Decorating Hints & Tips: More Than 2000 Practical Solutions to Help You Improve Your Home

by Julian Cassell, Peter Parham

A practical guide to home design offers a wide variety of decorative effects and tricks of the trade that save time and money for those who wish to completely renovate a room or simply freshen one up

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Misbah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good decorating tips for the beginner and the expert. But not many of them were the kind that I could use immediately around the house. Most of it reads as any introduction to renovation and house design.
I think I might be too used to quick fixes from Pinterest. Lol

[Adanid Prieto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not use any around my house. I live in a tropical climate and construction varies.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, this book is definitely out of date. It was published in 1998, and you can tell. A lot of the techniques and styles mentioned in here aren't used that often nowadays, like vinyl kitchen flooring, wallpaper on the walls, or rag rolling. But, like another reviewer pointed out, if you ignore those outdated styles and techniques, and focus more so on the instructions, tips, and tricks, then this is a great reference book. Also a great DIY book and decorating-on-a-budget book.

Secondly, this book is for someone who has a vision of how they want their rooms decorated, but does not know how to go about achieving it without a how-to guide. For example, if you want to redecorate your living room so that it looks like the room where Morpheus offered Neo the red and blue pills in The Matrix, then Decorating Hints & Tips is perfect because it has step-by-step instructions for how to put up wallpaper. Theater, movie, and TV set designing also fall into this category.

Decorating Hints & Tips is also for someone who wants to know all of their options before they start decorating. Or someone who's looking for decorating inspiration.

However, if you do not have a clear vision of what you want, do not know how to decide what you want from the book, and want advice on how to choose what to do (or want the authors to basically hold your hand and tell you what goes with what), then Decorating Hints & Tips is not for you. You'd probably benefit more from hiring an interior designer. This is the type of DIY book that lets you think and choose for yourself, laissez faire.

[Skylar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite dated at this point, and perhaps it was when it was published. I generally don't see a demand for sponged-on paint or that kind of paint style now. However, its instructions, tips, and tricks ARE useful for a wide variety of projects. Even the general color and design advice is still very relevant today. They could have done a better job defining things, but then again, I didn't realize there was a glossary until it was over. I'll probably keep it as a reference book.

[Mollie *scoutrmom* · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent do-it-yourself guide to the tools and techniques of installing wall, window, and floor treatments, but not a word on how to choose which things you're going to do.

[Rose]

747.3 Cas