On the House, With Love

FOR THE LOVE OF OLD: LIVING WITH CHIPPED, FRAYED, TARNISHED, FADED, TATTERED, WORN , AND WEATHERED THINGS THAT BRING COMFORT..........2007-01-10

An interior decorator and artist, author Diane Love understands that your home is your castle and that any castle's decor should jive with the personality of the reigning monarch. Using a list of adjectives, you evaluate your emotional reactions to a series of photographs. Be honest and you'll discover your true decorating sense (you do have one, no matter how buried it is), and there's no right or wrong. For example, I find the book-lined library cozy, comfortable, and unpretentious. You may think it's dark, cluttered, and predictable. We're both right! Through a series of exercises, you'll discover your decorating likes and dislikes. Do you prefer sophisticated and ornate? Casual and bohemian? Read about furniture styles, color combinations, and architecture, and then listen to your intuition--you'll be on your way to creating a personal space unique to you. Included are two workbooks (one portable) so you can jot down notes and ideas. --Dana Van Nest

Acclaimed designer and artist Diane Love shows you how, in this beautifully photographed volume, to discover and define your personal taste, then demonstrates how to build a decor that is functional, aesthetically pleasing, and truly reflective of your personality.

Within the pages of this beautifully photographed book, acclaimed designer and artist Diane Love presents a truly innovative approach to interior design by equipping you with an understanding of your unique taste and the ability to use it to create your personal decorating style. Through easy, fully illustrated, step-by-step exercises and examples, she helps you to discover and define your taste, then demonstrates how you can use this knowledge to create a functional and aesthetic decor that is a true reflection of your personality.

PART I: WHAT IS YOUR TASTE? Seven exercises, comprised of simple activities and questions, and free of self-conscious personal evaluation, help you to better define and articulate your taste. The exercises begin by asking you to select from magazines rooms that you love (your YESs) and those you don't (your NOs), then they help you to find words to express your impressions about a room's decoration, to distinguish the common denominators always present in the rooms you choose, and to pinpoint your likes and dislikes through your reactions to elements of a room's design, from architectural elements to furnishings to the color palette.

PART II: EXERCISE YOUR TASTE Eleven methods taken in sequence explain the step-by-step process of decorating a room and show you how to incorporate what you have learned about your taste in Part I in order to create a decor that is comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to you. Topics covered include: using space efficiently, evaluating architectural elements, renovating economically, making a furniture plan, achieving visual balance, arranging objects and pictures, choosing lighting, and working with mirrors.

QUESTIONNAIRE AND WORKBOOKS A questionnaire specially conceived to assist you in analyzing your decorating style enables you to track your aesthetic attitudes, reactions, and preferences. The two workbooks-one of which is separate from the book and easily portable.

Living in a consumer culture, it is easy to get out of touch with our own expressive sides, and I really like how Ms. Love encourages us to take that journey back to our most original selves. If you are willing to complete the exercises and look at them as a whole, what you can find is nothing short of your self.

I think Yes/No Design is a text on how to distill out the essence of design as an act of personal creation. Rather than paying Ms. Love to tell us what to like, we are gaining something far more valuable with the purchase of this book -- a guide to our own creativity which we can then use to decorate our homes and every other area of our lives.

At one point the author says "listen to your intuition." That is what I suggest people do instead of buying this book.

However, if you don't yet trust yout intuition the following are some good books:

Color Your Home Beautiful: Ideas and Solutions
- It has beautiful photos, a variety of well-chosen color combinations in a variety of styles, dozens of color swatches, useful tips, and quotes from designers.

Ultimate Home Style Guide by Katherine Sorrell
- Almost all styles are represented here with enough details on colors, fabrics, and other style elements to create the look your self.

Better Homes & Gardens: New Remodeling Book
- Despite the fact that remodeling is in the title, this is a good basic book about interior design. I like it better than BH&G: New Decorating Book.

Having had little or no faith in my aesthetic sense, "Yes/No Design" helped me trust my choices through the simple understanding of my likes and dislikes (for things such as colors, sizes, shapes, space, and patterns). The book is beautiful, thought-provoking, validating and inspiring. I realized I don't have to be an "expert" to create a lovely home.

"Yes/No Design" helped me get in touch with who I am, what I enjoy and appreciate, and what makes me comfortable. For me, decorating my home has become a metaphor for changing and improving my life and my attitude. Diane Love has shown me that beauty most definitely comes from within.

This book is a TRUE how-to for relationship enhancement. It invokes feng shui in the way it is meant to be used, to enhance rather than substitute for self-knowledge. What a fantastic opportunity this book provides those who seriously want to improve the world through relationships and feng shui.

And it's not difficult! Simons' brilliance is that the complex Taoist calculations and philosophies are rendered here in common-sense terms that are accessible to and effective for all. Be prepared for a wonderful journey with this book.

In this lavishly illustrated volume, Christine Churchill establishes the definition of the new American collectible and shows how -- by using a discerning eye and armed with basic know-how -- talented individuals and seasoned collectors can create their own signature design aesthetic and apply it to their homes and their lives.

American vintage style has evolved and changed. Gone are the old-style American antiques: Chippendale highboys stuffed with precious "smalls" in museum-perfect homes. Today, interesting and unique homes showcase character-filled objects; old number signs with bright graphics; weathered finials; funereal vases; mercury glass collections. The Collector's Eye shows that the best rooms are not the result of excessive spending and "decoration" but are a reflection of how the owner's passions and ideas can result in a collection that is both deeply personal and valuable.

By examining individual collections that range in aesthetic from folksy arts and crafts to urban modern, Churchill offers a wealth of ideas and information for all budding collectors and enthusiasts. Complete with informative sidebars and detailed caption photos, The Collector's Eye describes the intricacies of these objects, imparts tips on sleuthing for them, offers practical advice on their placement and upkeep, and guides readers on today's hot collectibles and how to go about building their own special collection.

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