Happy Home: Everyday Magic for a Colorful Life

by Charlotte Hedeman Guéniau, Holly Becker (Foreword)

An inspiring collection of practical ideas and do-it-yourself projects to transform any interior with good design, comfort, and a spirit of playfulness and fun. Happy Home brims with useful ideas for transforming a ho-hum home with relaxed contemporary style featuring bright colors, cheerful patterns, and varying textures and scale inspired by designer Charlotte Hedeman Gueniau and her home furnishings company Rice, which are well-known among design fans for innovative home furnishings and houseware collections featuring ethically sourced and produced products. The book shows how the basics of everyday life can be enlivened by bringing color and a sense of fun to daily living, whether by using brightly colored accessories or by introducing fabrics with patterns, textures, and hints of humor throughout the home. Included are practical suggestions that add informal charm to any room, as well as do-it-yourself projects ranging from brightly colored throws and cushions, storage ideas to hide clutter, hand-painted furniture, and decorative motifs for walls and other surfaces.

Genres: Nonfiction, Interior Design, Design, Crafts

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong -- this book is nicely done. Beautiful photographs, and the author does a good job of really showcasing the basics of her style. But after a few pages, the rooms all seemed to run together -- too much of the same formula: white walls, wood floors, lots and lots of bright colors. These homes all had a distinctively European flavor, and I had trouble envisioning how this decorating style would work in what I think of as a more traditionally American home. So as a practical guide-type of home decorating book, this doesn't work. But if you just want pretty eye candy, there's a lot to see here.

[Marina Nieto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Podría titularse “Cómo hacer de tu casa un lugar hortera, caótico y sin sentido”

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love color! I love Scandanavian design! I should love this book - but it hurt my eyes. There were too many little pieces of all the colors without anything for them to relate back to, to pull them together; the white walls are meant to make it less chaotic, but all they do is emphasize the busyness that is happening in each picture.

The book is well done, and if this is your style, you'll enjoy a read-through. Teenaged me would have loved it. Grownup me finds it chaotic.

[Tess Wess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually loved the bright colors and personality on each page. No sad beige here! But after looking closely, there were MULTIPLE racist items that are prominently displayed. Not in the same home - throughout the book! I couldnt enjoy the book because I didnt know what would be on the next page. If I could give 0 stars I would.

[Cari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to buy this book...looooooooooove it!

[Marwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books makes you smile, full of colors and ideas.

[Anna Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liked a lot of the colorful decor but an extremely racist lamp ruined the happy feeling.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for me actually. This had some great ideas. It has a very euro decorating and boho vibe that I love. I love the color pallets, decor etc. This is a book I will have to buy to use as
a reference for home decorating.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Agree with most other reviews: at first I enjoyed the saturated, eye candy colors. But the steady diet of white walls, with soooo many knick-knacks and splashy tchotchkes would be hard to live with.

But to my horror, the racist accessory was breathtaking and utterly spoiled it for me.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Color everything happy..everywhere:)

[Mandy Crumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and colorful book that showcases ideas that would be possible to create. Many objects to look at and enjoy within the pages.

[merlin513 · Rating 4 out of 5]

First ‘Dopamine Decor’ book I ever purchased long before that term was a thing. Gorgeous photos, lovely rooms!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I chose the paint colors for my tiny condo, my husband said it's okay....kinda boring. But I needed that neutral backdrop for all the colorful and eclectic tchotchkes and art that I wanted for a tranquil but also personal and interesting home--which makes a cohesive decor really, really, really a challenge for me. In fact, I'll say soothing can't be reconciled with enlivening color, and I'm just gonna have to be okay with "mix and match and mix and don't match" and just live with what I love and keep editing as I go. This books shows lots of modern, quirky, funky combinations and solutions for incorporating colorful things one loves.

[Christen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love the concept that Gueniau wrote about, adding more color into your home that examples feel pretty flat and the might have been the same house throughout the entire book. She use one theme or idea of coloring through the whole book. While I like color in my home, my home does not fit the style that is in the book. I am more modern, while all her pictures are a bit eclectic and doesn't give examples of other rooms. It was a great book and I understand where she was coming from, it would have been nice to see variety of styles.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

ooo, not my style at all

[Rose Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very pretty, beautifully produced book. Not a run-of-the-mill decorating book, this lady's individual style really stands out.

[Mary Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos. European flair.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of color in this book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to live inside of this book.

[Danielle]

not my favorite.

[Denise Talamantez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute, colorful, & quirky book on home decor etc.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not exactly my style, best for those who like to be surrounded by lots of vibrant colours.