Dwellings: Living with Great Style

Rating:
Summary: Classic, elegant, and luxurious ideas for the home
Review: As a big fan of these designers' work for a long time, I was thrilled to see they had finally written a book about their unique approach to luxury home design. Classic, simple, clean, yet the most luxurious ideas and feel make the ideas in their book great to look at and not so intimadating to try on one's own.

Rating:
Summary: Style with Style!
Review: Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! As a young design professional, it always gives me pause to see the work of a talented peer...make that a pair of peers. Sills and Huniford are making their mark on the 21st century, as David Hicks, Billy Baldwin, and Jean Michel Frank did in the 20th. Having waited for this book to be published since an interview done by the pair in the early 90's, "Dwellings" fulfills its promise of making simple the secrets to a stylish interior. This tome is a pleasure to all those who harbor ascetic tendencies, yet relish a heeping helping of drama every now and again. Kudos!

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous book!
Review: I am not sure which I like better--Sills and Huniford's interior design work or the graphic design of this book! Each is uniquely beautiful and I have not seen anything like either of them before. The book reflects these talented designers' work--it is elegant, clean, layered, tactile, and an objet d'art. I recommend this book to design afficianodos, as well as people who are about to redecorate their homes. Insightful tips abound in the delightful text. A must!

Rating:
Summary: Stylish but vacant
Review: I found this book to be like a stylish but vacant house. It looked good from the outside, but once I got inside the book, there wasn't very much in there to keep my interest. I actually became annoyed with myself for spending money on this when I tried to read this book and realized that the authors have nothing new to say. I've read it all before. Many times. ("It is your personality that brings a room alive." Oh really? I read that 20 years ago in my mother's old Better Homes and Gardens decorating book. "The bed will influence all other choices in the room." I paid money to read that? )
I also find it annoying that they keep talking about themselves in the writing.-who cares? The pictures are too small. Although the rooms look pretty enough, I kept wanting to see more of each room or to have room pictures used larger, because it was frustrating that I felt I couldn't see enough of the rooms or enough of what is in the rooms. (They take a whole room pictures of a bedroom or a living room and use it on the equivalent of maybe a quarter of a page and put some fabric design or wallpaper pattern behind it. Ick.)
I definitely did not get my money's worth on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Stylish but vacant
Review: I found this book to be like a stylish but vacant house. It looked good from the outside, but once I got inside the book, there wasn't very much in there to keep my interest. I actually became annoyed with myself for spending money on this when I tried to read this book and realized that the authors have nothing new to say. I've read it all before. Many times. ("It is your personality that brings a room alive." Oh really? I read that 20 years ago in my mother's old Better Homes and Gardens decorating book. "The bed will influence all other choices in the room." I paid money to read that? )
I also find it annoying that they keep talking about themselves in the writing.-who cares? The pictures are too small. Although the rooms look pretty enough, I kept wanting to see more of each room or to have room pictures used larger, because it was frustrating that I felt I couldn't see enough of the rooms or enough of what is in the rooms. (They take a whole room pictures of a bedroom or a living room and use it on the equivalent of maybe a quarter of a page and put some fabric design or wallpaper pattern behind it. Ick.)
I definitely did not get my money's worth on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: This book looks good at first glimpse but then it falls apart. The admittedly stylish graphic design cannot compensate for the small pictures, the trite prose, and the old ideas. I expected this book to offer something really fresh but it didn't. I feel majorly ripped off.

Rating:
Summary: Offbeat. Know what you are buying...
Review: This is NOT a "decorating book" for for someone about to redo a room in their home, and looking for ideas. The book has a curious layout I found interesting: small size, no dustjacket, heavy on text; that should tip off potential readers that this one is a little different. It is more like a design essay (and it's highly readable), with photos, close-ups of fabrics, endpapers spread throughout with fancy script font, etc. There is no "how-to" here, no HGTV budget tips, no "oh THAT'S what I'll do with my lamp!" inspirations. You just sort of curl up with this and learn about their approach to design (they probably hand this to potential clients). The book is a luxury, so spend money elsewhere if you are looking for design reference.

Rating:
Summary: Offbeat. Know what you are buying...
Review: This is NOT a "decorating book" for for someone about to redo a room in their home, and looking for ideas. The book has a curious layout I found interesting: small size, no dustjacket, heavy on text; that should tip off potential readers that this one is a little different. It is more like a design essay (and it's highly readable), with photos, close-ups of fabrics, endpapers spread throughout with fancy script font, etc. There is no "how-to" here, no HGTV budget tips, no "oh THAT'S what I'll do with my lamp!" inspirations. You just sort of curl up with this and learn about their approach to design (they probably hand this to potential clients). The book is a luxury, so spend money elsewhere if you are looking for design reference.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful inside and out
Review: This is one of the most elegant books I've ever seen. The linen texture and tipped on photos are gorgeous and the photography inside is incredible. The photos show beautiful rooms and I love the way they give ideas and information that I can use in my house. I found plenty of ideas I'll try to copy and I know I'll give this as a gift--it's such a nice package.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful inside and out
Review: This is one of the most elegant books I've ever seen. The linen texture and tipped on photos are gorgeous and the photography inside is incredible. The photos show beautiful rooms and I love the way they give ideas and information that I can use in my house. I found plenty of ideas I'll try to copy and I know I'll give this as a gift--it's such a nice package.