Billy Baldwin Decorates

Rating:
Summary: We Need You Billy
Review: Billy Baldwin Decorates is more than a how-to decorating book, although it is a very good one. Baldwin mingled with the wealthy and famous, yet while he name drops, he does it in a matter of fact way rather than a "I'm so cool I can name drop" way. He talks about and shows the work he did for Cole Porter, for instance. Yet despite the name dropping, he was also realistic about mixing luxury and practical living. If you like white walls, spare furniture, and "great rooms", this book is not for you. If you want to decorate a room to be comfortable yet stylish, then it is. Baldwin shows photos of rooms he designed. While some seem period 1960's, and were, others hold up very well. Baldwin also championed using small space effectively. He was very adept at dividing rooms into zones, even small ones, and uses his own one room apartment in Manhattan as an example. Rather than the less-is-more of recent small space design, Baldwin was adept at making rooms so comfortable that the small size didn't matter. He also wasn't ashamed of using inexpensive materials if he felt they seved the purpose well. In many ways, this book, while dated at times, has more to recommend it than recent books on the subject.