5 comments about Furnishing Forward: A Practical Guide to Furnishing for a Lifetime.

1. A few inspiring photos. But many just seem dated now. Most of the advice is valid but only useful to design newbies. Worth checking out from the library but certainly not buying.



2. Well let me say I'm a huge fan of Bridges' work. Very recently, she was featured in the Nov. 2007 EBONY, which showed her furnished cottage house. From that article and this book Bridges makes it clear that color should be embraced when furnishing. I'm personally bored with clinical white rooms. So Bridges with her tasteful approach to color, use of classical pieces, contemporary sensibilities, and ethnic flair really attracted me to her style. I found out about her through her show on the FINE LIVING network. This book really just carries the ideas that she uses to help others on her show. She doesn't dictate you to buy this piece or that. She's like someone who coaches you to embrace different resources (such as flea markets, auctions, antique stores, and internet sites) and pick pieces that you can imagine still having ten year from now.
   Her whole approach to design is thinking in the long-term use of furniture and house accessories. She also reasonably tells readers that approaching your personal style takes time and that it's a process that is well worth the time you take to buy pieces that you'll appreciate years into the future. I'd recommend it for people who need encouragement when wanting to furnish their own space with the future in view.



3. I thought this was a great book. I saw it in the library and thought it looked interesting. So many of the ideas in Sheila Bridges' book are common sense, practical ideas that you don't need a celebutants wallet to afford. That's what I liked about the book.
   
   So many of the reviews of the book speak about Ms. Bridges of course, and indicate that she lives in Manhattan or Upper Manhattan. She lives in a beautiful apartment in Harlem. Yes, Harlem.
   
   Check out the article with pics on the New York Social Diary website.



4. There are a lot of mixed reviews for this book, so I am hesitant to purchase it at this time, and I haven't yet read it, so will just give it *** because I like Sheila Bridges on TV. I checked my county library system onlne site and was able to order it to be delivered to my nearby branch library. I must confess to doing this a lot. I read customer reviews on Amazon, then request the book from the library.
   
   I do order books and other items from Amazon at various times during the year, so I don't feel like I am using them just for book reviews. : )



5. I really enjoyed this book! I found it very helpful to hear other people's stories about how their lives and their homes "grow together". The pictures were of rooms that I could easily see myself living in -- very "real", not too high-brow.
   
   I enjoyed thinking about how I'd design my own home, once I leave my studio-apartment-of-many-years, and get my long-dreamed of condo!
   
   
   Barbara

1 comments about Smart Guide: Trim: Step-by-Step Projects.

1. This was just too basic for me to find it very useful. Almost all of the illustrations are cartoon-like and simple. The projects are simple, and there's nothing in it to give you ideas about trim unless you haven't thought about it at all prior to reading this. If you're just starting to think about doing some trim work around your house, you might find this useful, but otherwise look for something more advanced.

5 comments about Camps and Cottages.

1. I was looking for a book with a softer approach and lighter colors. This book would be great for someone who loves dark colors, such as greens, browns, reds and plaids, and wants a more primative old fashioned approach. Also some of the pictures were quite small.



2. I loved this book. I can't tell you how many times I've picked it up and looked through all of the wonderful pictures. If you love the camp and/or cottage style, this book is a must for you.



3. The book's text and photographs made me wish I could be there (in Oregon). I enjoyed reading the author's growth in the book, what led her to write it. I found the step-by-step projects well detailed and the pictures excellent. Thank you.



4. I loved this book. For years I have been collecting Cowboy and Native American items and have gotten tired of the basically "masculine" feel of the rooms. This book incorporated many of these same elements in a shabby chic, cottage chic way. It showed me how to marry all these styles into one visually appealing look. I found my style! I just wish that there had been more written substance to the book. It took me all of 45 minutes to digest both the written dialogue and the pictures. However, I did especially find moving the dedication to Popeye, the resident cat. Gotta love an animal lover!



5. Camps and Cottages has some nice photographs of interior home furnishings. What I didn't like about the book are several things. The pictures are repeated throughout the book. For the price of this book I want to see original pictures on each page. The use of small pictures, about 1" square is really difficult for the eye to see. Printing text over textured, colored pages is extremely difficult to read. Descriptions are given of various rooms with no pictures to match, causing the reader confusion. Some photographs are cut off, even though the description includes items not seen. Some of the photographs are out of focus.

No comments about Ideas: Light.

5 comments about Adirondack Style.

1. I totally "loved" this book. One of my favorites. I am totally into "camp,cabin,and adirondack" decorating books and this book totally delivered the goods. Gorgous pictures gives one many cozy decorating ideas and just a book to daze and dream away an afternoon with.



2. In looking for ideas for the second home getaway we are planning, I came across this book and added it to my collection. It is handsome but, as the title would suggest, limited to one style. If that is your thing, fine. In this genre, the book that keeps rising to the top of the little stack on my coffee table is called SECOND HOME/Finding Your place in the Sun (or Fun or something like that). Second Home shows rustic styles and romantic cottage ones, too, taking me on a little tour of the United States as I turn the pages. The author obviously did his homework, too, because Second Home is filled with information on how to shop for real estate, evalute an area, decide what you want (and where you want it), etc.



3. As I just wrote in a review of Cabin Fever, this book, too, is a delight to look at. But it is limited (as its title says, of course) to one style that is a bit more rustic than what we have in mind. Still, this is a lovely book to peruse. As we gather information on vacation homes, our favorite book is a new one called Second Home, which includes visits to everything from oceanside homes and lake cottages to mountain cabins. Second Home also includes information on how to shop for a second home, how to decide what location is right, and tips on building, decorating and so on. I've never met a vacation house book I didn't like, and I like them all. But Second Home is our favorite because it has such variety of home styles and helpful tips in it.



4. In planning the vacation home we hope to have soon, we bought this book and a new one called SECOND HOME. Adirondack Style is more of a dream book and includes historical information about the style. It's also limited to one style, of course. The book called Second Home works on a couple levels as a dream book but it also includes information on shopping, building, decorating, and so on, and it shows a wide range of second home styles around the country. We like both, but if we had to pick only one, it would be Second Home. (A book called Cabin Fever is fun, too, but limited to very rustic styles.)



5. Between this book and another, also from amazon, called Cottage Style, I have more than enough to fuel my vacation house daydreams. A great start for 2000 and for my own dreams of early retirement.

2 comments about The Studio Book.

1. I like this book for its photographic essay anthology on artists and their workplaces - I'm glad I made the right choice of buying it because I needed a full-term book on the subject! Everyone should consider it for their libraries as well as I did!



2. Caveat emptor. A very interesting and well done book that gives an interesting perspective on numerous artists, their studios and the designers of the studios. However, if you have an interest in studios not located in California, you like I will be quite disappointed. Apparently the "sun and sea" reference in the publishers description is supposed to indicate that the studios are all in California and is not just a metaphor. This omission is personally significant enough that for the first time I am returning a book to Amazon as I would not have bought it had it been accurately described.

5 comments about Diamond Baratta Design.

1. The Diamond-Baretta Design book gives braided rugs a great outing. Being a longtime braider it does my heart good to see Jan Jurta's great rugs showcased in such a fine manner. The colors and decor are exciting and let us know that braided rugs will fit in a lot of different venues and don't necessarily have to be dark and country.
   
   Recommended if you are planning an expensive redecorating project or if you're just dreaming you can afford it.



2. Great style and advice from Diamond and Baratta. The photos alone are worth the investment. Surprisingly embraces contemporary design as well as traditional. Recommended.



3. Diamond and Baratta are two of my favorite Designers! This book displays the ecclectic environments they help their clients create!



4. This book was written by the designers themselves. After working together for twenty-five years they decided to create a selection of their favorite designs for publication. Their most telling comment was that it became apparent that each of the twenty four projects in this book reflect the clients personalities and passions. As they say: 'We think of our clients as partners and muses and see ourselves as interpreters of their dreams by listening very carefully to them.'
   
   Perhaps the most outstand characteristics of their designs that come through in project after project is the bold use of bright, often primary colors. Not long after that comes a spark of insight as they talk about things like the fabric or lamps or furniture that they had made for this or that project.
   
   All design is a matter of personal taste and desire. The Diamond Baratta designs are bold and striking, but as they say in the quote above, these are not for everyone. I have a hard time imagining some of these homes in a house with four or five kids.
   
   A very interesting book of bold designs that makes for a good idea book.



5. Basically Diamond Baratta Design is a lovely picture book - If you are a decorator or decorating your own home it can be a good source of inspiration or at least a few ideas .If just a fan of decorators it might disappoint as there is little substantive background information about their careers and philosophy. A good mate to this volume would be a book about Dorothy Draper as the Diamond Baretta team follow through on many of her ideas about color and scale.

No comments about Green Design: A Healthy Home Handbook.

5 comments about Moroccan Interiors (French and German Edition).

1. This book features some very interesting residences. Many of the homes featured in this book were actually purchased and fixed up by foreigners to be used as secondary residences, although some live there primarily. There are also some very unusual residences featured in this book.



2. Absolutely georgeous photography and Lovatt-Smith has obviously hiked all across Morocco searching for homes. I was most impressed with the variety of homes, especially the cave homes.
   
   I'm sure there is a great deal of useful information in this book, but I gave it three stars because the print was tiny and itallicized. In places where it was superimpossed over sand, water or some other scenery, it was unreadable. Why didn't an editor catch that?



3. Preservation or desecration of certain architectural styles and decorative heritage goes in and out of fashion the world over. It's not only Morocco that wanted to demolish the old and over-value the new. How much of the beauty and culture of the East has been lost in the name of "progress"? The situation is not simple, however. In the latter part of the 20th century there was an urgent need throughout the Mediterranean for affordable, modern housing for quickly expanding populations and growing economies strapped for cash, skills and resources. Unfortunately aesthetics and the traditions of artisans often got trampled in the rush. Lisa Lovett-Smith's sumptuous Moroccan Interiors reminds us that embracing preservation has so much to offer the present and the future. While she focuses on the homes of the rich, ex-patriate and famous and could therefore be accused of being elitist, she also illuminates the beauty of the simplest of objects that could be found in any home, rich or poor. Lovett-Smith has divided Morocco into regions and cities and celebrated the best of each, appreciating the exquisite, ornate beauty of Islamic art and the colour schemes reflecting the dramatic terrain of the Mediterranean: desert ochre and blistering reds, turquoise, azure, sapphire, gold, saffron and cinnamon to name a few. Lovett-Smith is aware that a picture tells a thousand words and her accompanying text in several languages is brief. The photography is faultless and the lighting of the interiors unobtrusive. This is not just an ornate coffee table book. It is a valuable archive, a celebration of great style and a treasure trove of inspiration for interior architects, artists and designers.



4. I would like to add to my previous reveiw some more practical notes on the contents of the book. The book is seperated into different regions and cities of Morocco and almost all the homes featured are renovations of delightful, but previously run down, Moroccan palaces and estates. In all but one home the owners are Europeans who have settled, or reside much of the year, in Morocco. This is important because, until recently, the Moroccans themselves weren't much interested in preserving thier architectural history, preferring to knock down old buildings and replace them with new ones. Neither were they much interested in preserving thier own style. The Europeans however were devoted to preserving both and created a movement, over time, within the country for Moroccans to begin to do the same. Each home featured reveals the owners deep love for Morocco and for its history. The photographs are lush and beautiful, and the wealth of ideas for interior design and architecture are matched by few books available today.



5. The first time I saw this book I couldn't stop looking at it. I was entirely engrossed with the beauty of the interiors, the use of color, texture and interior architecture in these homes. In a word...MESMERIZED! I should say that the interior design in this book is not my 'style'. It doesn't matter in the least. I have integrated, and plan to integrate, many of the ideas into my own home (Colonial - which couldn't be more different) and have, and will, simply do it in my own way. To add to my point I have shown this book to my mother-in-law who is extremely traditional and conservative in her tastes and she was delighted and inspired. I showed it to my sister, who's taste run to the super modern Italian leather look, and she loved it and plans to use some of the ideas for color in her own home. I showed this to another friend who's tastes are essentially 'the cottage look' (she is very good at it) and she was thrilled with the wealth of ideas she obtained. This book can be used as the ultimate coffee table book or the launching pad for new ideas for decorating your own home. Opening this book is like entering a dream world, where magic and graceful living really do exist.

No comments about Ideas: Houses.