Nina Campbell's Decorating Secrets: Easy Ways to Achieve the Professional Look

by Nina Campbell

Interior decoration has never been more popular, yet at the end of the day few people achieve the look they envision when they start a room. Now renowned English decorator Nina Campbell shares the secrets that have brought her world acclaim, offering a step-by-step design strategy that will help turn your original ideas into a beautiful reality.

Nina Campbell's Decorating Secrets is a practical decorating guide based on Nina's unique "layering" approach of combining the different elements in any given room -- from furniture and lighting to pictures and flowers -- to create a unified scheme. The first section covers such basics as determining what you want out of a room, how to assess a particular space with an eye toward natural light and existing architectural details, and why rooms need focal points and how to create one. Next, she walks you through the main rooms of a home and addresses the key decorating decisions for each one, such as choosing the right colors and fabrics to create a certain mood, deciding what to put on the walls and floors, and how to properly position the furniture. This is the heart of the book and where her "layering" philosophy really takes effect. Finally, the last section examines the all-important finishing touches, such as display items and soft furnishings, that add a personal feel to any room.

Lavishly illustrated with two hundred stunning full-color photographs and written in a lively anecdotal style, Nina Campbell's Decorating Secrets is an enjoyable and practical resource.

Genres: Interior Design, Design

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2000

Reviews

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading a decorating book that is 13 years old isn't necessarily always a good idea. She is big on "grand," and "expensive," and "flourish." I did add the cover photo though, for those interested. I've gone back and re-read this in 2018. There are some rooms that I would call "decidedly European" and even moreso...English. Many of the rooms shown are her own home, her son's smaller home and decorating projects she took on with her business. I was mainly interested in the idea of balance and working with oversized floral arrangements this time. I did scan some photographs for Pinterest fans and my own reference sections.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but some good ideas.