4 comments about Can't Fail Color Schemes--Kitchen & Bath: How to Choose Color for Stone and Tile Surfaces, Cabinets & Walls (Can't Fail).

1. This is one of the best decorating books for selecting "colors" that I have come across. The book is loaded with lovely colorful illustrations for your kitchens and baths. You are able to visualize various color combos, that you might have thought about, but would have been a little hesitant to try on your own. I loved the fact that the photos showed different types and colors of kitchen cabinets, along with various choices of paint colors.
   
   If you are looking for a fabulous book to help you ease your decorating anxiety, try this one.



2. This handy spiral-bound book is brimming with lots of great photos showing you hundreds of ideas for kitchens and baths, all in one place. Amy Wax shows a wide range of styles and color palettes, then on each page suggests other colors that could be brought in to accent each room. This is a great visual reference to help you get started planning your kitchen and bath, or help you communicate with a designer.



3. This book is the perfect companion to Ms. Wax's first book,"Can't Fail Color Schemes". The reader get's a chance to dig further into the importance of color when selecting important features such as floors, countertops and cabinetry. It has a very user friendly format and and is easy to take with you when you shop.
   I look forward to the next book from this talented author!!



4. This book was very useful to me while we designed our new kitchen. I felt confident that we were making informed choices. The book helped us to narrow down our style, color and material preferences. The photos are excellent and allowed us to see all our options. I would recommend this book for anyone doing a kitchen or bath remodel.

5 comments about Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains.

1. If you've read the other books by Paris, you know that they are filled with information. Paris thoroughly researches her subjects and when you've finished reading, you feel like you've been given an education. There are from one to four outstanding, detailed color pictures on every page. The fountains range from very simple to advanced in degree of difficulty in assembly. The instructions, like the photos, are highly detailed. The book will make an excellent gift for anyone interested in fountains.



2. I compared several fountain making books, and found this one to have the most complete information and the best instructions. The step by step photos are better than the drawn diagrams found in other books, because they tell the exact sequence of events in building a tabletop fountain. I also found this book to have the most useable projects ( I was not interested in outdoor fountains and the plumbing challenges inherent in making them). I have already made 3 awesome fountains, the most ambitious being the copper leaf fountain, which sounds like music and drowns out the noise of traffic that I used to hear in my living room. I had no trouble putting it together following the photos and directions. When it splashed too much, I found the remedy in the book, too. The author's lists are amusing and informative (example: 10 ways to hide the cord, how to quiet noisy pumps, and 10 ways to know you need "fountains anonymous") . The book describes a fountain as an "oasis connecting you to nature." That pretty much sums up my feeling when I go home after a busy day and hear throughout my house the endless sound of falling water.Because the projects vary in difficulty, I would highly recommend this book, no matter how much fountain building experience you've had.



3. Wow! Lots of great info and imaginative projects in gorgeous color layout. The feng shui cures, tips on hiding the cord, and how to drill slate were particularly helpful to me. I got a noisy pump, and this book tells ways to make it operate quietly! It answered all my questions on fountain plants, how to turn the fountain off and on without getting under the couch, where to get decorating accents, and how to water seal and patch clay pots.

   The illustrated projects make it so easy to get the results I want. I am very happy with my purchase and feel like I know the insiders' secrets.




4. Paris Mannion's Create Your Own Tabletop Fountains (1-58180-103-3, $24.99) provides a fine guide to creating the fountains which have become so popular in hardware and houseware stores. From supplies and materials to crafting 15 selected fountains using shells to pots, this provides color photos and directions for a range of fountains.



5. I bought this and a couple other tabletop fountain books, the 'Simple Fountains' book by Dorcas Adkins was much better. This book shows how to make the basic functioning parts of the fountain, but it looks like it was made by a 3rd grade art class - some of the fountains are just plain ugly.

5 comments about Decorating for the Holidays.

1. Although, like the rest of the "Christmas with Martha Stewart" books, they are republished features from the magazine, this one is pretty good. You do not have to use red and green every year; Silver, white, and even pastel colors can be used festively. I love the neat snowman article; unfortunately, here in Houston, we don't get much snow! Cookies. . .oh, I licked my lips over the snowflake wafers, but I've never made them.



2. I have found that Martha Stewart books are to be viewed rather than used as a basis for trying to make anything because her instructions and recipes are often convoluted and/or incorrect. I just do not understand why, with her vast resources, Martha does not hire better and more thorough editors and testers.

   So now I just look at her books for the visual pleasure they bring me! That way I avoid any frustration associated with implementation. And this one gave me lots of beautiful things to look at: the fruit wreath, the silvery pine cones, the beautifully done petits fours, the handmade ornaments, the gorgeous cookies.

   Even if the directions were perfectly clear, I know I still would not make many of these things...but a gal can dream, can't she?




3. Even if you aren't a true fan of Martha, you will enjoy her book filled with decorating and crafting ideas that you can either incorporate into your own traditions or expound upon to revise them to your personal taste.

   It's a great book for your crafting collection!




4. I loved the many gorgeous photos in this book. It had great directions for all the crafts. The pictures are wonderful for getting ideas for your own house. It is my favorite Christmas idea boook!



5. I first found this book in my local library & checked it out. I absolutely love it! The pictures are incredible & there are how-to's. There is something that everyone would like in it, unless of course your a bah-humbugger. I start thinking about holiday decor in September because I love it so much & this book is a great idea sparker.

2 comments about Small Space Survival Guide: Storage & Decorating Tips & Tricks.

1. This book has many great ideas for each room of the home and includes large, clear, color photos showing those ideas at work. Rooms that are often overlooked in organizing books, such as craft rooms, nursery, and even the garage, are given attention here.
   
   Some of the items for small spaces that the authors recommend are easily purchased, such as the multi-purpose storage cubes that are shown in different configurations for widely-varying uses in several different rooms. The book's resources section tells you exactly where to purchase these items. Some items, such as the futon that doubles as a guest bed for a dorm room, come with instructions for making it yourself (not as difficult as you'd think...even a beginner could do it).
   
   This book looks at using oft-missed nooks and crannies in small apartments and houses, but also looks at how to make the most of multi-purpose rooms and single-room living, such as dorm rooms and studio apartments.
   
   While this book is only 96 pages, it comtains more USABLE information than most books on this subject. The ideas are down-to-earth, practical, and affordable. The rooms these ideas are shown working in--although absolutely beautiful--look like places people actually live in with all of their "stuff" rather than fancy show rooms that contain nothing but furniture and decorative items.



2. I got several good ideas from the book that will work well in my "small spaces". The book has really nice, high quality pictures. I would recommend the book to anyone trying to get a better fit in a small space.

No comments about Country Living Perfect Patterns for Walls, Floors, Fabrics and Furniture (Country Living).

1 comments about The Spirit Of Christmas: Book 19 (The Spirit of Christmas).

1. I have been a crafter for many years and have used this particular series of books for quite a few of them. Many of the ideas are very good and the photography is done very well. I have found the recipes to be delicious and the directions clear although many are not for the novice cook. NOTEWORTHY; it is not always easy and sometimes impossible to find the supplies listed for some of the projects. I have often been forced to substitute with something else that was close to what was originally called for. I would like to see a "Resources List" with names/addresses/telephone numbers added to these books where project-specific supplies could be purchased.

No comments about The Big Book of Lofts (Big Book of).

1 comments about French Touch, The.

1. The book is a great resource for someone interested in building or renovating to create an authentic "french look". French architectural elements are categorized and many pictures of authentic elements are provided in the book. By using the book as a guide, one can choose authentic looking or actual reclaimed elements widely available as opposed to the garish alternatives on the market that are advertised as "the french look". Kudos to the author !!!

2 comments about Curb Appeal Idea Book (Taunton Home Idea Books).

1. The Taunton Press has published some excellent books - I especially like "Built-Ins". But this books seems to have been thrown together with little thought or integrity. Featured are numerous pictures that can been seen in their other books; this recycling of images is an affront to the reader - I never forget a photograph, and feel ripped-off when I recognize it from a different book.
   The Taunton Press should re-think its strategy; re-hashing previous publications and slapping on a new title is lazy, unoriginal, and insulting to its readership.



2. Someone else said it was not great or original, but I disagree.
   Maybe because I do not have the other Taunton home books,
   so these images are all new to me. I am a designer and this has
   been an excellent resource for me. I use it a lot. I love the
   ideas and I turn to this book over and over for inspiration. I
   highly recommend it if you're looking for ideas to rejeuvinate your
   home's exterior or if you are sharing design ideas with your cleints,
   as a real estate agent or architectural design consultant.

5 comments about Feng Shui for the Soul (Feng Shui).

1. I was so pleased after reading each section of this book. Though it is not a typical feng shui book, it creates a sense of empowerment within the pages that I have not found elsewhere. The author gives several exercises that are both feng shui and manifestation/meditation related. Exercises such as meditating on the spirit of your home and manifesting a "Soul Home." The Soul Home exercise is profound and very spiritually revealing. I would recommend this book for those who are looking for an alternative to the traditional and formula-based feng shui.



2. This book opens the world of Medicine Wheel Feng Shui. It emphasizes bringing to one the ancestral wisdom of peoples living close to earth. One can achieve peace and tranquility by undertaking the many meditative exercises the book offers. Not everybody may find it comfortable to dowse in order to activate the intuition regarding the home, or engage in ancient rituals like relating the meat one eats to ingesting a bit of the animal's spirit, yet many are receptive to the simple techniques presented in the book that enable a person to envision a home for the soul, de-clutter the environment and bring harmony and togetherness to members of the family in the house. This Feng Shui is mostly based on Native American traditions embodying the four directions of energy rather than the five elements of the traditional Feng Shui, and appears quite intuitive and minimally regimented in comparison. The book reads easy. It is gratifying to learn that a simple thing like repainting walls an earthy tone and placing a basket of stones on the floor in a dining room can bring a family together and help it complete projects. When the author enters the field of science, however, such as discussing evidence for the Golden Mean, the results leave something to be desired.



3. This inspiring book helps you delve into the underlying meaning of 'home' and the connection to your soul. Denise writes "Your home can be much more than a mere shelter and a repository for your belongings. It can be a magical place where dreams are conceived and realised, where relationships grow and blossom, where problems are tackled and solved, where each member of the family can be cherished and honored. Ideally your dwelling is a place you want to come home to, where you invite guests, express yourself and feel nurtured by those you love. Home can be heaven on earth, a refuge for your soul." This lays the ground work for practicing instinctive feng shui which follows follows the belief that there is a place of inner knowing inside each of us, a place that knows what we need in our environment to feel healthy and whole.



4. If you feng shui your home Denise Linn's books are a must have. It will take feng shui beyond just the physical and explain how to work with the energies to bring about a sacredness and the change you seek through feng shui. I highly recommend this and any of her books on Feng Shui.



5. As an interior designer who has incorporated Feng Shui into her work, I enjoyed this book greatly. I have attended classes with Denise Linn and really enjoy her style.