Product Description

Just as the carefully planned wardrobe can be supplemented year after year, the well-edited home contains the essential building blocks for enduring chic. Essential Home helps you make informed decisions about what to put in your home, and shows how the right choices can streamline your style and save money. Interiors expert Judith Wilson starts by taking a look at the classic big buys-the white sofa, the antique armoire, the designer dining chairs-then room by room, puts together a framework of practical essentials and luxury items that will last for years. Essential Home gives you the flexibility to experiment with fashionable accessories or unusual one-of-a-kind pieces. With lavish photographs by Jan Baldwin, this invaluable resource gives you all the information you need to lay the foundation for a beautiful home.

The initial planning-selecting wall colors and flooring-is the easy part. Far harder are the decisions that arise after the paint has dried. What should go into each room? Which items will endure, give most pleasure? What's the most practical combination of furniture? When should you scrimp and when should you spend? Key items, from chairs to ceramics, need careful planning. Get these choices right and you'll be equipped with decorative building blocks for a flexible home, one that evolves with fashion and your own changing tastes. There's no blueprint for the contents of the perfect home, but Essential Home will help you devise your own unique formula, creating a clean canvas on which to build, reducing the risk factor of future purchases and giving you freedom to experiment with fashion and contemporary buys.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1838226 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

About the Author
Jan Baldwin is a renowned photographer of interiors, food, and still-lifes. Her work frequently appears in newspapers and glossy magazines such as Elle Decoration, House & Garden, and World of Interiors. Jan has photographed nearly twenty books, including Waterside Living (also published by Ryland Peters & Small).

Judith Wilson has been an interiors writer and stylist since 1987, including a six-year stint at Homes & Gardens, where she was decorating editor. Since the arrival of her children, she has been a freelance contributor to many publications, including the Telegraph Magazine, House & Garden, Livingetc, and the Independent Magazine. Her book, Children's Spaces, is also published by Ryland Peters & Small, and editions are available in 10 countries worldwide. Judith lectures at the KLC School of Design.

Customer Reviews

HIGHLY UNINSPIRING
This is one of the very few books I have on interior decorating that I really regret buying without a readers review.It reads like a shopping list with extremely bland,uninspring pictures.Everything is white and everything is slipcovered.
As a mere shopping list this book is true to its name,however dont expect anything more than that.If you need someone to tell you to buy bowls and saucers for your kitchen, or classic pieces rather than fad pieces,quality pieces rather than cheap knockoffs,then buy this book.If not please give it a pass.Ridiculously priced for what it offers.

Inspiring Book
I really like this book. The photographs are beautiful, and the information quite useful. Although the author has various lists of essential items to have in your home, the descriptions tie in nicely with the clean and colorful images. This book is more about important staples for your home, but shown with a modern chic flair.