DECORATIVE STYLE : The Most Original and Comprehensive Sourcebook of Styles, Treatments, Techniques, and Materials (Dorling Kindersley)

Decorative Style is the most practical and innovative resource of decorating styles, techniques, and tools and materials ever created.

Using innovative, easy-to-master techniques and surprisingly inexpensive materials (paint, paper, fabric, replica molding -- even photocopies!), Kevin McCloud -- a brilliant young set designer turned interior decorator -- shows you everything you need to know to design and create your own stunning adaptations of today's most popular decorating styles.

There are forty styles in all -- from Santa Fe, Shaker, Miami Deco, and Caribbean to Bauhaus, Biedermeier, Mackintosh, and French Country (to name just a few) -- each designed and created especially by the author and stunningly photographed, with literally hundreds of styling options and color variations to choose from.

Each style is represented by a complete floor-to-ceiling "room slice" -- a unique device that allows you to see the total impact of a scheme while easily visualizing its possibilities for your own room. The decorative effects and other components of each style are analyzed, rephotographed with a full range of imaginative alternatives, and cross-referenced to all the techniques, tools, and materials needed to create each unique effect. Even the most inexperienced and budget-conscious of home owners will be inspired by Kevin McCloud's imaginative use of inexpensive, readily available materials and amazing timesaving techniques.

Whether you do the work yourself or hire it out, whether you're redoing an alcove or an entire house, Decorative Style will kindle your imagination and give you all the tools you need to create spectacular, one-of-a-kind interiors that will truly distinguish and enhance the value of your home.

Kevin McCloud is a bright new name in interior decoration. His unique and refreshing approach stems from his background in art history and his experience as an innovative set designer in London. His talents as a lecturer and teacher are in great demand, and his techniques and advice on creating a wide range of period styles are regularly featured in major magazines. Inexpensive materials and a repertoire of imaginative techniques form the crux of his decorating philosophy, one that celebrates innovative reinterpretations of traditional styles and encourages all to design and create their own dramatic and distinctive interiors.