Product Description

Classic Design Styles is a beautifully illustrated chronology of European and American period styles from the medieval to the end of the nineteenth century. Top interior designer, Henrietta Spencer-Churchill shows us room-by-room, how elements of classic decorating styles can be adapted and used in the home today. Over 200 new photographs of previously unseen interiors accompany insider decorating tips and practical advice on how to recreate period living in your own home.

In Classic Design Styles well-known author and interior designer, Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill turns her attention to the history of American and European classic interior design traditions including: Victorian, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Colonial, Federal Style, Queen Anne, Georgian, Empire, and Arts & Crafts. Spencer-Churchill outlines the enduring decorating movements of these classic styles, explaining and illustrating the distinguishing characteristics of each one. She show how elements of these classic decorating styles can be adapted and used today to recreate period living in your own home.

The first section is a richly illustrated chronology of period styles and a guide to the history of European and American interiors from the medieval to the end of the nineteenth century. In the second section, Spencer-Churchill takes us on a room by room tour of one spectacular house decorated in each style. She explains in detail the theory and methods behind each look, how to interpret traditional styles for your own home, and the enduring value and allure of each period. Illustrating how to work with an existing room, Spencer-Churchill includes a section on architectural and furnishing details like walls, windows, fabrics and paints. Beautiful and practical, Classic Design Styles is an insider's guide for decorators and enthusiasts of period living.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471816 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-22
• Released on: 2001-09-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780847824069
• BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Review
A childhood spent in the Baroque splendour of Blenheim Palace gives Henrietta Spencer-Churchill all the authority she needs to discuss classic design styles from Medieval to present day. In this gloriously illustrated work, she reveals the best of those designs, highlighting how individual elements can be incorporated into our homes today. She emphasises the importance of complementing the architectural with the furniture and furnishings to present a style easy on the eye and in keeping with the age of the house. Country cottages, palaces, manor houses and Victorian homes are all featured, accompanied by a history of the style of the time and gentle instruction on how the rooms depicted have been put together in such a way as to make them perfect partners with the house itself. With the easy availability today of reproduction furniture and mouldings, even houses which have lost touch with their origins can be restored to bring back their original feel. Architectural salvage and antique markets unearth features for those with a more perfectionist mind. But repro or original, the art, as Henrietta stipulates over and over, is to stay in tune with the home's initial style. A high-beamed Medieval hall was not designed for a plethora of heavy Victorian furniture and artefacts. Similarly Victorian houses were not designed for minimalist tastes. Careful study of the individual designs will result in a more natural and beautiful look for your period home. Ostensibly aimed at owners of period homes, the book will also appeal to those who appreciate the finer things in life. The visual feasts of Andrew Wood contain a wealth of inspiration for those just looking for classic design ideas.

About the Author
Henrietta Spencer-Churchill is the daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, whose family home is Blenheim Palace. She runs the highly successful interior design company Woodstock Designs in England, and has clients in the United States and the UK. Her fabric and wallpaper collections are sold through leading interior design stores as well as in her own shops in London and Woodstock, England, and through Grey Watkins in the United States. She is a regular lecturer and is the author of six books, including the popular Classic Entertaining.

Customer Reviews

The Best Housewarming Gift Ever
What a pleasure! Lady Henrietta's books are always a wonderful combination of how-to and design history. Unlike many decorating books, this is a pleasure to read, even if you're not planning on specific changes. Also, while the photographs are all of splendorous homes of the wealthy, the author consistently gives tips for those of us with a significantly tighter budget. I recommend this to anyone interested in design history (beautiful photos!), and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who lives in a "classic" home, regardless of your level of know-how.

Decorating Ideas
Lady Spencer-Churchill has written some very good English decorating books. The photographs are beautiful and the text is always well written. I purchased this book as a gift to give to a friend. I rated it with four stars as I found the book seems to feature mostly yellow or gold colored rooms, which I found a bit repetitive.

Classic Design Styles
If you are a lover of history as I am, you will enjoy this book. It is not purely a home decor book of ideas, but truly a photographic history lesson on many classical styles and the reasons behind them. Some photos may seem rather palatial for today's modern living...but if you like antiques and architectural history you can certainly take a few elements and apply them to a city apartment, modest house, or if you are very lucky, to the English mansion you may inherit from your long lost auntie...