How to Decorate: An Inspiring and Practical Handbook
224
How to Decorate: An Inspiring and Practical Handbook
224Paperback
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Overview
The secret to those gorgeous interiors in the magazines lies not in the things that fill the rooms, but in the "decorating story" or point of view that the designer has applied to the space. With How to Decorate, learn how to create your own design concept and implement it with color, furniture, fabrics, lighting, accessorizing, and styling. This book also helps solve a decorator’s biggest challenges, from working around a home's existing architecture and organizing a space, to mixing patterns and editing collections.
Best of all, 150 color photographs and charming watercolor illustrations—and even a bookplate for personalizing this guide—provide inspiration that makes this book as useful as it is beautiful.
Among the insider tips is information on:
-Finding a dedicated space where you can organize paint samples, fabric swatches, and magazine clippings
-Choosing a sofa wisely
-Determining appropriate wall finishes and textures
-Identifying what fabrics are right for you
-Styling your decor to reinvigorate your space
-Plus, the best suppliers for rugs, linens, accessories, and more
"Interior design should be about telling a personal story, and Shannon Fricke has nailed it on the head with How to Decorate. Her genius tips ring true for novice and professional decorators alike, and her decorating workshop-in-a-book organization helps simplify what can be a very intimidating process. This book will empower and motivate you to tell your personal story through your home decor. Bravo, Shannon!" —Jenny Komenda, designer and founder of Little Green Notebook
"How to Decorate throws out stuffy notions of doing things the 'right' way and instead invites us to imagine our homes as playgrounds for authentic self-expression. Fricke promotes the idea of decorating at its best, as a means of creating surroundings that reflect who we really are and what we love . . . while having a blast in the process!" —Camille Styles, event designer and editor of CamilleStyles.com
"Shannon strikes the elusive balance between visual inspiration and practicable action. This is a book you'll both display and put to constant use." —Anne Sage, blogger and founder of The City Sage
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780385345071 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed |
| Publication date: | 08/27/2013 |
| Pages: | 224 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
https://shannonfricke.com
Read an Excerpt
Telling Your Decorating Story
Like all forms of creativity, decorating a home is the opportunity to tell a story, to express a point of view and ultimately to realise a vision. The most evocative interiors are those that embody the essence, heart and energy of their inhabitants—they are layered and filled with memories, life and stories. They don't subscribe to one particular style; rather, they use the elements of decorating—the combination of furniture, colours, patterns and textures—to tell their story. A home decorated with the individual or family in mind can act as a kind of support system, giving its inhabitants a happy core within which to relax, live and breathe.
While I'm all for the excitement, energy and "newness" that fashion can give us, I can't help but feel that when a home is decorated for fashion's sake alone it's a missed opportunity. After all, fashion is so fleeting, and doesn't do much to build a thoughtful and lasting aesthetic. Fashion can leave us perpetually dissatisfied, forever on the hunt for the newest style, dissuading us from settling on a longer lasting vision. Of course, infusing elements of fashion helps keep an interior fresh, but interiors shaped with a vision or
'story' in mind are always the most enduring and compelling.
Whoever I'm decorating for, I always begin by constructing the story of the space and the people living in it. I find this the best way to humanise a space and give it a personality. Unearthing your story isn't easy, I admit. We're complex creatures with many facets, elements and stories. But once you begin to take note of your life, the places you love and the things that make you smile, you'll see a thread or a pattern emerging that will form the basis of your decorating story. This process becomes a little trickier when you have to consider not just your story, but also those of the people who share your life. The key is finding common threads and using them as your starting point.
Table of Contents
ContentsIntroduction
Getting Started
Layer One, Discovering Your Decorating Story
Layer Two, Creating Your Concept
Layer Three, Working with Space
Layer Four, Shaping Your Backdrop
Layer Five, Becoming Friends with Color
Layer Six, Bringing in the Furniture
Layer Seven, Choosing Fabrics
Layer Eight, Light Exactly Where You Need It
Layer Nine, Accessorizing—the Key to Individuality
Layer Ten, Styling It All Together
Conclusion, You're Home
Supplies
Acknowledgments
Index
Featured Artworks and Products