Use What You Have Decorating

Shows readers how to give their living space the look they want on a shoestring, by identifying and correcting the ten most common decorating mistakes quickly and easily, using real before-and-after examples, photographs, and drawings.

Can you carry on a decent living-room conversation without screaming? Do the accessories in your dining room make you wince? You need the one-day decorator, who--as created and popularized by Ward--scrutinizes, diagnoses, and moves furniture and accessories to create more harmonious spaces in just 24 hours or less! In these pages, then, are how-to summaries, along with nearly 25 before-and-after stories and photographs. All information is clustered around the 10 most common decorating mistakes, from creation of a bad conversation area to incorrect use of lighting. Each cluster includes illustrations of right and wrong; a list of what was banished, borrowed, or bought; a "to-do" checklist or two; and personal tales and hints that illuminate her principles. Anyone for joining a "destroy the doilies" club? Good information, packaged in logical fashion and helpful to readers for turning their homes into something suitable for House Beautiful. Barbara Jacobs

Ward, founder of Use What You Have Interiors, shares her ten design considerations, such as making a comfortable conversation area, identifying a room's focal point, and using light correctly, for transforming homes into livable, attractive spaces. She devotes a chapter to each of these principles with before-and-after pictures of clients' homes, identifying what the problems are and how to correct them. In each case, she includes a list of what was eliminated, borrowed from other rooms, or bought. Focusing on living and dining rooms, Ward concludes with a brief discussion of kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Never advocating a particular style, except for an uncluttered look, her book will be a practical purchase for public libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.