Product Description

Sometimes you’re looking for it, sometimes it just finds you

Treasures of home décor abound at flea markets, thrift shops, and garage sales. But how do you know a find when you find it?
In The Find, Stan Williams and some of today’s most clever style makers, including Simon Doonan, John Derian, and Real Simple’s Kristin van Ogtrop–all diehard devotees of New York City’s Housing Works–show not just what to look for, but also how to look at an object to identify a great piece. The trick is to see beyond nicks and wobbles, color and intended purpose and to focus on potential. For example, a vintage leather trunk encased in Lucite works as a stunning coffee table. Pages from old books wallpaper a foyer. A cushion fashioned from a baseball diamond’s home plate makes a garden chair comfortable.

The Find includes chapters on furniture, accessories, small spaces, and entertaining. From a suburban ranch to an East Village studio in New York, each abode illustrates unexpected ways that secondhand items can make statements (or space) throughout a home.

Elegantly photographed, filled with practical sidebars about refurbishing, styling, and treasure-hunting, and replete with the quirky sensibility that has made Housing Works one of the most popular destinations for great things, The Find is at once a handbook and inspiration for vintage decorating. Secondhand does not mean second rate when there’s always something special to be found.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70137 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-05
• Released on: 2009-05-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307406255
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
STAN WILLIAMS is a New York—based lifestyle journalist who has written for Maxim, Latina, and American Express Executive Travel, among other publications. A native of Independence, Missouri, and a graduate of the University of Missouri—Columbia Journalism School, Williams documents his favorite finds on his blog, www.theobjectofmydesire.com.

HOUSING WORKS is a grass-roots AIDS service organization that has provided life-saving health, housing, employment, advocacy, and prevention resources for more than 20,000 HIV-positive homeless New Yorkers since 1990. All profits from Housing Works Thrift Shops and Bookstore directly support the organization’s client programs. To donate or become a member, visit www.housingworks.org.

Customer Reviews

A beautiful, inspirational book - truly a "find"
I just received my copy of "the find", and am totally amazed. Mr. Williams sure has a way of making thrift shop items look like a million bucks. I usually am more interested in the photos than text, but the author has a very interesting way of telling the story, way beyond the usual stodgy decorating books. And speaking of photos, the homes here are so beautifully pictured, I'd just love to live in one.

Bottom line, this is a lovely book with a misleading title
It is definitely an interesting read and it includes many beautiful and illustrative shots of the interiors discussed. My problem is with the title, which is extremely misleading. If you're planning to completely decorate a stately home using an unlimited budget, this is the book for you. If, however, you want to do what the title suggests - integrate vintage treasures from flea markets and thrift stores into a more interesting look for your home - this is the wrong place to look. There are certainly ideas that can be used as catalysts to introduce clever effects into the "normal" home, but many of the ideas rely on thousands of dollars for each of many pieces required to create the rooms shown, not to mention the storage facilities in which to store your accumulated purchases until you have everything you need to redo the room. This is not reality for most people. I was expecting a book that would give examples of ways to incorporate different types of vintage and antique pieces for an exciting, creative look.

Glorious Book
The minute I opened it, The Find made me want to rush out and go antique shopping. Its photographs are clear and beautiful, and the author has design ideas that I have never seen elsewhere (using an old pie safe to store firewood, cobbling a fireplace out of oyster shells, for example). The author also provides invaluable advice about recognizing good-quality furniture and knowing which vintage items are best left in the store. Photographs from the homes of various designers and others with good taste are inspirational.