I was recently at a benefit auction that had tons, literally hundreds, of gift baskets for the silent auction part. Imagine my giddiness when one of those baskets had a design book and a gift certificate for a one hour design consultation. I DIE.
Yes, I guarded my bid all night. Yes, I can be a jerk. Cue evil laughter.
The book is the Comfortable Home by Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams. I *heart* design books. They are big and glossy and drool worthy. Plus, they look great on your coffee table!
I am slightly familiar with Gold and Williams. They design classic furniture and bedding etc.
The book is organized to help you along your home design journey and begins like every book on design: clip pictures that you love. Which I do. I have a binder full of gorgeous pictures for inspiration. And, on my refrigerator is a paper protector sleeve full of kitchen inspiration pictures.
Inspiration is the easy part. Seriously, who couldn't look at House Beautiful and find 10 inspiring rooms? The hard part is putting it together. It takes time. Design is never done. It is ever evolving. And there are some very tricky parts.
For example, room layout. How do you arrange your furniture to make the most of the room and to facilitate all that you use that room for? The Comfortable Home provides templates for different room layouts, from tiny spaces to grand spaces. I found this part of the book particularly helpful and useful.
Another feature of the book is taking a room and decorating it two different ways so you can see how dramatically different a room can be.
The photos are beautiful and it doesn't disappoint on the glossy beauty front. However, the design is very classic and very safe. The rooms are beautiful, but don't seem INSPIRED to me. You know those rooms that just ooze character and individuality? There were none of those. Anyone could live in these rooms. They could be staged for a sale...no personality. Very safe.
Hmm...I could use a design book. I am always thinking...when we get into our next house, then I'll try harder. :) However, a good part of our household is primary colors and plastic and loud which isn't really the statement I want...so maybe waiting isn't such a bad idea. :)
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at your comment, Julie! I was just thinking the same thing - our whole living area is chock full of toys. Very bright, colorful, and loud toys. I am also the type to wait for perfection before I decorate. I have yet to decorate or invest much $ in our home that we've lived in for 4 years. I've been thinking this whole time that we'd either move or remodel. No use in decorating a 70's home... it's just too daunting.
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