Be Your Own Home Decorator

The reason I like this book more than most books on interior design and home decorating is that the author is sensitive to the fact that not everyone can spend thousands of dollars to fix up their home interiors, and she also understands that we need to start where we are by taking a look at what we have already and working with it creatively. Unlike store-sponsored decorating, where the idea is to sell you as much new furniture, drapes, carpet, and materials as possible, the emphasis here is working with and around your current belongings and working within your practical budget. You'll find none of the old "gut the place and start from the bare studs" that one so often sees in decorating magazines. This is a decorating book for regular folks. (Amazon review)

The New Decorating Book

Featuring more than five hundred full-color photographs, this thorough manual of home decorating and design discusses style, budgeting, color schemes, furniture, fabrics and patterns, window treatments, accessories, and more for each room of the house. Two books in one, this guide is both a stylish dream book and a practical workbook. More than 500 lush color photos present hundreds of ideas to stir decorating fantasies and clear text explains all one needs to know to make those dreams a reality. Special features include floor plans, punch-out furniture templates, and graph paper.  (Amazon review)

Color: Natural Palettes for Painting Rooms

The first lifestyle book to show groups of colors inspired by nature and how they work on the interior walls of 26 homes. Kaufman's colors are distinctive in that they are designed to capture the nuances of color in nature. The authors reveal their paint-mixing techniques, and recipes for five neutral Donald Kaufman paints are included. Illustrations. 300 full-color photographs.  (Amazon review)

The Encyclopedia of Decorative Painting Techniques

The term "decorative" as applied to paint techniques can have a number of meanings; in this case it refers to faux finishing. This book provides excellent coverage of the subject with demonstrations, step-by-step pictures, and instructions for 27 different techniques, from antiquing to verdigris and including combing, graining, pickling, tortoiseshell, and marbling, among others. Some interesting techniques covered here are not often seen in faux finishing books: imitation bamboo, sandstone and lichen, and something called sugi, an effect resembling charred wood used to age the look of a piece.   (Amazon review)

Keven McCloud's Complete Book of Paint & Decorative Techniques

The first lifestyle book to show groups of colors inspired by nature and how they work on the interior walls of 26 homes. Kaufman's colors are distinctive in that they are designed to capture the nuances of color in nature. The authors reveal their paint-mixing techniques, and recipes for five neutral Donald Kaufman paints are included. Illustrations. 300 full-color photographs.  (Amazon review)

Debbie Travis' Painted House: Quick & Easy Painting Finishes for Wall, Floors, & Furniture

Paint has long been valued as a fast and creative way to give your home a fresh new look, and for the first time, the host of the popular television series Debbie Travis' Painted House shares the well-kept trade secrets that have made her one of today's hottest painted- finishes experts. Based on her groundbreaking philosophy that spectacular paint effects need not be the product of messy oil paints and complicated techniques, Debbie Travis' Painted House offers complete instructions for more than thirty-five incredible finishes, all created using worry-free water-based paints and glazes.   (Amazon review)

Decorative Style: The Most Original & Comprehensive Sourcebook of Styles, Treatments, Techniques, & Materials

From Spanish baroque to High Victorian to Miami Deco, McCloud describes each style's ambience and presents a range of alternative colors and styling options that can transform the visual impact of a space. Over 1,000 photos.  (Amazon review)

The Insider's Guide to Buying Home Furnishings

The Insider's Guide To Buying Home Furnishings shows how to be your own decorator and buy your home furnishings from wholesale sources; how to attend wholesale trade shows where new products are shown to interior decorators; how to shop at wholesale design centers and independent wholesale showrooms; how and where to get the best bargains on home furnishings; how to take correct measurements and choose the right materials so that you can order custom window treatments and choose the right materials so that you can order custom window treatments and bed treatments directly from wholesale workrooms; how to spot merchandise and services that won't give you good value for your money; how to protect yourself from scams and rip-offs in the home furnishings industry; and how to make certain that your furnishings are high-quality and will last for many years. Also listed are over 1,000 factory outlets, "order by phone" services, and deep discount sources. The Insider's Guide To Buying Home Furnishings is an accurate, money-saving, do-it-yourself manual.  (Amazon review)

First Home: A Decorative Guide & Sourcebook for the First Time Around

Consider the circumstances that most first-time home buyers find themselves in. For weeks or months, they've been assaulted by choices, ending with the biggest, most nerve-wracking purchasing decision of their lives. They've already spent enough dough to rival a hamburger-bun factory, and now they've got to figure out where, in the vast cavern that is their new home, to put the meager belongings they've accumulated. Suddenly the house that looked so wonderful with those other people's furniture just looks ... empty. Yet most new homeowners also don't want to go further into debt, nor do they want to live with the shoddy results of bargain-basement decorating.

Leslie Linsley comes to the rescue with First Home, written expressly for those furnishing and decorating a house or apartment for the first time. Linsley's room-by-room approach is focused, relaxed, and helpful, and she stresses repeatedly that it doesn't all have to happen at once: "Don't be in a hurry and don't be embarrassed if your house or apartment is filled with empty space for a while. Take your time." Thinking, planning, buying the pieces that are most important first--what Linsley dubs the "I-can't-live-without-a-bed" items--and living in the space for a while before deciding exactly how to fill it help insure that each room will reflect your personal style and go easy on your overall budget. Linsley covers all the practical aspects.  (Amazon review)

Flea Market Style: Decorating with a Creative Edge

Learning to "work a flea" is the key to successful secondhand buying. Armed with the solid practical advice in this informative and stylish volume and inspired by the hundreds of handsome color photos, you'll discover both how to collect at these potential treasure troves--located just about everywhere--and how to decorate with your discoveries, whether your tastes run to old kitchen utensils, hand-painted china, antique books, vintage linens, or almost anything else to be found at the humble garage sale or the world's legendary markets. Seasoned flea tracker Emelie Tolley explains how to plan and execute your hunt and then explores each major category of merchandise, from major pieces of furniture to assorted funky knick-knacks, showing how collectibles--as well as plain old great junk--can be effectively incorporated into virtually any type of decor. If you haven't already been bitten by the urge to flea, you're sure to be an addict by the time you're done with this book. --Amy Handy