Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but lacking
Review: This book is simple and yet filled with some great ideas. I liked it because you can pick it up and read a few pages and get many helpful suggestions. They are easy to implement and won't cost you a fortune either.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Ideas
Review: This book is simple and yet filled with some great ideas. I liked it because you can pick it up and read a few pages and get many helpful suggestions. They are easy to implement and won't cost you a fortune either.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent resource for the beginner or experienced decorator
Review: This is a book full of great ideas to enhance any decorating project. It includes great tidbits of information that can tranform your rooms into decorator show places. I particularly appreciated the chapter on paint colors. The author gives tried and true recommendations that you can take to the paint store. I've had great success using the paint suggestions in 4 rooms so far. It really takes the guesswork out of trying to find the right color of warm yellow for your living room. This chapter alone is worth the cost of the book!A quick and enjoyable read that stimulates your decorating imagination. One resource at the end of the book that I would not recommend is the stencil catalog by V. and Olga Decorating. I sent away for it (which cost $8 instead of the $5, mentioned in the book) and it was a real disappointment. For $8, I expected a professional catalog and a credit voucher for my first purchase. I received neither.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but lacking
Review: This is a lovely little book for the beginning decorator. The book has some very charming and sometimes inexpensive ideas - like decorating with bedsheets or canvas tarps, (or even brown craft paper) which actually turned out quite well. There are also some very helpful suggested palettes for painting your home. There are a few caveats: the palletes are given as paint numbers - with no swatches of acutal paint colors. You must only imagine what "Stones of Provence" might be like, unless you want to go down to your local pro paint shop. That's the other thing. Although there are a few paints you can find at your local Home Depot or similar, most of the palettes are taken from pro-level paint labels like Benjamin Moore and Pratt & Lambert. These are mostly oil-based paints, and definitely not do-it-your-self jobs. They are also relatively expensive. The book does suggest the Martha Stewart line of paint, which also has pre-selected palettes, which is what I did use (with GREAT results). And these paints are latex-based (DIY-friendly) and available at KMart and Sears. There are some creative and inspiring ideas here, even if some - like COMMISSIONING a painter to paint a patch of sky on your ceiling and framing it - are a bit silly, expensive and fanciful. It's worth the purchase price if you're looking for a few cute ideas and are okay with a book that's heavy on prose and light on pictures.
Rating:
Summary: Loads of great ideas and suggestions of where to find more
Review: This isn't the book for people who need to know the rules of interior design (how much space to leave for pathways, how high lamps should be, etc) but it's great if you're looking for suggestions on creative and cheap things to do with your house (or help deciding what to splurge on). It lets you know the variety of ways you can use a professional. The absence of photos didn't bother me--a lot of the suggestions are supposed to jog your imagination, so imagine! Loved the information on paint and colors--that chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A very approachable and creative guide
Review: Without being threatening Dylan Landis has provided a wealth of creative ideas- many that don't require large commitments of time and money, and most that are food for creative thought. I've dog eared many pages and reference this book frequently for color ideas and creative inspiration.
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