Your Home, Your Style: How to Find Your Look and Create Spaces You Love

by Donna Garlough

The first book from the style director for the popular home decor site Joss & Main is a lively, chic road map to finding and implementing your style at home.

In this age of Instagram and Pinterest, there is no shortage of decorating inspiration. Then why is it so hard to make the leap from pictures bookmarked and saved, to the guts to decorate your own home? In Your Home, Your Style, Donna Garlough urges readers to adopt a new decorating truth: whether you are renting or renovating, staying or going, it is always a good time to decorate. And the best person to do it is you.

Your Home, Your Style is not just a guide to decorating, but a guide to understanding your style strengths, identifying and overcoming your design weaknesses, and figuring out how to put the furniture, decor, and details you love into your home in a way that works for you. Enriched with easy takeaways (how to style a bookshelf four different ways; how to create a gallery wall), and illustrated with polished attainable spaces styled by the author as well as other home decorators, this is a guide rich with real-life know-how that deserves a place on every home decorator’s shelf.

Genres: Design, Interior Design, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

Published March 20, 2018

Reviews

[Jasmine]

I've been on a kick of interior design books, and so far I've enjoyed this one the most. There were a few weird parts (the author said they like to put out furniture and watch the college kids grab it as entertainment??) but the advice within was solid. the author split up design personalities, with a quiz in the beginning to discover which one you were. I mean, a quiz!! I love quizzes!

throughout the book there were sections of "Five Ways to Style a ____" (bookcase, entry table) and I thought those quick references were super useful.

I got this book from the library, but if I hadn't I think I would reread it casually, flipping through the photos for reference and inspiration.

[Lindsay Sparks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m finally trying to learn how to decorate and this book was helpful! Loved the “design quiz” to determine your design personality (I’m mostly a “Tinkerer” and a bit of a “Dream Weaver”). So fun!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rented this book as soon as it was available at my local library. First impression: you don't often see such an outrageously beautiful cover. I was pretty immediately convinced that I was going to be very happy with the contents.

The book itself did not disappoint. Right out of the gate, you encounter a personality test the author has devised to help you determine your design style, which she then uses to guide you through where in your home to start designing and what styles best suit you.

I am incredibly grateful to have been able to borrow this from the library, but have to say that I think owning it is going to be a must. So much to take in, so much that I am sure I'll want to refer back to down the road. Great starting point for folks like me who have a home and want to upgrade its look but have no idea what they're doing or where to start!

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Begin by taking a quiz about yourself - or just read the five "types" and take your pick. Then scan through the 5 aesthetic factors to consider. This approach could be very helpful and grounding for a couple. I swear my husband and I have had more fights about wall colors and curtains that I could have ever guessed. Reading this book earlier may have helped.

ps. I am a design pragmatist who leans towards neutral colors and balanced, soothing casual spaces.

[Lynnae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite interior design book I've read so far. While she leans more minimal than maximal (a leaning I share), her book is focused more on guiding you to discover your own sense of style and preferences--equipping you with some tried-and-true design guidelines along the way--than promoting any one style or flavor over another.

I also really appreciated that, true to the message of her book, the photos weren't "her" designs. She curated work done by people who designed their own homes that they loved to live in and spent her time talking about how these people's choices reflected their sense of style and demonstrated basic design techniques. This was not a book promoting her own designs, which serves only to reinforce her message that any person can design a home they love to live in. And it works. I'm redesigning my home right now, and her advice proved uniquely helpful and practical as I've made decisions about how I want to change things.

Another small plug: her captioning was A+. I've read other design books where the pictures don't seem to have much to do with the text that appears next to them (one once had an image of a totally packed shelf of vertical books on the exact same page as a discussion in the text of how to style your bookshelf with open space and items other than books...and it didn't appear to be ironic/"what not to do" either). In this book, each of the images was thoughtfully placed to illustrate the concepts discussed, and the captioning was written specifically to detail how the image fit with the text. Very satisfying for someone like me who is a great reader but also a visual and hands-on learner, too.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been the most helpful interior design book I’ve read thus far. The information was actionable in that I could use the quiz within to identify my style, understand what it is I’m attracted to in those Pinterest-worthy images I find online, and achieve my style goals in a reasonable amount of time.

I do agree with another review that there are some personal perspectives the author shares that are not easily relatable or recognizable, but it’s not distracting from the overall advice in the book. (For example, the author getting excited watching people take away the free items left outside. I live in the city now and before that in the suburbs, but I was not connected enough to the community to really pay attention to what other people are doing so I would not have noticed if someone took my unwanted furniture I left on the curb.)

Happily, I have been able to use this book to improve my living room layout since I’ve now figured out how I want people to move in it (focusing more on conversation than tv watching) and have started gathering images to help determine the elements of style I lean toward.

[Sarah Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually have some experience with interior design and always felt I was good at it for other people but had difficulty figuring out how to do my own home and what my own style is. I like so much from various styles that it was hard to pin point me. This book actually helped me to see that I don't have to have one style but can mix styles based on my personal preference and my styling "personality". There is a small fun quiz to help you figure out your styling personality and there are tips throughout the book on how to help style with that personality. I also like that the author very much is against sets, and all about mix and match as long as it looks good. I very much agree with that mindset and it helped me to know that it is okay to do in my own home without looking tacky, cheap or poor.

[Batzul Gerelsaikhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my jobs became furnishing, decorating and planning showroom apartments. Hence, this is one of the books I have purchased to learn more! The author @donnagarlough is a style editor at ElleDecor.com, so I was excited to read her tips, but I ended up realizing most of it I knew (surprisingly and sadly). Probably because I watch many interior design videos on YouTube 😅 during my free time? Nevertheless, I think this is a good coffee table book for anyone who loves to decorate and design rooms. I wish she included more photos instead of repeating same kitchen photos. Interior design is a visual process, hence it needed more visual impact. It lacked the bigger picture photos and too many zoomed in photos.
#BatzulsBooks

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought my first home this past year and knew enough to know that I did not know what I was doing when it came to design. I also didn't have the confidence to make big furniture purchases (because, again I didn't know what I was doing!). I checked out a handful of books and this was by far the most helpful and practical guide to designing for a novice like me. I'm still no expert, but I have a better approach to exploring room concepts, more confidence when I buy, and a better understanding of my style. Highly recommend this book.

[Marge · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nice book, just not my style

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely - -

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. The author has lots of practical advice.

[K Bayko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but would be most helpful for beginners.

[l · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's definitely one of the better home design books

[Jackie]

Seems helpful. I’ll have to look it up again when I have a place design

[Paige Rielly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful, great to flip through too.

[Nancy Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best design book I’ve read so far.

[Meagan Gaetke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok to read. Didn't really help me figure out my style, but it has done helpful info and pictures