Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Decorating - General    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Painting    8. Pottery & Ceramics    9. Tiles    10. Ceramics    11. Decorative finishes & surfaces    12. Home furnishing & decoration   

Reviews (4)

Excellent
If you are striving for excellence and becoming a master, this is the book for you.Recipes for making your own gesso, plasters, etc. are included along with good step by step photos.

This McCloud's no Highlander
This book was a pretty big disappointment.While McCloud does offer a strong presentation of color theory, he does not use realistic examples or materials in a way that someone could take advantage of his color knowledge.As an art historian he seems facinated with the techniques and materials that were used centuries ago.And while McCloud may have plenty of time to travel to France to purchase beautiful, pure, oxidized pigments and then mix them with homemade rabbit glue and curdled-milk concoctions to paint his wall, I for one and happy to have to folks at Lowes mix and shake for me.After all, most of us are just weekenders in this home improvement thing.All said and done, there's not much material about applying "regular" paint to a wall in such a way as to create interesting results.Great pictures, solid color theory (although color theory's been pretty well established for hundreds of years now), lots of info on how to mix paint like they did long ago -- not worth it.

Este libro cambi� mi visi�n de la vida
Soy arquitecta y al leer este libro descubr� mi verdadera vocaci�n, pienso que la decoraci�n es un arte y ahora me dedico a ello! quisiera conocerlo y poder trabajar con �l. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Color decoration and ornament    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    4. Design - Decorative    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. Interior Design    7. Interior Design - General    8. Painting    9. Technique    10. House & Home / Repair   

Reviews (3)

Alright companion book
I had high hopes for this book.1200 paint effects!!!Holy schmokes!!No.The first 20 pages are nice.They give you the run-down on materials and preparation.However, there is only one small paragraph for each technique and then the next 150 pgs is the same effect over and over in different colors.The last 18 pgs are for special effects.Now, the book may be a good companion book, because it does show you what the effect looks like in different colors; however, you don't see it in a room, just a color swatch.I recommend getting this if you're curious about the swatches. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

helpful for the home owner
This is a great book for you if you plan to decorate your home yourself. I found something that I could use for every room in my house and thetechniques are explained well and easy to follow. There are many picturesthat helped in following the directions that insured that the effect Iwanted was achieved. You will love all the various painting techniques

Very Easy to understand
The book was great! I painted well after just a few pages...I could have used more pictures but all and all it was an excellent book...highly reccomended.. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Commercial Interior Design    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    4. Decoration & Ornament    5. Furniture painting    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House painting    8. Interior decoration   

Reviews (2)

Not a must have
I'm not a professional painter so I need a lot of details on how to do something and this book was short on details.Most of the pictures of the effects are very close up, so I have no idea what they look when viewed a few feet away.I was disappointed with this book. Great ideas for modern paint designs
I am a professional decorative painter, and this is without a doubt my favorite idea book. This doesn't have any of the frilly country stencils or flowers - this is all very stylized and modern, with clean lines and bright colors and metallics. It is definately something different from the normal decorative painting fodder. It is a great addition to a collection of idea/reference books. I use this book all the time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    3. Design - Decorative    4. Home Improvement / Construction    5. Techniques - Drawing    6. Techniques - General   

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Painting   

Reviews (1)

Far Exceeded My Expectations!!
This is the BEST book for step-by-step instructional floral painting I have ever seen! Each step is photographed & explained in detail so even the novice painter can follow & learn how to paint flowers like the experts. By far the most comprehensive floral painting book to date! Mary did an outstanding job with this book!!Anyone wanting to learn or improve their floral or leaf painting skills should definitely buy this book! Everyone can benefit from this book, even the most accomplished artist! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acrylic painting    2. Art    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Crafts / Hobbies    5. Decorating    6. Decoration and ornament    7. Flowers in art    8. Painting    9. Plant forms    10. Technique    11. Art techniques & materials    12. Decorative arts & crafts    13. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    14. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (13)

check it out at the library first
I THOUGHT SOME OF THE ROOMS LOOKED NICE, BUT THE BOOK BASICLY SHOWED YOU WHAT THEY COULD DO WITH A ROOM, NOT REALLY ANY GREAT IDEAS FOR YOU TO TRY ON YOUR OWN. I GUESS I WAS LOOKING FOR A HOW TO BOOK AND THIS WAS NOT IT.SOME OF THE IDEAS LOOKED EXPENSIVE.

Marvellous
What a fantastic book....if you live in a small house as I do..1450 sq ft...you need to read this book.Paula so gracefully...& consistently encourages us throughout her book that small is beautiful...& you CAN have the gorgeous well decorated house you crave without letting size get in the way.Her creative ideas are astounding backed by multitudes of small house make-overs brimming with inspiration that's actually useful to those of us who are not rich..yet would like to have the nicest furnishings we can afford.She starts the book off with the premise that we need to STOP dreaming of a bigger house...& start getting bigger inspirations...which is exactly what this book accomplishes so successfully.I no longer long for a bigger house...& I'm in the process now.. of making my small house ...beautiful in every way.Hats off to you Paula for a job well done...wish more decorating books were as grass roots as yours...& delivered what they promise as yours does.

Don't waste your money!
The majority of the photos are of cluttered, out of style room designs and decorating.Disappointing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. Decoration & Ornament    6. History    7. Home Improvement / Construction    8. House & Home    9. Houses    10. Interior decoration    11. Small houses    12. United States    13. Home furnishing & decoration    14. House & Home / Remodeling & Renovation    15. small   

Reviews (2)

Great Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
This is a good book that provides lots of ideas on ways to paint your kitchen cabinets. The first chapter discusses preparing the surface and things like matching door styles with the paint effect you want. The rest of the chapters are divided by colors. Of course, any of the techniques could be used with alternate colors.
The Good, Bad &Not-So Ugly
It wasn't what I was expecting but maybe what I want doesn't exist.With that explanation out of the way - I must say it's really one of the better kitchen cabinet idea books out there.It has great photos, a large quantity of ideas and is very informative about various products, equipment and necessary prepartion.It's chapters are broken down by color which makes it easy to skim through the book and find what you're interested in without having to read every chapter to learn what you need to know.The "bad" part is that the technique directions are sometimes not too specific or clear so it's best to just use the book for ideas and refer to a book on painting techniques for more explicit directions if you're very dependent on step by step directions.Other than that, I'd really recommend this book to anyone who is looking for cabinet update ideas without the expense of buying all new ones. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Decorating    3. Do-It-Yourself - General    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. Painting    7. Remodeling & Renovation - Kitchens    8. House & Home / Remodeling & Renovation    9. House painting    10. Painting -- Techniques    11. Wood finishing   

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Painting    6. Roses in art    7. Technique    8. Decorative arts & crafts    9. Nature in art, still life, landscapes & seascapes    10. Painting & paintings   

Features

• Bargain Price

Subjects:  1. Amateurs' manuals    2. Construction - General    3. Decorating    4. Decorating - General    5. Equipment and supplies    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House & Home    8. House painting    9. Remodeling & Renovation - General    10. House & Home / Decorating    11. Bargain   

Reviews (4)

Beautiful little book - not too practical.
While this book is lovely to look at, it is not really that informative about how to use color in home design.

Nice but far too brief
If you have the Maine Cottage catalog, you will recognize several of the room shots in this book.And since this book is only about 85 tiny pages long, that is several duplicates too many.Also, at least one of the photos is included in the current issue of Cottage Living.I really feel that this is cheating the customer.
my favorite color book

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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Color    3. Color in interior decoration    4. Decorating    5. Decorating - General    6. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    7. Decoration & Ornament    8. Home Improvement / Construction    9. House & Home    10. Psychological aspects    11. House & Home / Decorating   

Subjects:  1. Decorating    2. Decorating - General    3. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    4. Home Improvement / Construction    5. House & Home    6. Home furnishing & decoration    7. House & Home / Decorating   

Reviews (12)

Cute, but disappointing
There were some great ideas, and I do appreciate the tools listings, but overall I was a little disappointed. It just didn't seem to be as in-depth as I had hoped. I hope that she expands on her texts in the future.

I love this book!!
Whenever I'm thinking of doing a project around the house, I always refer to my copy of Junk Chic.Kathy has great modern ideas that are easy to do, don't cost much, and look great when you're done.If you like to decorate, you need to add Junk Chic to your book shelf!!

I don't have much money but these ideas are great!!!
I have always wanted to have a home that looked this beautiful, but never have had a lot of money. I have so enjoyed both the satisfaction of doing these unique and very affordable projects and then sitting back and seeing what I have created. I would recommend this book to anyone. I have seen the "Junk Chic", Kathryn Elliott on the local TV morning show (as a quest) - she is inspiring to say the least. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Decorating    2. Decorating - General    3. Home Improvement / Construction    4. House & Home    5. House furnishings    6. Interior decoration    7. Painting    8. Crafts & Hobbies / General    9. STUDY AIDS - SPARKCHARTS   

Reviews (2)

Great ideas and inspiration
I am a big fan of decorative painting so I found this book very useful.There are step-by-step instructions as well as pictures to go along with the instructions.Full of great ideas and inspiration.I refer to it often.

I looked at A LOT of Painting books...this is the best
I searched for quite some time for an easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow instructional book on Decorative Painting.This is far and away the best book.It educates you on colors (warm vs. cool), teaches you about color schemes (which colors work well with eachother), and then step by step tells you how to execute the techniques (Dragging, Rolling, Frottage, and many more).I used the Double Roll technique and am very pleased with the results.Upshot?Great Book for an Awesome Price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    2. Decoration and ornament    3. Do-It-Yourself    4. Do-It-Yourself - General    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. House & Home    7. House painting    8. Interior decoration    9. Texture painting    10. DIY    11. House & Home / Decorating   

Reviews (1)

Decorating Furniture: Decoupage, Paint and Fabric Projects
All the projects in this book are repeats from Ms. McGraw's 1997 publication "Painting and Decorating Furniture".If you have the first book don't bother getting this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts / Hobbies    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. Furniture    5. House & Home    6. Painting    7. Textile Arts - General    8. Decoration and ornament.    9. Decoupage    10. Furniture finishing    11. Furniture painting    12. Home furnishing & decoration    13. House & Home / Furniture    14. Needlework & fabric crafts    15. Painting & paintings   

Editorial Review

Bonnie Rosser Krims wrote Read more

Reviews (63)

Love this book!
I grew up drawing and painting on canvas, but when it comes to painting a wall...picking the right color for the room is so frustrating to me!This book really helped, and I had a lot of fun going through the different combinations.Bought a beautiful watercolor for my parents while they were on vacation, hung it on their white wall, and it just didn't look right.Went through Bonnie's book, and that weekend painted their living room, entry, and hallway in the "Lilac" palette.Perfect!Everyone just loved it!A friend was having issues redecorating.I looked at her main pieces of furniture, and through Bonnie's descriptions of what furnishings go with each palette, picked "Golden Apples" for her living/dining room, entry, and family room.It looked so good friend's thought she had a designer take over!Love this book!Gave it a 4 instead of 5 because I would like to see a few more neutral and deeper color combinations.But, what a helpful book!

STILL FIVE STARS
I'M A BIG FAN OF THIS BOOK.IT HAS HELPED ME A GREAT DEAL IN PAINTING AND DECORATING MY HOME. I AM EQUALLY THRILLED THAT MS. KRIMS CAME OUT WITH ANOTHER PERFECT PALETTE BOOK.I JUST ORDERED A COPY AND CAN'T WAIT TO POUR OVER THE PAGES.

For those with imaginations and lots of time on their hands!
There were not very many real-life applications in this book, which was very disappointing. The colors were more in the pastel range, and hardly any of the rooms shown contained a deep or bright color. If you are looking to introduce deep color into your home, skip this book and try Alice Westgate's "The Complete Color Directory". It's full of beautiful colors and even contains color swatches and how to's on using pigment for different effects. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Color    2. Color in interior decoration    3. Decorating - General    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. Decoration & Ornament    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Home Improvement / Construction    8. House & Home    9. House painting    10. Interior design    11. Home furnishing & decoration    12. House & Home / Decorating   

Reviews (2)

Need Inspiration?
This book had me absorbed day after day examining the photo's and advice.It's the inspiration to overcome those white walls and neutral tones you see in every house you visit on the block.To decorate with a flare and have the confidence to use color, the book is a must-have.

A fun read
Ms Wills has a wonderful way with words. She has a great way of presenting the detailed "why and wherefore" of the color decorating decision process, yet never runs the danger of losing her readers.A feeling ofinvolvement throughout, i.e. "We're in this together, let's havefun." A great book to hold as a reference, and one you can easilyrecommend to friends. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Color in interior decoration    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. House & Home    7. Interior decoration    8. United States    9. Home furnishing & decoration    10. House & Home / Decorating    11. USA   

Reviews (2)

Take some time to create a fabulous faux!
Tera Leigh's book Faux Mosiacs is a fabulous find.I too am a great lover of mosiac but with a toddler and a career who has the time to break out the old plates and create and old fashioned masterpiece?I love this method for creating artistic frames (I feature one in my book "Craft the Perfect Frame"), creating one of a kind home accents, and creating great gifts for friends.You can easily knock out any one or two of these fun projects in an evening giving yourself a well needed sense of creative accomplishment. Kids can also easily join in on this version of mosiac, not only a great "I'm bored" eraser but a fantastic creative activity to create gifts for friends and teachers.
So Easy, So Quick, So Beautiful
I've often admired the look of mosaic tile, but just couldn't deal with the mess, tools, and time involved in the original technique.Then I found this book -- AMAZING!"Faux Mosaics" look like the real thing, without a bunch of expensive tools and tricky application techniques.Don't be fooled by the words "tile" and "grout" in this book; the tile is any piece of paper, and the grout is a brush-on finish that's a snap to apply.Best of all, you don't have to be "crafty" to make beautiful mosaic look-alikes.Ms. Leigh's super-simple technique is explained so well that virtually anyone can get FANTASTIC RESULTS.And she shows so many wonderful project ideas -- you'll never run out of items to transform into works of art for your home and unique gifts for friends and family. This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone who has ever admired mosaics ... I'm sure you'll use and love it as much as I have! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Mosaics    6. Painting    7. Paper work    8. Papercrafts    9. Technique    10. Paper crafts   

Editorial Review

Translated from the French, Read more

Reviews (19)

Excellent
Very well done and once you get into the actual step by step photographs it is excellent.

For Adventurous Beginners to Advanced Painters
I enjoyed this book even though it was much more advanced than my own skill level. I still plan on attempting some of these projects. I'm not going to let a little thing like skill stop me! LOL. Actually, I read a faux painting book that recommended practice on a piece of board or the walls in your garage before trying a new technique, so my garage will probably be covered with various murals and faux techniques.
Start here to become a mural painter
Janet Shearer is a very talented mural painter. Her book is wonderful for explaining all you need to start your mural painting journey. She has done fascinating murals: The Monk, Tuscan View, The Arches and others. what the book won't teach you is how to draw...
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Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Decorating    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. Painting - General    6. Techniques    7. Techniques - General    8. Trompe l'oeil painting   

Subjects:  1. Bathrooms    2. Decorating    3. Do-It-Yourself - General    4. Home Improvement / Construction    5. House & Home    6. House painting    7. Interior decoration    8. Remodeling & Renovation - Bathrooms    9. Remodeling & Renovation - General