Decorating Book Review Update
By admin ~ November 3rd, 2009. Filed under: Book Reviews, Décor, Guest Blogger.
Guest Blogger
Our friend Ivette lives near Washington, D.C. She has wonderful décor ideas and is a super DIY renovator who is 
amazing with a paintbrush. She and her husband, Joel, are currently hard at work creating a family room in their basement and adding a guest bath. Ivette also collects design books as a hobby and summarized every single volume on her shelves for us! Those reviews can be found on our Home Decorating Books page where you also will find two updates Here are her latest additions.
Barry Dixon Interiors. By Barry Dixon.
Gibbs Smith Publishers, Layton, Utah. 2008. ISBN: 1423601890.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. But, I didn’t. While Dixon’s style is not one of my favorites, I can get past that and enjoy the beautiful photography of very well designed rooms. But unfortunately, the text is very minimal and lacking in any useful information. I learned very little. Still it is a beautiful book and may be worth it for Dixon fans.
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Cuban Elegance. By Michael Connors.
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., NY., 2004.
ISBN: 0-8109-4337-9.
This is part design book, part history book – with photography of exquisite rooms and furniture and detailed discussion of the distinctive combination of English, French, and Spanish styles that are unique to Cuba. With a little imagination, it’s easy to connect the simplicity of elegant Old Cuban room to the simplicity of modern day Cuban designers like Vicente Wolf and Orlando Diaz-Azcuy. This is fascinating as unique beauty, which we see too rarely, and which sadly is disappearing in Cuba.
Michael S. Smith Houses. By Michael S. Smith.
Rizzoli, NY. , 2008. ISBN: 13:978-0-8478-3070-1.
Another beautiful book by premier designer Michael Smith, although with less design detail in the text than the first one. But the homes are beautiful, his narrative is instructive, and the photography looks wonderful.
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To Your Taste. By Celerie Kemble.
Clarkson Potter Publishers, NY. 2008.
ISBN: 978-0-307-39442-2.
This book completely surprised me by becoming one of my all-time favorites. It’s full of exquisite, high-end but reachable rooms, and it has a fresh, young sense of style while remaining completely classic. There are also numerous room styles. The generous narrative is full of great new viewpoints on design. Highly recommended.
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