Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Urban Country Style

Rate this book
A vintage table paired with contemporary metal chairs. French doors hung on overhead tracks like barn doors, traditional wood cabinets alongside open steel shelves-this is urban-country style. For those drawn to both weathered country furnishings and sleek stainless appliances, this new genre of easy elegance celebrates the contrast between old and new, traditional and modern, chic sophistication and cozy comfort.

Urban-Country Style captures the contrast between big-city style and small-town charm and applies it to interiors and exteriors. Finally, here is a book that goes beyond the "eclectic mix" and defines an emerging style by truly demonstrating how to achieve not only a stylish home, but a more functional one as well. Urban-Country Style provides a six-element guideline: F.U.S.I.O.N., or Functional, Unexpected, Simple, Integrated, Old, and New. The six elements apply to nearly any home project and provide a unifying design philosophy for everyone from suburban families to urban twenty something's, young couples to empty nesters.

With an emphasis on sensible style and creative combinations, this book shows you how to assess your own living space, make better design choices, and capture the essence of urban-country style on your own.

Elizabeth Betts Hickman is a national award-winning journalist who has written about design and residential architecture for over a decade and has worked as a stylist on numerous photo shoots for national magazines. Hickman believes that urban-country style represents a flexible approach to design that can work for almost anyone who wants to celebrate everyday living.

California native Nancy Gent planned and completed the full renovation (and urban-countrifying!) of her family's circa 1930 stone cottage in Nashville, and has embraced the opportunity to blend commercial and residential design concepts into workable spaces for various offices and residences. A full-time manager at the Creative Artists Agency, Gent understands the realities of busy families and the design challenges of living with children and animals, and emphasizes these practical considerations in her design work and in Urban-Country Style.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2007

6 people want to read

About the author

Nancy Gent

1 book

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
7 (36%)
4 stars
4 (21%)
3 stars
2 (10%)
2 stars
4 (21%)
1 star
2 (10%)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Amanda.
228 reviews51 followers
January 17, 2009
Don't let the word "country" in the title mislead you...this book has some of the BEST ideas on streamlining your home to look simplistic yet dynamic. I love how clean and functional the rooms showcased are...and the authors offer practical ideas and advice to help you transform and really use your space as well.
Profile Image for Leslie Gabel.
4 reviews
February 14, 2009
When I saw this book, I my brain screamed, "OXYMORON!!!" Then I closed my eyes, opened up the book to a random page, and my brain gasped, "Just Kidding!!"

It's totally my style, and way fun too look at, even though I need to do without much of my clutter to achieve the "look" that the pictures emphasize. It's spectacular, and oddly enough, about half of the pictures are from homes here in Nashville!
Profile Image for Evan.
746 reviews14 followers
July 8, 2007
This book is the closest I've found to embodying my decorating style--or at least what it aspires to be. I like clean lines, which lends itself to a modern style, but for contrast I like to throw in a particularaly shabby piece or two.
Profile Image for Abby.
1,648 reviews173 followers
November 4, 2013
Meh. Not very inspiring to me. Whatever this style is, it's not mine. Not fun to read because most of the tips are impractical to reproduce ("Move into an old dairy barn for lots of WOW factor!").
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.