Clarkson Potter The New Design Rules: How to Decorate and Renovate, from Start to Finish: An Interior Design Book

I got this book as a gift for my friend who is a reputable interior designer … turns out he follows the author on Instegram so my gift was a hit! quality was great not sure what people are whining about! ITS A NICE BOOK FOR $40 get over yourselves and stop complaining

Best book on interior design and renovation I have come across in a long time. I love how the author breaks everything down and shows multiple options. I found it truly inspiring and well done. Renovate or decorate with confidence after reading this book!

Magnifique livre, j'ai adoré !

I was a big fan of Emily Henderson's first book. It's still really useful in styling/arranging my home. But this new book is a big disappointment. It seems written for people who have never owned a home or even rented an apartment before. The text is beyond basic -- there's a picture of an animal hide rug and a paragraph explaining that it's an "animal hide." Duh. The first half of the book is like this! Do we really need yet another book explaining flat, matte, semigloss, etc., paint varieties? Or that explains flooring options in such a rudimentary way -- "carpet, stone, concrete, brick" -- as if those were foreign terms that needed a picture for us to understand them. ("Gee, that's what carpeting is?") Or that tell us that a chaise longue means "long chair"? This is why Google was invented!*Where the book is much better is in the terrific photography and in the instances when Emily's advice is detailed about concepts that aren't obvious -- like explaining the terms for each of the parts of kitchen cabinetry.*I will flip through this book to get ideas from the photos but that's about it. It's far too basic but I'm sure will be useful for someone who has never had their own place before.

I love Emily Henderson and have been following her for years. I LOVED her first book. In my opinion, THAT book will take your home to the next level...more so than this one. If you are designing your first house, this book is for you. It gives you "the rules" that most people follow when designing and names the parts of a window, etc. There are beautiful pictures in the book...lots of eye candy, BUT if you've been following her for a while, you've seen most of these photos.