms and arrangements, but also an intangible quality of
   spaces filled with memories and emotions.



4. I found this book to be a total waste of money.

4 comments about Interior Materials and Surfaces: The Complete Guide.

1. I'd have to agree with the one-star rating as far as the actual specs for the various materials, suitability and etc. In that way, definitely a disappointment. From the idea-generating angle, though, I think it is good for keeping possibilities in view, rather than focusing solely on what is the "must-have" of the year. The Safety and Environment listing is helpful as well. Still, it might be more productive to go on that field trip to Home Depot, provided you're not looking for unusual solutions. It is a pricey thing, though, so buy it used or get one on loan.



2. What I really liked was the options to use materials I would never have thought of. Like Zinc for a kitchen countertop.. for low cost and durability it was a perfect choice.. we all know the rage for granite and marble will eventually fall out of favor, and cost of them is prohibitive. This book had many ideas -such as Yaght Enamel-I enjoyed considering for my own home.



3. This book provides a broad, basic overview of most categories of interior materials, perfect for familiarizing the beginning student of interior design. The focus on issues of sustainabilty and cost makes this book stand out. This book sets out to provide a starting point for further study and research, and is effective in that capacity.



4. This is a useful book if you've never seen the inside of a house. This is in no way a professional sourcebook. When I opened it up and saw listings- not categories, but individual listings- for "plywood", "carpet", "bricks", and so on, I felt bitterly disappointed. This is not the book to pick up to learn about technical specifications, the advantages and disadvantages of different wood species, or anything to do with the vast array of new materials that have recently come out (3Form Varia, Interface FLOR tiles, molded drywall, etc.) Take a walk through Home Depot instead.

1 comments about Kids' Room Decorating Ideas & Projects (Better Homes & Gardens).

1. I like so much this book, it gives you plenty of inspiring ideas. I also bought "Child Style" by BHG: it is good but most of the projects are too much complicated to be done. In this book there are a lot of decorating tips, "paiting- and textile-projects" from whom you can take inspiration to decorate your kids' room. Buy it!

4 comments about Mexican Tiles: Color, Style, Design.

1. I'm in the process of building on the Maya Riviera so this isn't a book read for fun. This is real research looking for real ideas. Building in Spanish Colonial style can't be done without some incorporation of Mexican Tiles. This book is basically 90% pictures and 10% background and history of Mexican Tiles. The background write-up is excellent and gives good history of Talavera and Talavera-Style Tiles. Then it's on to different uses, floors, kitchens, bathrooms, walls and stairs, and patios and gardens.
   
   I'm very simple in the colors I like in homes so these tiles can be "over the top". This book has a lot of these type pictures. It has more tile usage than I've ever seen on exteriors. The kitchen section has huge tile usage but I've seen more attractive usage in other books.
   
   Overall, I did not get any ideas I will definitely use but I did get a different perspective on tile usage. There are definitely pictures I will take back to discuss with my architect and designer which may be incorporated. This book can be consumed in an hour. But it may take many hours of review going over the pictures again and again.



2. I love Mexican tiles but I felt the book was a bit of a let down. The pictures were a bit small and there wasn't enough information about tilemaking in the book. I think the book would have been much more effective in a larger format where the tiles would have been more impressive. There are some wonderful talavera tile websites on the net for anyone who wants a better overview.



3. Book has great ideas. Wish it had been hardback. Book binding, does not want to hold together, considering the wear and tear it shall receive. This is also a great book.



4. After I bought Masako Takahasi and her husband Tony Cohen's book "Mexicolor", I thought no other book I purchased would EVER compare to that experience. When I discovered "Mexican Tiles", I opened it with fear and trepidation, hoping against all hope, yet hardly daring to believe that it could be even half as good as their first.

   But this book is AWESOME!! I think I finally figured out why, after reading Tony Cohen's book "On Mexican Time": these people simply ADORE Mexico, and it comes through in everything they do. All of the wonder and breathless anticipation and teary-eyed beauty that I feel and am so hopelessly unqualified to express when I am either in Mexico or adding to my collection of artesania, Tony vividly portrays in his prose and Masako captures with her camera.

   As for subject matter, I LOVE Talavera tiles, Talavera pottery, Talavera ANYTHING, because they are so INCREDIBLY Mexican, and this book is simply PAGE after GORGEOUS PAGE of Talavera-lined kitchens, bathrooms, stairs, floors...you name it, it's tiled. If you at all appreciate ethnic interior design or Mexican handicrafts, this is an AWESOME book!!!

No comments about Alberto Pinto Orientalism.

2 comments about San Francisco Modern: Interiors, Architecture and Design.

1. What a great book packed with pictures. The design is very modern and unconventional (read expensive). This is a very fun book to review. If you can't afford the architecture costs there are many ideas you can incorporate into a more typical home design.



2. Coffee table book showing all the nicest spots in the Bay Area. The spread on the family compound in Sonoma is worth the price alone!

No comments about Timeless Living Handbook: 2008-2009 (Handbook).

No comments about House Beautiful Decorating School (House Beautiful).