The Art of Decoration

Rating:
Summary: inspired reader who wants to "spread the word"
Review: Equally at home on a living room coffee table or by a bedside, this book offers a welcomed escape for anyone who appreciates english style. It seems that the middle ground between the whimsical cottage style and the grand baronial castle look is often ignored. While I admit that Ms. Campbell definitely illustrates the latter, she also depicts several chapters which this jersey girl has the chance to emulate, i.e. small but stylish, elegance in the miniature. Her text is very informative; however, it is the well over one hundred photographs that will be of great help and inspiration. Reading this book is like commisioning "one of the best" at a true bargain price. A super addition to a collection or a defining starting point, get this book.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous photographs of elegant homes
Review: I have the English edition of this book (called Nina Campbell on Decorating), same number of pages, same copyright date, identical book size, inside look at how she worked with ten clients, so I believe it is the same book with a different title and cover picture (stuff that is typically altered when a book crosses the Atlantic).
The photographs are lovely, showed to their full advantage in this oversized book, accompanied by easy-to-read text that brought me into the dilemmas and solution process for each of the ten houses. Sometimes I disagreed with the results because decorating is a subjective art, but I loved discovering Nina's decorating philosophy. For example, on page 79 she says "Undoubtedly, my client will add paintings as he finds them. A house that is complete from the minute the owner walks in is not an ideal home. In the early stages a room needs to be 'en route,' as it were. You should be able to invite your friends to a party without being embarrassed that it's 'not quite finished."
Of course, Nina's comments also give us insight into how a designer works with a client, including some funny episodes such as the time she was confused about which way a painting a client owned should be hung - she thought vertical, and it turned out horizontal was the artist's intention!
Nina's style tends toward the formal and elegant, but anyone could learn from her approach to decorating. An enjoyable book to read, I'm looking forward to sharing it with some friends of mine who are designing a home - who could resist a wall of books in the study that is really a door? And her decorating tricks, such as lowering a high ceiling by painting it with a mottled texture, can be used by anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely book on design in the Colefax and Fowler tradition
Review: If you love the Colefax and Fowler decorating style, you will love this book. Ms. Campbell gives practical advice on how to make your rooms look elegant but comfortable, and she has a warm style that makes the book a pleasure to read. The color photos are excellent. I already stole an idea: wallpapering a multi-paneled screen to hide a radiator.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic name drops!!
Review: In addition to the beautifully photographed work, a very enjoyable glimse in Miss Campbells own home and world filled with The Beautiful People.