and stop worrying about everything being perfectly in its place.For all those who choose to live "imperfectly" with the messy things they love, this book shows how to do so creatively, happily, and with considerable style ideas from leading designers. A beautiful and inspiring volume, A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of A Misspent Life focuses on living well with everything that makes a house a home. If you have been influenced by the picturesquely cluttered studios of Pablo Picasso or Alexander Calder, or by the art- and book-filled house of Vanessa Bell, this unique style book will stimulate you with its creative ideas.This volume explores how real-life tastemakers (photographers, textile designers, fashion designers, writers, artists) integrate their life and interiors to live well with their passions, histories, conveniences, and inconveniences. In inspiring essays, Mary Randolph Carter muses on such key housekeeping concerns as clutter versus mess; open windows; and unmade beds. Combining practical tips with liberating philosophy—"Don’t scrub the soul out of your home"; "Make room for what you love"—this volume celebrates living beautifully and happily, not messily. Lavishly illustrated with intimate photographs of different living spaces, Carter exalts in the beauty of imperfection and in living perfectly in our "imperfect" homes. Life isn’t perfect—why should your house be?

    In Use What You Have(r) Decorating she shows readers how to do it themselves-quickly identifying the ten most common decorating mistakes, offering simple principles to correct them, and giving DIYers a proven system for making their home look better than they ever dreamed it could. Filled with dramatic before-and-after photos, this guide shows anyone how to turn "ho-hum interiors into inspired spaces without undertaking bank- breaking shopping sprees" (Ladies' Home Journal).

    In gorgeous, full-color spreads, 100 bold ideas for Happy Chic dwelling, decorating, and entertaining are revealed. As a bonus, five project gatefolds invite readers to create their own Happy Chic handicrafts, including a macramé owl and custom LOVE note cards.

    With the lingering recession, many of us have less to work with but still long to live in style. Big Design, Small Budget makes luxury an affordable reality. In this DIY home decorating handbook, Helmuth reveals insider tips and her tried-and-tested methods for designing on a budget.In the past year, Helmuth has shared her affordable design advice and step-by-step approaches with millions through live teaching workshops, guest columns, television appearances, and interviews. Now, she has distilled her expertise into this practical guide. The chapters follow her secret design formula and include creating a design budget, mapping out floor plans, selecting a color palette, and accessorizing like a stylist.It’s time to start living in the home of your dreams without maxing out your credit cards. Learn how with Helmuth’s Big Design, Small Budget!

     Annie Sloan is a paint legend and one of the world’s most popular experts in the field of decorative painting. In Color Recipes for Painted Furniture and more, Annie presents 40 new projects and ideas, showing you the easy way to update tired furniture and transform your home. Working with her own range of chalk paints, Annie shows how to mix colors and how to achieve certain looks. Whether your taste is for colorful boho chic or restrained Swedish hues, cozy and comforting rustic shades, a modern and contemporary approach, or an elegant French look, here you will find a project to suit you. Start off by mastering the simple art of colorwashing, and work your way up to transfer printing, gilding, stenciling, and glazing. There are even instructions for dyeing fabric using paint. As well as painting furniture, the projects range from a staircase painted in a rainbow of colors to stenciled walls, transforming floors with a coat of paint to dyeing linen curtains and even painting a vintage chandelier. Throughout the book, Annie offers expert tips, techniques, shortcuts, and guidance, showing you the easy way to create a stylish home.

    Happy Home brims with useful ideas for transforming a ho-hum home with relaxed contemporary style featuring bright colors, cheerful patterns, and varying textures and scale inspired by designer Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau and her home furnishings company Rice, which are well-known among design fans for innovative home furnishings and houseware collections featuring ethically sourced and produced products. The book shows how the basics of everyday life can be enlivened by bringing color and a sense of fun to daily living, whether by using brightly colored accessories or by introducing fabrics with patterns, textures, and hints of humor throughout the home. Included are practical suggestions that add informal charm to any room, as well as do-it-yourself projects ranging from brightly colored throws and cushions, storage ideas to hide clutter, hand-painted furniture, and decorative motifs for walls and other surfaces.

    Their passion for saving and renovating old homes, which caught the attention of HGTV, sparked the creation of their new reality series, Old Home Love.Their stunning debut book features never before seen images of more than 15 homes, (including their own, renovated by the couple themselves), do-it-yourself renovation tips and guidance, and their family’s story. Old Home Love will inspire readers to discover the history and beauty behind their own homes, regardless of location or style.

    Charles Faudree's Country French Living features his newest room designs. From the entryway to the dressing room to walls, dining rooms, and outdoor spaces, Charles teaches principles of design that make a house a Country French home:The importance of the bedroom and how to make it a soothing sanctuary, deserving as much attention to beauty and detail as the rest of the home.How to identify a pivotal fabric, a dominant color, or one magnificent antique that will dictate the style and design for a whole room.How books can create an inviting atmosphere and add a warmth all their own.How a valance is the ultimate decorating deceit, and how window treatments express the personality of a room and add a proper finish.How to use walls as they are meant--as a stage on which to display one's favorite collections.How to use symmetrical groupings that provide a sense if balance and order in a roomCharles Faudree's Country French Living also shows how to make the most of accessories like lamps, pillows, baskets, paintings, and more to finish a room and provide the charm and character so important in a well-designed French Country setting. Country French Living reveals that the true test of a beautiful room is in the details.Charles Faudree's clients are found throughout America as well as in Spain and Jamaica. Five individual homes designed by Charles, including his own, have been featured on HGTV. During his twenty-five-year career as an interior designer, his work has appeared in many design magazines and decorating books. Six of his own homes have been featured in Traditional Home magazine, where he was a Design Award Winner in 1995. He has also been featured in Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications, Renovation Style, Veranda, Southern Accents, and House Beautiful. In 2002 he was named one of America's top 100 interior designers.

    She believes, "You don't have to have money to have good taste," and she is eager to share what she has learned over the years. DeGeneres offers a personal look at every room in each of her homes. Included are seven of her homes past and present, from the famous "Brody House" up to her current homes, and she offers tips and advice on what each house taught her. An added bonus is a look at the homes of her friends and collaborators-some of the finest designers in the country. They share their advice on home design, furnishings, as well as a glimpse at their awe-inspiring rooms.Full of beautiful photographs, this book is a treasure trove of amazing California architecture, unique home furnishings, breathtaking art, and hundreds of ideas on putting together the home you've always dreamed of.

    The design maven behind livinginanutshell.com and Oprah Winfrey’s interior style producer for a decade, Lee has personally handpicked a battery of clever projects for enhancing every area of a tiny living space—all are simple to do, require no craft skills, are emphatically affordable, readily portable, and big on style, so you can make these design dreams become your reality.

    The thing that stands between most homeowners and the home design they dream of is the lack of a simple, effective decorating process. They have the ideas, but they're hungry for the "how." In this accessible design manual, Sabrina Soto helps you realize your design visions one step at a time.In Sabrina Soto Home Design, each chapter represents one decorating "layer," such as color or furnishings. Following along with the chapters , you'll build a design component by component. Packed with useful and time-tested tips and shortcuts like those Sabrina features on her TV shows and website, the book also shows you how to save money, time, and effort without sacrificing style.The process works for any room, or for a whole house, and applies to any decorating styleSabrina's high-energy approach and let's-make-this-fun attitude make the book both informative and entertainingSabrina is one of TV's most popular celebrity designers, appearing on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, The High-Low Project, Get It Sold!, Bang for Your Buck, Real Estate Intervention, and HGTV'd.Sabrina Soto Home Design gives you an easy-to-follow process that brings your own decorating ideas to life to create a stunning, personalized home design.

    How do you find your style? How do you keep expenses under control? What essential pieces does every home need for maximum functionality and flair? How will you merge tastes—and stuff—to create a space that feels like home to you both? Here to take the guesswork out of decorating is The Nest Home Design Handbook, a practical, gorgeous, room-by-room guide to giving your place unique and affordable style.Learn how to: -Design with your inner stylist in mind-Arrange your living room-Mix modern pieces and Mom's hand-me-downs-Choose the right paint colors-Freshen a formal kitchen space-Make a small space look bigger-Hang pictures properly-Jazz up your walls-Buy good furniture (on a budget)-Kill the clutterPLUS: Suggestions for displaying your stuff in fun and interesting ways, DIY wall art ideas, tips for organizing every room, information on basic home repairs, and more!

    Presents the personal spaces of thirty-eight distinctive women, including Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and Ali MacGraw.

    This is a stunning, photo-driven book that shares enchanting and timeless ways to live more elegantly.

    Come cozy up with your creativity and Liz's welcoming voice so you can love the feeling of being at home. In this beautiful book of house and garden photography and DIY inspiration, popular blogger Liz Marie Galvan shares:100 tips and tricks to make your home feel cozyBudget-friendly hints to make decorating affordableSimple DIY projects for every room in the houseIn Cozy White Cottage, Liz offers her best home décor and design tips to help you create a space you'll love coming home to. You'll love Liz's real-life, easy, and affordable ideas to get the most out of your home and discover things like:The passion and productivity that can pour out of an inspiring, functional workspace or officeThe conversation and connection that flow out of a warm, well-arranged living roomThe thoughtful hospitality that can welcome guests, be it for a cup of coffee or an overnight stayThe rejuvenation that can happen when we have quiet spaces for reading, prayer, and restThe calming routines and rituals that we can implement into our spaces and our livesThe laughter, joy, and learning that can occur in adorable, functional playroomsThe life-giving power that beats in the heart of our homes, the kitchenEach month hundreds of thousands of readers find design inspiration and DIY ideas on Liz's blog, where Liz shares stories of life with her veteran husband, Jose, their 1800s Michigan farmhouse, and the home décor boutique she co-owns. Cozy White Cottage offers inspiration for every style and makes the perfect self-purchase, housewarming gift, birthday treat, Mother's Day read, or holiday gift.