book review: Decorate Workshop

| by ellie
3 Notes

Decorate Workshop is the new decorating handbook from Decor8 blog founder Holly Becker. Unlike some interior design books which are just full of lovely photographs, Decorate Workshop pairs those inspirational images with eight steps to walk you through your next decorating dilemma. Part practical, part self examination (just how does lemon yellow make me feel?), Holly creates space to dialogue by including question and answer sections to reveal areas of inspiration you might have otherwise overlooked. After all, if your home should reflect who you are and you grew up at the beach, introduce some sea life! Who cares if you live in Indiana?

Holly starts at square one, detailing how to create a project binder, collect inspirational images, determine your personal style, manage a budget, etc. Before your next flea market rampage, work through Decorate Workshop and focus all that creative energy into beautifully transforming a space with purpose.

—Ellie and Melissa

Thanks to Chronicle Books for the review copy! This post is part of the Decorate Workshop blog tour. 

3 Responses to “book review: Decorate Workshop”

Amy

December 6, 2012 at 5:10 pm

Here’s the thing, guys–I’m curious to know whether you’d actually recommend this book. (Mostly I ask because I came across it online and thought, hmm–neat idea but I wonder if I’d actually use it?) I had high hopes when I saw the title of this post that I’d be closer to an answer, but I guess I’ll have to get a copy in my hot little hands and flip through it, as this felt more like a summary than a review. Bottom line, I enjoy y’all’s opinions, perspectives, and recommendations and would love to see more of them in future reviews!

ellie

December 7, 2012 at 5:48 pm

Hi Amy,
I LOVE interior design books, although I don’t think I’ve read single sentence in the vast majority of the design books I own. I use them for visual reference. And this book is filled with really beautiful rooms. They’re a good fit for my style, and I would have definitely bought this book if I hadn’t received a review copy. I think the space planning section is interesting, but otherwise I probably wouldn’t “use” it, as in, I wouldn’t fill out the worksheets. But personally, I find books more useful than blogs when trying to learn what I like about a space and why it works. That said, I am not the kind of person who makes a plan for a room… I don’t usually have the budget to re-do a room from top to bottom so things evolve slowly over time, depending on what I run across in antique stores, or the occasional and very rare new furniture/art/etc splurge. I think if I were going to truly plan out a space and start from scratch, then yes, a book like this would be useful for that. But I will definitely flip through it often for ideas, paint colors, etc. And if I ever do have the budget to “re-do” a room in my house from top to bottom, it will be a great resource!

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