Decorating Details

The Best of Martha Stewart Living

by Martha Stewart

Building on the success of How to Decorate, this new companion volume from the editors of Martha Stewart Living magazine offers a host of elegant and practical projects for putting the finishing touches--from bookcases to lamp shades to pillows--on the perfect home.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 1998

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Jean Doolittle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martha's style is a little bland for me...she does have class and the book has lots of directions for constructing shelves and sewing pillows and other one of a kind items.

[Venkataraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book on how to decorate the house. I am interested in books, ideas on organizing the house, decorating the house. The book though smaller one compared to other Martha's tomes, filled with good information on house decoration.

She talks about how she is maintaining her palatial mansions with seemingly cheaper items , antique items got from flea market. The photos in the book are very inspiring. She talks about how to utilize Table/chair, shelves, table lights, cushions, blankets, photos for decorating the house.

For DIY personnel, she gives detailed information about making the decorating items themselves. From the book, I got to know the importance of coffee tables, side tables, shelves storage, stools, ottomons, cushions, photo frames importance in decorating the house. She tells that "Coffee tables makes the living room sociable. Otherwise, the living room looks like Doctor's waiting room". It is very good statement about how each piece of furniture contributes to the decoration of the house.

Good read for all !

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pale colors, naked windows, sparse decor... These rooms, photographed in 1988, are timeless and still inspiring. Stewart explains how to hang framed art, including ways to make a picture tilt downward. I skipped all the DIY parts on making things like slip covers, shadow boxes, and lampshades.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been a huge fan of Martha Stewart. I love her timeless style, clean edges, and beautiful color schemes. I have had this book for years and I did read through it when I got it but I finally sat down and read it cover to cover. It went into my keep pile which is rare for me. I usually read a book once and pass it on. This book had great instructions though on everything from refinishing furniture to hanging items. The only part I didn't like about this book was that the materials she used were uber expensive and not even realistic for the average person.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good primer on how to hang pictures in your home. Gorgeous photos. Love the colors in the photos. Interesting info. on how to make slipcovers for existing furniture and lampshades for lamps. Did not find the information on shelves very helpful -- a trip to Ikea would be more educational.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just OK. I like Stewart's "Good Things for Organizing" far better when it comes to interesting ideas, although there is some overlap between the two. It seemed like a lot of the same things were repeated within this book.

[Beka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some nice pictures and how-to's.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly interested in the chapter on built ins with a window seat, but her other projects are interesting, too. Though some are a little *too* Martha for me...

[Nicolette · Rating 1 out of 5]

These designs are dated.