The New Decorating Book (Better Homes and Gardens(R))

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Summary: Just What I Was Looking For!
Review: This is a wonderful book full of beautiful pictures to help inspire people such as myself who are a little bit of every decorating style, but lean towards the country look. If you love the picture on the cover, you'll probably love all of the photos in this book. It was my main reason for purchasing it. I also love the bright colors of country design, and this book captures the use of primary colors and big bold patterns very well. It has excellent ideas to help you pull your decorating style and the things you love together to make your home beautiful. The room arranging templates are very helpful as well as the window and door sketchbook, which helped me solve a window treatment dilemma.

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Summary: Great book, but the new 2003 edition is better
Review: I love this book, but the new 2003 edition is even better. If you are going to buy one, I recommend the new one.

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Summary: Top 3 of 250 home dec books
Review: Yes! A home dec book that shows the best of new, clean design yet avoids cold, sterile & unlivable environs. You can live in these rooms--leave a book on a table, a magazine on the sofa--without destroying the 'look.' May replace the popular, top-rated "Inspirations" by Waverly as my #1 pick.

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Summary: Great photographs
Review: A good picture book full of inspiration, not how-tos.

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Summary: Lots of pretty pictures but not much real guidance
Review: I bought this book based on the ratings on Amazon & while this book isn't bad, it isn't great either. There are tons of pictures so its a treat to flip through. There's also a section on how to optimally design your room. However, the book doesn't do a step by step analysis of your needs & try to help you accommodate your needs to the contours of your home. Overall, good value but don't expect too much!

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Summary: A Great Book for beginners.
Review: I am remodeling my house and am looking for new ideas to decorate. I bought this book and could not put it down. It has wonderful ideas and shows you how to put it all together. It even has a quiz to help you decide what kind of "style" you have and has workbooks to help you visualize it and make it your own.

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Summary: wonderful new book
Review: I just got this new book and I love it. I'm still going through just to look at the pictures but I've already marked a couple of sections I want to go back to as we redo our living room and bedroom. The book seems to have covered every decorating question but it's worth it for the photos alone. It's also a bargain. It's heavy and way more than 400 pages.

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Summary: Helps me work with what I already have
Review: I have to disagree with the reviewer who said this book doesn't offer budget-conscious ideas. For me, anyway, the book is a regular source of ideas for working with a lot of the stuff I already own. The book is filled with so many tips on things like rearranging your furniture or your accessories. I actually got my husband to make the bathroom vanity project the book showed (using an old dresser as a vanity). I like the ideas for quick color changes also. A great book. I never put it away because I'm using it all the time.

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Summary: Disappointing
Review: If you have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on decorating you might find something worthwhile in this book. I don't. Too bad this book doesn't offer budget-conscious people like me any ideas.

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Summary: Really practical
Review: I started thumbing through this at a friend's house, expecting it to be a sort of picture book for the coffee table. It is filled with gorgeous photos. Once I got into it, I found I kept stopping because there is so much practical, useful, helpful material here. It isn't just about what you see in the photos because the writing is about general decorating ideas (or "principles") that go beyond the photos. Everywhere I looked, I saw decorating ideas and practical information. That's why I ordered my own copy. A great book.