Decorating with Color

The Best of Martha Stewart Living

by Martha Stewart

Demonstrates how degrees of color can be applied in stages to transform a room, pairing each chapter with a color theme and an interior-decorating project inspired by colorful everyday objects, from making a folding screen to creating prints on a chair. Original. 75,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Interior Design

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chose to borrow because I'm looking for ways to add more real color to my home environment but to avoid anything that introduces the effect of more clutter. Gotta say, this shows several ways it can be done. A lot involve paint and purchases, it's true, so as a renter I can't use them. But some of the projects are doable and likely to give me something more pretty to look at. There are example rooms, and projects, both. I did not read the text, which is why I'm marking it DNF.

A pseudo canopy bed looks easy, and in the right bedroom I definitely recommend it.
Pillar candles wrapped in beeswax sheets are a clever solution marrying form & function.

I will probably make a 'cuff' for at least one of my pillowcases with one of those fabric scraps that I have languishing in a carton, as it's easy and will dress up the bed a bit and give me something that makes me smile.

I will also remember the tip to hang a small picture from a large ribbon, to make it take up more wall space and balance that wall better. My idea, inspired by that, is to tack ribbons directly to the wall around the three or five small pix, sort of outlining them as in some ppl's scrapbook pages.

I also really liked the idea of mounting garden lattice on the two walls of the corner breakfast nook. I might be able to do that at our next house.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dated now (the whole world has mined these color ideas that were Martha's signature in the mid-1990s) but still valuable and inspiring.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks old, but some color combinations are classic.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many great ideas, but I still cannot find my dream of crackled paint still easy to clean.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not where to start with choosing color for rooms, but a good overall resource to see color schemes together with other elements of design (fabric, furnitiure, art, etc). Most of the color pallets given are classic.

[Beckstarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm determined to learn color theory and how to use it without making my home look ridiculous, and this is exactly what I needed. I've loved the pictures, the (many) color palettes, and the basics about which colors are best in which hues etc.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Classic Martha colors and designs. Some colors are a bit dated now.

[Vicki Christensen]

Getting ideas for deciding paint colors.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely palettes

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not for creative people wanting to do color in their home. This book has a few ides with preselected swatch colors. None of them are colorful. Boring design styles.