From Amazon
It's easy to see why this nifty little book is already a bestseller in the crowded home-decorating field. If you're put off by--or just need a break from--all those plush design books filled with gorgeous but intimidating photos of rooms you can't afford, Elegant and Easy Rooms can help you meet your decorating needs as it gently but firmly shatters common decorating myths and offers countless specific alternatives. For example, white walls aren't the best neutral or the ideal way to maximize space, but there are plenty of other "safe" choices; a tiny wallpaper pattern won't make a small room seem airy but a bolder motif actually will. Those color coffee-table volumes are great for inspiration but often require effort to extrapolate specific, usable ideas. Here you can open any page at random to find concise, terrific advice drawn from the author's own considerable knowledge and from noted designers and design publications. You'll also find strategies for working with a professional designer even if you're on a tight budget. There's so much excellent and readily accessible information that even seasoned do-it-yourselfers will find themselves spurred to spruce up their decor after perusing this book. --Amy Handy
From Library Journal
Each of these books gives a different view of some of the major issues in home decorating. Interior designer Hanby-Robie has written an easy-to-read workbook to be used by the do-it-yourselfer. She discusses furniture, wall and window treatments, fabrics, flooring, interior design accessories, and planning. For all topics she never advocates a particular style but gives practical advice to enable consumers to make knowledgeable home-decorating choices. Landis, a contributing editor to Metropolitan Home, takes a "helpful hints" approach to interior design, much like Leslie Linsley does in her 15-Minute Decorating Ideas (LJ 5/15/97). The "workable (and) designer-tested" tips are divided into chapters for topics such as color, windows, and display. Appendixes provide information on hiring an interior designer and a helpful list of mail-order resources for home furnishings. Stoddard, the interior designer and much-published writer, updates Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman's classic The Decoration of Houses, first published 100 years ago. More style conscious and less tip-oriented than the authors of the other two books, she gives her own comprehensive interpretation of how to decorate a home in the last years of the 20th century. All three titles would be excellent, broad-interest additions to every public library.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Dylan Landis has an inside track with the decorating pros. Elegant and Easy Rooms will tell you their opinions on everything from how to arrange furniture in comfortable and imaginative ways to how to choose a color to create a certain mood or period (in the 1940's a particular shade of yellow was the most popular). The chapters include: Paint and Color, Walls, Windows, Problem Rooms--Great Solutions, Home Furnishings, The Art of Display, and Telling Details. There will also be an incredibly useful and valuable appendix listing all the best mail order resources for everyone's decorating needs. It will be illustrated with charming, elegant black and white drawings that will further entice you to upgrade your decor.
From the Publisher
Dylan Landis has an inside track with the decorating pros. Elegant and Easy Rooms will tell you their opinions on everything from how to arrange furniture in comfortable and imaginative ways to how to choose a color to create a certain mood or period (in the 1940's a particular shade of yellow was the most popular). The chapters include: Paint and Color, Walls, Windows, Problem Rooms--Great Solutions, Home Furnishings, The Art of Display, and Telling Details. There will also be an incredibly useful and valuable appendix listing all the best mail order resources for everyone's decorating needs. It will be illustrated with charming, elegant black and white drawings that will further entice you to upgrade your decor.
