Beautiful: All-American Decorating and Timeless Style

by Mark D. Sikes, Nancy Meyers (Foreword), Amy Neunsinger (Photographer)

This New York Times bestselling book from interior designer Mark D. Sikes is a celebration of American style today, showcasing chic and accessible ideas for every home. Modern and unfussy, Mark D. Sikes’s interiors are classic takes on California indoor/outdoor living, with natural fibers and crisp coloration, informed and influenced by the fashion world where he began his career. In eight chapters, he explores approachable, stylish looks, from "Blue and White Forever," which features indigos, stripes, batiks, and wicker in casual rooms such as porches and pool houses; to "Timeless Neutrals," presenting semiformal rooms filled with chinoiserie, gilt, glass, mirrors, banquettes, and French chairs; to "Garden Greens," featuring happy, casual family rooms and kitchens inspired by the garden with treillage woodwork, rattan, and cotton. There are also "Beautiful Brights," colorful rooms that are eclectic, layered, and fun, with chintz, florals, and Middle Eastern influences; and "Sun Faded Hues," rustic coastal rooms with weathered fabrics and furniture. Each chapter presents light-filled images of the designer’s looks and offers the reader inspiration and advice. As famed film director Nancy Meyers writes in the book’s foreword, this is a book that shows design lovers "how classic can look fresh, how style and comfort go hand-in-hand."

Genres: Nonfiction, Interior Design, Design, Coffee Table Books

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2016

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS is a luscious design book full of glorious,homey,yet grand photos of beautiful rooms.i enjoyed every minute that i Iingered over its pages.

[Pamela Fishel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautiful coffee table picture book.
But reading it is an exercise in frustration. When the horizontal stripes on some drapes were captioned as vertical stripes, I wondered if our library was sold a defective book. The pictures, on the groups of 4, were not always in the order listed in the captions - neither clockwise or by directing "above left," or "bottom right."
The worst thing was the way they divided sentences. One sentence started on page 222 and finished on page 241. No notes were saying, (continued on page 241) or (continued from page 222). I spent a lot of time going back and forth between the captions and the pictures trying to see the point.
It is too bad because there is a lot of information in this book. I learned a few new things but it took more time than necessary.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who loves design, this was a wonderfully executed example of American design at its best. Mark's style is traditional but modern and certainly relevant. And everything I have ever read about him tells me that he is a nice guy as well. Highly recommended for anyone interested in design and aesthetics.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book transports you back to a by-gone era of old Hollywood. I felt inspired. Loved this!

[British Cottage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark D. Sikes' blog, Chic People, Glamorous Places, Stylish Things is sensational, as is his book, Beautiful: All-American Decorating and Timeless Style. In room after room, Mark starts with pale walls and pale carpets, then adds another layer, then another with a bit more color and structure and the next thing you know there is a profound sense of elegance and comfort.

And I just love that he is totally passionate about blue and white, something we share here at British Cottage, and something that may contribute to the air of harmony you find in his rooms. Think of faded blue jeans worn with a crisp white shirt and a fabulous navy blue blazer. The look transcends gender and genre, casual yet always stylish, and that is what, I think, we all wish for our decor.

Fussy feminine rooms with swags and knick knacks, yuck. All brown leather and mid-century modern, double yuck. The best way to describe Mark’s ethos is to evoke Nancy Meyers and her Something’s Gotta Give house. Nancy is crazy about Mark’s style and even wrote the introduction to his book. What is her style? Coastal chic? Country home casual? I don’t know what to call it. But I like it.

Beautiful shows you how it is done. How to style coffee tables and side tables, add pops of color and accessories, arrange your seating–always tricky–and get it to all to work–even trickier.

[Angela Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to LOVE this book. It’s gorgeous. Mark Sikes is brilliant. The forward was written by NANCY FREAKING MEYERS.

Alas. This book makes an excellent coffee table book, and is lovely to thumb through for inspiration, but frustrating to actually read. Whomever did the layout should be sacked. A sentence will be cut off at the end of a page and not finished until 10-20 pages later. Meanwhile, the captions for the photos on the pages in between are often only every few pages, and are all put in the same paragraph. Within that paragraph, it might discuss the photo on the current page and the two previous pages, the current page and the next 2-4 pages, or pages before and after the current one.

There was so much flipping back and forth between pages, I was unable to enjoy the book like I could have if it was laid out differently.

Even a note of “Continued on page X” would have been helpful.

[Shelby Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful design book filled with all of my favorite things. Elegance, timelessness, blue & white love, chinoiserie, florals, rattan, and silk, and linen, and shades and tones of every color, what more could you want. Every single detail is intentional and accounted for. I love the format as well. A stunning piece of art in the format of a coffee table book. Sikes’ passion for design is effortlessly echoed in the pages. Pure brilliance!

[Kara Rochester Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love the formatting of this book; the different sizes and fonts that changed mid sentence drove me nuts. Beyond that, there were a few choices he did design-wise that I appreciated. In general, though, his style is too cluttered, eclectic, and theme-based for me. I much prefer Eric Ross’s book ENDURING SOUTHERN HOMES.

[Laurie B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous photography! He has true design signatures and a very defined point of view; I respect both. Three stars only because the reader has to flip back and forth among pages to read photo descriptions, which became annoying after awhile and took away from full enjoyment of the book.

[Regina · Rating 2 out of 5]

style doesn't really work for me, but fine book

[Denise Ballentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an attempt to gain a better sense of interior decoration, I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in this gorgeously photographed book of beautiful rooms and gardens. What dreams are made of.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty - lots of blue

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve looked through this book multiple times, but it’s time to return it to the library. It is full of beauty and inspiration.

[KO]

The cover was prettier than anything under it.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book by interior designer, Mark D. Sikes, my first thoughts were how every room seems to repeat certain choices over and over: blue and white porcelain, Chinese objets, leather, Greek key trim on linen, boxwood topiaries, alabaster urns, tortoiseshell boxes, etc. Lots of blue. I read the book in one night, and maybe it was just what was needed post disaster election where everyone that I know is walking around numb with disbelief. The following day, I will say this. Just about anything Rizzoli publishes is worth seeking out and spending time with, just for the sheer pleasure of a well-bound book with beautiful images and topics. All of Sike's rooms look like little jewel boxes and what can be wrong with that? I was most partial to the rooms designed around Grace Kelly and all that she reflected in her own life--had she remained in Hollywood (which I feel she probably should have.) Lots of pretty windows and doors letting in light. Beautiful well-tended architecturally structured gardens, rooms not overly done in clutter and sameness, but, of course, behind it all is money. A lot of money to have such pretty archways and high ceilings and "a room with a view." It those French doors on the cover look directly into your neighbor's family room or above ground pool, it just isn't the same, is it? And I feel, this week, that America has just put in an above ground pool.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aptly named ... this book is eye candy. His aesthetic is a bit too cluttered for me, but if Mark D. Sikes and Darryl Carter / Lauren Liess had a house baby, I would want to live there.

I love the way this book is organized, and how Mark shares his inspiration for each section.

[Liz De Coster]

Nancy Meyers wrote the intro for this book, and if you've seen the meticulously "done" interiors of her movies it makes perfect sense.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely book - definitely worth buying if you love design!

[Kerry]

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