Laurie uses her own home, personal design journal, and classical training to teach design techniques. Inspirational, full-color photos capture Laurie's before-and-after design process. Gives homeowners confidence to work with any home's architectural "bones." Strategies to arrange furniture, choose colors, and play with patterns.
Date Published 9/6/2005
Ratings
Rated By: sajust
From: Seattle, WA
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Comments: Excellent Design Book This book details the renovation and design process of Laurie Smith's current home. Though I am partial to her aesthetic (warm, mid-century style), I was ecsatic with the photographs and the narrative.
The pictures are excellent -- they are beautiful and abundant (on nearly every page in the book) and there are photos of various angles for every room.
But, best of all, I loved the narrative. I don't usually READ decorating and interior design books, but I read this book cover-to-cover. The narrative is warm and, most importantly, extremely informative and educational.
Laurie Smith describes color, lighting, furniture, layout and so much more. She describes the basic rules of thumb and how she interpreted these rules to her own home decorating. She goes through the before-and-after for each room in her house and describes the process of renovation and design elements.
Don't get me wrong, this book is not basic. It's thoughtful and extremely thorough -- I felt as though no stone was unturned! From the heighth and style of the kitchen bar stools (which can be seen from the opposite end of the house) to the various options she drew for her living room and why she chose one design over the other to the tweaks she made in her master bedroom and bathroom in order to update AND compliment the home's "bones," as well as her own style.
I look forward to more titles by Laurie Smith. Highly recommended!
Rated By: K. Hayes
From: Mableton, GA
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Comments: Great Book! Cover-to-Cover Read! I am an avid reader of all things involving interior design, however most of the books I buy end up on the coffee table or on the book shelf after I've skimmed through the first few chapters.
Laurie's book is definitely the exception. She has come up with a great way to share her invaluable design concepts and ideas by using the renovation of her own home as an example. I love the way she takes you from room to room, explaining in depth how she and her husband changed an older, somewhat retro-modern home, back to it's glory after the previous owners had done some renovations that were not in keeping with the home's original architecture.
Laurie really got me to thinking about how one should always look at the "bones" and style of the home when renovating or decorating. My home is only 3 years old and when my husband and I bought it, we knew we would not need to make any major structural changes to it, so my main mission has been to decorate the home in a way that compliments it's character and many architectural details. I have found a good resource in this book.
When I was a big fan of Trading Spaces, Laurie was by far my favorite designer, so I absolutely had to get her first book. I am very glad I did!
Rated By: happy lady "cyn_the_win"
From: Provo, UT
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Comments: Hooray for Laurie Smith! By far she is the BEST designer on Trading Spaces. Her style is classic and warm. I sure hope this is not her last book! I really felt like Laurie's personality was written into each page. Along with the gorgeous photos I really got a sense of exactly what her home renovation entailed. It's obvious she has a journalist background.
I love that she didn't "gut" every room in the house. For example, her kitchen was fine so she just made cosmetic changes. That is so much more realistic and doable for "regular" folks like myself.
Her taste is impeccable, her writing style is descriptive and engaging, and I simply loved this book. It will be a great resource for me. Now if I could just figure out a way to get her to come to my house and help me.....
Rated By: Bella Sophia "NYC Design Maven"
From: New York, New York
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Comments: A must-have addition for your design book collection Laurie's book is an excellent book for both inspiration and how-to's.
Most design books are just pretty pictures (the photos here are indeed gorgeous) with little practical info OR they give you some practical info but overlook how to find your own style and have no good photos as examples. Laurie gives you both the beauty (photos) and the practical advice. She breaks down how to find your style, how to start each room and how to work with the existing style of a home into easy-to-follow steps even if your style is completely different from hers. I especially like how she showed the 'before' and 'after' photos of the renovations she did on her home and how, even more importantly, she explained WHY, from a design perspective, she made the changes.
This is an excellent book for inspiration, how-to and practical advice and a definite must for your design book collection, regardless of your own personal style. She really delivers the goods!
Rated By: Ali Dinkins "Ali Dinkins"
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Useful Surprises The designs of Laurie Smith on Trading Spaces have always stood out to me as practical, inventive, and liveable. This book explores the intimate way she applied her thorough feel for livable design to a mid-century style in her own home. I was amazed at the creative ideas used to make this sometimes-sterile style completely friendly and inviting. The book clearly explaines the process she used to make her home recover from former bad renovations. She gives great advice for those who are renovating or redecorating. In my own home, however, her advice helped me to see more potential for my already decorated but not yet perfected rooms. I live in and love a very traditional French Country home, yet Laurie's process for her own home educated me on ways to bring mine into it's own. The book celebrates individuality, process, and finding your own inspiration. It's a read and re-read design book. Ali Dinkins
Rated By: A. Corn "jcorn59483"
From: Indianapolis,, IN
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Comments: Not great but still contains good, solid info and a creative approach Laurie Smith is a strong believer in finding what motivates you, what activities and interests are at the center of your life - and then using that starting point as a way to add personaity to your room.
And that is the main advantage of this book...it doesn't use a cookie cutter or formula approach. Some rooms are based around family photos and colletions, while others might be focused on an collection of antique furniture.
She also hopes that readers won't be too conservative or focused on having everything match and that makes for lively, interesting rooms.
Her home is a major part of this book so if you're looking for a variety of homes and styles, this may not be what you want. However, I found some inspiration here as well as a nice viewpoint about the whole decoration process, something that can seem intimidating. Smith proves that it does not have to be.
Rated By: arkitkat
From: Unavailable
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Comments: A Wonderful, Beautiful Book! If you love Laurie Smith's designs on Trading Spaces, you will be in design heaven with this book. Laurie takes us step by step through the renovation of her own lovely home. The book includes beautiful pictures, drawn floor plans, notes of what she will change in each room and then the beautiful after pictures. Not only do we get to walk through her home, but she gives us ideas on how to interpret her understanding of good design into our own homes. This book is a great addition to your decorating library!
Rated By: Yvonne "fl_yvonne"
From: Florida
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Comments: The woman is a genius She is a genius - when you look at the before and after pictures of her home - brilliance in action. I'm not one to "read" design books but I've read this book twice now, cover to cover, and I always learn something new. She takes you through her remodeling and design process. The pictures are really great - if you look closely, you can see how she ties her rooms together. And she has impeccable taste - I've discovered a new designer and a few new artists from reading this book. Definately recommended and don't just peruse the pictures - the text is a gem too. Would definately buy another book of hers in the future!
Rated By: mkinoh
From: Hudson
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Comments: Cover to recover I read this book cover to cover...twice. Its pages are dog-earred, and I've gleened valuable information just by perusing the index. Kudos to you, Mrs Smith - and thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts on style onto paper!
Rated By: Stacey Johnson
From: Atlanta, GA
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Comments: Disappointing The author's own home is the subject of this book. While a personal account can be charming, more useful information would have been so much more welcome in order to teach us readers how to make our homes look stylish. Unfortunately, there is very little of that here; only photos of the same rooms over and over from different angles and the authors musings. The bottom line: Save your money, unless you are interested in a vanity book with little content.
Laurie uses her own home, personal design journal, and classical training to teach design techniques. Inspirational, full-color photos capture Laurie's before-and-after design process. Gives homeowners confidence to work with any home's architectural "bones." Strategies to arrange 
