For nearly 50 years, home decorators have turned to Better Homes and Gardens New Decorating Book to transform their houses into warm, personal havens for their families. The tradition continues with this all-new edition. It's your personal guide to the styles, colors, textures, fabrics, wall and window treatments, flooring, lighting, and accessories that define today’s interior design. More than 900 photographs, 100 illustrations, and friendly, informative text offer you ideas for every room in the house: the kitchen, living room, family room, dining room, bedrooms, guest room, kids’ rooms, baths, home office, and even outdoor areas. A fun, insightful quiz helps you discover your unique style, while a showcase of 12 houses introduces you to a diversity of decorating approaches. In addition, there are useful tips on maximizing storage, arranging rooms, and accomplishing room makeovers. Easy-to-follow descriptions make projects and quick decorating solutions a snap. This updated classic—a dream book, workbook, room-by-room planner, and design primer bound into one volume—is guaranteed to show you how to achieve fresh, affordable style throughout your home.
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The iconic BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS brand is one of America's most trusted sources for information on cooking, gardening, home improvement, home design, decorating, and crafting. Today, the brand encompasses books, magazines, and digital media. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Joseph Boone
Format:Paperback
This book is meant to be a comprehensive decorating guide and covers a vast array of subjects. The text does a decent job of briefly discussing various topics although it is far from comprehensive. In the section covering fabrics and upholstery, for example, I was a bit shocked to see that leather is never even mentioned (nor does it appear in the index). Unfortunately, this type of omission is typical. By trying to cram every decorating topic under the sun into 400 pages there is no subject that really gets the attention it deserves.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is that it has such a strong "house style" that, despite their lip service to different styles, most of the rooms seem to end up looking remarkably similar. Virtually every room has either a loud floral print or a large vase of flowers dominating the room. And lots of clutter is usually found keeping those florals company.
For those who love the country cottage style, I can see this book offering a treasure trove of great ideas and photos. For those like myself who prefer a cleaner, more contemporary feel there is little here of interest. The text is occasionally useful but the discussion on each topic is too shallow to provide a real blueprint. Overall, this book was a real disappointment.
Format:Hardcover
This is my decorating "bible." It obviously features the work of top designers around the country, but then it tells you what they know about how to put a room together. By explaining those decorating principles and ideas, this book has empowered me to transform first my living room and currently our bedroom. My friends keep asking me what designer I hired. My "designer" is this book, which cost me under $25. This is a real bargain and filled with classic yet updated style. Like the book, the rooms it will help you create will last for years.
By Kate Smart
Format:Paperback
Some of the only decorating books worth keeping are published by Better Homes & Gardens. This one, as well as the new edition which is not being shown on Amazon.com, are excellent. These are books you should OWN, have on your shelf, and refer to. Whether you're looking for colour ideas, window treatments, where to place lamps, how hight to hang a picture, etc. these books offer what you need to understand balance, scale, and how to make a room look perfect. I would also consider giving these books away as gifts - they are very useful and the pictures are BIG which is everything. Short on text, long on visuals, is what makes a decorating book worth buying.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Traditional Decorating Book
This book is not based on NEW style. It's mostly based on country and traditional decor. Too many flowery fabrics!
Published on Dec 30 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful!
I really enjoyed this book. It has been a great aid in my "decorating journey", and it has great photographs.
Published on Dec 28 2003 by DDS
1.0 out of 5 stars
cure insomnia today...read this book
Bottom line, this book is boring. You look at the pictures, and it appears these are pics of homes that are the 'before' a makeover is done. Read more
Published on Dec 8 2003
1.0 out of 5 stars
*yaaaaaaaaaaawn*
What some would call 'classic design ideas,' I'll instead call staid, dull and old-fashioned. Flipping through the book quickly, I found not one room that caught my eye, not one... Read more
Published on Dec 8 2003 by Cuzzin Todd
2.0 out of 5 stars
ugh
So disappointed...thought there would more fresh and new ideas...I geuss I was expecting something different. Read more
Published on Nov 11 2003
2.0 out of 5 stars
just ok
Price was definately great, but book was just ok. I was disappointed because I expected more 'real living' ideas. Read more
Published on Nov 5 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique
There isn't another book like this except for the newer edition of this book which came out recently. Read more
Published on Oct 21 2003 by A.K. Brezinsky
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring yet practical. Very empowering.
Because this is my favorite decorating book, I take exception to a reviewer who said it wasn't worth it and to buy the Better Homes and Gardens magazine instead. Read more
Published on Oct 21 2003 by tommie van deusen
1.0 out of 5 stars
New Decorating book
On the surface, the book is nicely done. But, in making my way through the book, the pictures look similar to those in magazines I already have from Better Homes & Garden. Read more
Published on Oct 15 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
A superior interior design guide...
It may have had seven predecessors, but as of the eighth iteration (as designer guides go) I would say that Better Homes and Gardens' "New Decorating Book" has reached... Read more
Published on Oct 4 2003 by Daniel L Edelen
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