Crafting a Colorful Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to Personalizing Your Space with Color

by Kristin Nicholas, Rikki Snyder (Photographer)

Knit, stitch, and paint your way to a more colorful and happy home with color expert and crafter Kristin Nicholas.

     Learn how to make your home sing through handmade crafts and a bold use of color. Kristin Nicholas, color expert and all-around master crafter, shares her secrets to selecting colors and patterns and explores the variety of crafts and decorating touches that have made her home so unique. Going room by room, Kristin uses her own 1751 farmhouse as a leaping-off point for craft projects perfect for every space. You'll find a range of step-by-step projects to make your home cozy and bright, including knit pillows, embroidered curtains, crocheted blankets, and painted lampshades. Along the way, Kristin also shares DIY techniques on refinishing furniture, faux finishing walls, mural painting, and recycling wool clothes. Full of inspiration, and with vibrant photographs throughout, this is a complete guide to creating a home that reflects your own handmade style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Design

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 20, 2015

About the author

KRISTIN NICHOLAS is a knitwear and stitchery designer who lives in western Massachusetts on a working sheep farm with her husband and daughter and 400 sheep, three border collies, two great pyrenees guard dogs, ten cats, thirty chickens, one guard donkey, and one guard llama.

Kristin learned to knit and sew when she was nine years old. Following her passion for creating, she received a BS from University of Delaware and MS from Colorado State University in Textiles and Clothing. She has worked in the American needlework industry for over 25 years as a creative director and a stitchery and knitwear designer. She is the author of 8 books including Color By Kristin, Kristin Knits, Colorful Stitchery, Kids Embroidery, Knitting for Baby, and more. Her specialty is working with color and she is known as a color expert within the needlework industry. She has her own line of yarn named “Julia”, after her daughter, which is distributed throughout North America by Nashua Handknits (a Division of Westminster Fibers). She has been also been featured as a knitting expert on PBS's Knit and Crochet Now for the three seasons.

Kristin's home and work have been featured in Country Home, Country Living, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, Knitters Magazine, and many other national publications.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/kristi...

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book really made me happy! I love color and it is reflected in my life, clothes and art. Kristin Nicholas does a terrific job with her new home book. I especially love her decorative paint techniques and mosaic flower pots. She also explains how to felt and dye wool, paint pillows and knit a crazy quilt swatch blanket. This is the kind of book that makes you feel energized and ready to take on new crafty projects. There are photos of her beautiful home that will inspire you. If you love to craft like I do, you will enjoy it.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witch such a grabbing title, I hoped for something spectacular here. Something that would do more for me than the occasional pause for a pretty picture as I flipped through. Sadly, while it is a lovely coffee table book, there are no new ideas here. If you're someone who is already creative, then you've seen this all before in other books or pinterest. I recommend saving your money and instead pinning what you like.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book - from the photographs showing Kristin's work, to the colorful ideas - I love the printed tablecloth definitely something on my craft bucket list to the striped afghan, the mosaic flower and the wonderful use of color is just so inspiring!!!
It is such a personal book and story of how Kristin uses color in her everyday life. Awe inspiring and motivating. Loved it.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful to look at. Detailed explanations and a lot of inspiration.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. I love Kristin Nicholas's knitting books and this book is just as delightful. I love her embroidery hoop lanterns.

[Tayler K · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I was expecting, in a couple ways.

For one thing, it's not just a bunch of interior photos with extended captions--you actually get step-by-step instructions for a number of different projects, from crocheting blankets to different painting techniques for your walls.

I also thought there would be a lot of variety in the styles and colors and some formal art/interior design techniques suggesting different color options. There is a brief discussion of using the color wheel and looking at colors in different lights, but otherwise, this is mostly just the author's personal preferences for colors, techniques, and styles, which are highly eclectic. Not applicable to a wide audience apart from the advice to think about how different colors make you feel.

Love all the cats lounging in the photos though.

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't as impressed with this book as I'd hoped I would be. The pictures are lovely, but the author's style is a lot brighter than I'm comfortable with, and while she has some lovely ideas (particularly loved her use of exotic fabrics), the garishness of the colours she used sometimes overwhelmed the ideas she was trying to illustrate. I'm in awe of her family's library, however. Some lovely ideas, and I'll be looking up some of her reading suggestions.

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty and outstanding book on home decorating and just being openly creative in general. I love the project ideas and will keep them in mind when I find something I want to do. I love this sweet, bright and colorful book.

[Robin Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been following Kristin Nicholas on Instagram and get her newsletter so have been wanting her book for quite some time. I found a copy on Thriftbooks.com. I am back in my colorful era so it's inspiration and nice to page through.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book and ideas. But I'm not that brave yet!

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hoped there would be more color theory in this book than there was. The crafts were a bit too rustic for my taste, but I did enjoy the prose.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful and colorful inspiration.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like a lot of color, this is the decorating and craft book for you. I found 2 ideas to try- the stamped tablecloth and the hanging embroidery hoop lanterns.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't have very many crafts

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some neat ideas in here.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that just made me HAPPY! Such bold colors and encouragement to be free in your own space.

[Debbie Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this beautiful book by Kristin Nicholas in return for a honest review from Goodread's First Reads program. I loved all the beautiful colors and textures, ideas and photographs that "Crafting a Colorful Home embodies. There was a lot of good solid information in this book - tips and tricks and a great piece on color theory. I think I gravitated to this book, more for the photography itself than the projects. I am a photographer and I love to take vivid pictures but the style of my home is much more subtle. I came from a military family and married into another. Guess what kind of houses we lived in for over twenty years? Ones with beige and cream-colored walls. I accessorized to make some color but it was never permanent. When we retired, we ventured into colors and texturized paints, but the colors are not what I would call vivid. My most vivid thing in my house is the red door and after I did that, half the subdivision now has red doors. It needs to be painted again after only a couple of yeas as we face south and the sun bears down on all of us on this side of the street. I will definitely use the painted door project in Kristin's book soon.

Although I won't be filling my home with as many colors as Kristin has, I can certainly appreciate her style while maintaining my own with splashes of color here and there with some of the many good ideas in this book I find myself scanning my rooms, thinking, "Where could I incorporate a bit more color?".

Color truly IS the spice of life and Kristin has injected a lot of "spice" into this book. Some people would say there was too much "spice" in the book and would go away overstimulated by such eclectic exuberance. Other readers would stick to their beiges and the creams, but the rest of us would do well to pick wisely from the projects in this book that piqued our interest.

[Carolyn Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kristin Nicholas has been one of my favorite artists for quite some time. I love her bright, bold color combos and her happy style. This book is no exception and is bursting with color. She has lots of ideas for ways to brighten a home and most of them are easily accessible even for non-crafters. However, if you like colors and are unsure how to up the color ante in your home, this book shows you how to create an awe-inspiring her room. Would I make everything in the book? No. But, every single idea she shares is an inspiration sparker even if I don't plan to make her exact craft. I also love the incredible mix of crafts from knitting and crochet, to quilting and painting. So few books combine these creative skills and yet, that is one reason why I enjoy Kristin Nicholas as an artist so much. She doesn't just do one type of craft, but uses multiple skills. And, if you like this book, you should definitely check out her knitting and crochet books as well as her embroidery books.

[Artemisia Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm on a DIY home decorating book kick now and this is one of my favorites so far. Kristin Nicholas also combines another love of mine, knitting, in her repertoire of clever, fun and very colorful projects. I also really love her total can-do attitude. Will it inspire me now to get going on my own DIY binge in my home? I certainly hope so because the beautiful pictures in this book are the perfect eye candy to make anyone start dreaming of a home space that truly reflects their creative and aesthetic sensibility in their own unique way.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching the HOUZZ video on her colorful farmhouse, I wanted to read her book.

Here's the video: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/401871... "A New England Farmhouse Explodes With Color."

I enjoyed the book, but the video was more inspiring for me. I'll never take color to the level she does. But I can still appreciate her style and her, as a person.

[Turtlesoup · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really loved the online articles and photos of her home I have seen. Her decorating style is very similar to my own. I checked this out from my local library and was surprised to find it just ok. The projects are very simplistic and most of the photos are super close-up and cropped so you don't get the grand scheme of all the colors and beautiful items in her home. Just not what I was expecting.

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read several of Kristin Nicholas' crafting and decor books before, so the color explosion that is her palette is not new to me. Not my style, a bit too hippie-grandma, but I appreciate the exuberance and personality – which I think is entirely her point. The DIY projects in here seem rather simplistic. Nice photographs throughout, a bit too much text, though. Just feast with your eyes on this one.

[T Crockett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to learn how to use paint in ways you may never have considered. There's also a fair bit of fabric and yarn use as well, but paint is the star. There's a nice section on tips for working with paint, kinds of paint and color theory.

My favorite part of the book was the photographs of her finished rooms. They provide all sorts of inspiration.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved her emphasis on colour as this can be a wonderful addition to a home. The ideas are fun and very flexible which makes it applicable to anyone if they wish to make it their own. It is eco friendly as she emphasizes reusing older items and making them over:). It is also nice that she lists her books that inspire her.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars easy for Kristin Nicholas's farmhouse and literally everything she had to say about color. Her living room is to die for. About three and a half stars for the projects included in each chapter. Can't see myself ever making felt coasters, or a stamped paisley table runner. (DEAR SWEET LORD THAT DIY TUSCAN YELLOW WALL IN HER LIVING ROOM THOUGH)

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had very high hopes! But was limited as it focused on just her home and mostly tight cropped photos and very specific style. My favorite quote (page 164) There is nothing more enticing to me than to see shelves of books in a person's home. I too enjoy looking at books in someone's home.

[Celest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a DIY home decor book filled with simple and well explained projects. There are great ideas, tips, and inspiration pics to be found here. Checked this out at my local library and will probably buy it for my home library, I plan to attempt at least one of the projects here.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

[Merry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Loved the color, the ideas and the creativity.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved looking at pics of her home but I know I'll never do the sewing, crocheting, painting of lampshades, home done wallpaper, etc. But the washes for the stairs and the walls was inspiring.