Book Recommendation: Domino, The Book of Decorating
- Details
- Published on 09 July 2012
Here's a post on a book I think some of you may find really useful if you haven't already discovered it. I was given this as a gift from a clever friend the year before last and I still enjoy dipping into it for inspiration.
If you never opened this book and just had it adorning your shelf or coffee table, it would be worth the money you paid for it. The prettiness of the cover ( it is a de Gournay wallpaper pattern after all,) the colour, size and shape and the lovely feel and weight of it in your hands are all factors that conspire to delight in the way only a real book can.
The whole tone of the book is one of encouragement. It has been put together by the editors of the, now sadly defunct, online magazine, Domino. Their ethos was based on a desire, as they put it, "to demystify and democratise decorating" - people after my own heart. They know their stuff and they really want to share it with you - like those great girlfriends who help you find the outfit that really suits you and makes you feel good about yourself.
Those who get good at putting rooms together, either professionally for others or just in their own homes, do so, in part, because they have expended a good deal of time and effort looking at different spaces and weighing up why they work. Domino offers something of a shortcut to all that.
It is so full of tips and tricks that there are bound to be at least a few concrete ideas that will work in your home. The authors are refreshingly realistic about the kind of flats and houses that most of us inhabit, as well as being very aware that their readers will be on varying budgets.
It is perhaps not a book for you if your taste is very traditional and conservative, but if you, like me, want to achieve a look that is full of personality and at least a dash of originality, then I don't think it can fail to please. It definitely favours a more feminine look but the ideas can easily be adapted to suit a more masculine style. I should also mention that it is very American but there is so much cross-over in what is available in the UK that it hardly matters; the point of the book is to take inspiration and ideas from it rather than trying to find the exact pieces featured.
The photos are excellent (I have to suppress feelings of envy when I compare them to most of mine) and there are tons of detail shots.
It is available online at both Amazon and Waterstones:
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/deborah+needleman/domino3a+the+book+of+decorating/6561651/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Domino-Decorating-Room---Room-Creating/dp/1416575464/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341777080&sr=1-1
I LOVE THE COVER:

WELL ILLUSTRATED TIPS AND TRICKS:

KEY INGREDIENTS OF A ROOM SCHEME LAID OUT:

LOVELY PHOTO OF THE ROOM AS IT TURNED OUT:

Hope you decide to go for it. If you don't love it, we all have at least one friend who would be delighted to receive it as a gift.
Triciax