Rating: 
Summary: What a find
Review: All we want is a cozy, comfortable, inviting home. Nothing formal or pretentious or for show. This book was on my neighbor's coffee table, and I fell in love with it right away and ordered my own copy. Now that it's fall, this book is giving me more than a winter's worth of decorating ideas to make our home comfortable. I like that this book is not limiting my sense of style but helping me to come up with my own style by showing so many varied cottage style looks. The pictures of what I can tell are actual homes are beautiful, and the writing explains how to decorate instead of just describing what is in the pictures. There are lots of tips on arranging collections and furniture, choosing fabrics, and so forth. This book is great as a dream book, and I ooh and ahh over page after page. But when I stop to read, I get information to help me take ideas from those pictures and do them my own way in our home. I'll use this classic book often and for years. A wonderful buy. Good for Christmas gifts...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Inspiring!
Review: An absolutely great book, filled with tons of color photos that demonstrate cottage style in many different fashions. Whether you are interested in English country, nautical, romantic, folksy... or any other form of cottage decor, this book will have ideas for you! And the text is just as nice as the photos! No boring, four syllable, technical jargon... The content is easy and enjoyable to read and teaches you the basics of decorating for any style. So even if you discover that cottage isn't your thing, you can still benefit from this book by using the basic decorating elements and creating your own design. What a great book... Worth every penny!
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Summary: I agree this is a "chick flick" book
Review: As soon as I read the customer revivew that referred to this book as a "chick flick" book, I knew I had to have it. I wasn't disappointed, either. It shows styles ranging from serene and pared down to kitschy, but each of them is lovable and cottage-cozy. And that is what we want in our home. I design all kinds of rooms for clients, but when I get home I want to sink into overstuffed chairs and have my favorite things around me. I have a lot of clients, too, who want me to use cottage furnishings and fabrics to turn their homes into "weekend cottages." As a designer, I appreciate the fact that the book doesn't promote cluttered decorating but offers sound design advice on mixing colors, fabric patterns, and arranging collections and furnishings. This is a happy, snug little book on a style that never seems to die.
Rating: 
Summary: Filled with practical, do-it-yourself ideas.
Review: Caringer's book is definitely not a "buy a blue pillow and place it on the floral couch next to the white lamp" type of book; rather, the photographs and one-line comments give you sensible ideas on how to achieve the look you desire on your own. Whether you want to buy everything new, incorporate your existing furniture into this look, or experiment with garage sale finds, this books shows you how to do it. Everything from floors to ceilings, bathrooms to porches, as well as how to use accent pieces is covered in this book. I would also recommend it for singles/couples just starting out as it illustrates how to put together ordinary items to create an extraordinary environment.
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Summary: Defines What Cottage Style IS and Gives Inspiration
Review: Cottage Style can mean so many different things and this book can help you to find your own cottage style.
This book covers the different modes such as beach house, primitive country, Victorian gothic, English country rustic western and southwestern, romantic (like Rachel Ashwell's shabby chic), French country, farm fresh country cottage, and garden style.
The book is generous with photos for inspiration (over 200 to be exact)- no doubt some re-purposed from the pages of Better Homes & Gardens - but examples are all somewhat "country" in appearance with all the painted, stenciled, stamped and embellished windows, walls, and floors. And all cottages are not country. If you want a real beach house, coastal living theme or a real English or French country look, you may want to look elsewhere.
But the be-all, end-all knowledge of all forms of cottage style decorating is not what the book promises to be. It's a good primer to introducing you to ALL of the cottage styles so that you can see what speaks to YOU and your tastes. Then you can research each particular style that you want to achieve.
No matter what, the book is a helpful reference for trekking your cottage style giving you specific suggestions on color, fabric, and accessories. Then, the book gives you specific examples for different areas of your home: living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and porch...there is even a nursery decorating idea page.
Perhaps one of the most valuable sections of the book is the glossary of terms in the back. It may only be a two-page spread but it is smattered with terms essential for decorating today.There are only a few real how-to instructions for completing specific projects in this book, but who cares? There are tons of decorating tips and snippets for added touches in creating cottage style home décor. All in all, a great feel-good book, great for thumbing through and making notes with a cuppa joe in hand.
Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous and full of ideas
Review: Great pictures coupled with great decorating advice for everything from arranging collections (and furniture) to planning color schemes.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: I am an artist and craftsperson but I am not a writer, so all I can say is that I love this book. The book is loveable. I sat with it for an afternoon and enjoyed every room. Now I have Postit Notes sticking out everywhere with my own notes about how I want to use this or that idea. Once the kids are back in school, I plan to be cozying up our home in cottage style. I love it.
Rating: 
Summary: no one decorates like this- what a farce!
Review: I bought this book based on the positive user reviews it received, but I'm very disappointed. The book stages several unrealistic situations, for example drapping *cloth* curtains in a window over a tub, and cluttering rooms so much you couldn't even walk through one. Its all for show- nothing *real* that serves any function at all. And on top of that, in my opinion, the taste in "style" is horrible. Its like a stereotypical Grandma Martha Stewart or something. Everything's flowery or patterned in pastels. Yuck! Some people may like this, but I found it painful to look at it, frankly. Instead, I recommend The Cottage Book by Richard Sexton, which concentrates only on San Francisco area style cottages, but it much more applicable, clean, and just plain nice to see. I plan on using some of the info in the Sexton book and wouldn't be embarrassed at all to leave it sitting on my coffee table!
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Summary: This is my style!
Review: I didn't know my decorating style had a name until I found this book. It's all about decorating in a different way and avoiding the dull sameness that we usually find in suburban homes. There is something freeing about cottage style. It's all about freshness and fun and ease and escape. We are using this book and another cottage book called Second Home to inspire and guide us as we decorate our home.
Rating:
Summary: A surprising find!
Review: I didn't know until I picked this book up at a book store that it's about decorating in a way that can give my home the look of a vacation home. What a neat idea. Amazon's price was better, so I ordered the book on line, and I'm loving it. I'm really happy with the photos and ideas.
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