The Home Book starts out asking a very fundamental question, “What do you want your home to be?” and then proceeds to help you find and develop the answers.
This is a book that you will probably not be reading cover to cover in a linear fashion, but if you are contemplating a big makeover or making a fresh start, you might want to do exactly that.
Part One: Understand Your Home
To create a home that is beautiful, and makes you happy you start with the most fundamental question: what do you want your home to be?
This part of the book shows you why your home's site, architectural style and layout matter. It builds the foundation for what your home will eventually look like, and since you have carefully considered your home's assets and challenges, it will not only look good, but feel good as well.
It shows you how what's outside can affect what choices you can make on the inside to either augment or overcome it. It tells you how you can create more harmony by choosing furnishings that complement your home's architecture. And most importantly how the layout of the home affects how you will make plans to arrange your furniture.
Part Two: Elements of Design
The second part of the book shows you how to define the look or ambience of your home using elements of design such as color, texture, lighting, etc.
There are certain segments in each part that provide basic information, such as the Color Primer in this one. These are supplemented by designers offering their top ten picks relevant to each topic, and as further elaboration, a segment on "Expert Insight."
In this portion of the book you will learn all about color, lighting, fabric, wall and ceiling treatments and floor and window treatments.
Part Three: Design, Room by Room
In this part you learn how to fine tune the look you have started to put together.{/p]
"What will make your house a home?" is the question now. Starting with foyers and hallways you make your way room by room, and learn how to make the best use of each area.
There is plenty of advice and information on what kind of furnishings you might need to achieve the look you want, and how accents can dramatically change the look and feel.
Conclusion
What I particularly like is the way this book is organized. It poses questions to get the reader thinking and the questions are followed by advice and tips from experts, as well as basic information and suggestions about what to do.
The section on green design is a little disappointing, mainly because it offers limited information, but I’m hoping that might be remedied in future editions. All in all this is a valuable book for someone who is interested in designing a beautiful home. You would want to refer to it again and again.
Description
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages:464
- ISBN: 978-1-58816-603-6
- Publisher: Hearst Books
