Live Happy

by Kortney Wilson, Dave Wilson

From the beloved couple behind Masters of Flip, a warm and inviting guide to making wherever you are feel like home

Home isn’t just a place to sleep and eat. It’s a haven—a place of refuge from the world, of connection with the people (and pets) you hold most dear, of celebration of life’s biggest moments and of recuperation from the exhaustion of the day. Kortney and Dave Wilson have built their careers and a beloved HGTV show, Masters of Flip, around creating houses that people instantly recognize as home. They build colour, joy and family into the design of every house they flip in Nashville, Tennessee, because those priorities are what shape their lives.

Live Happy offers hundreds of fresh, fun ideas for how readers and fans of Masters of Flip can inexpensively and creatively build joy into their lives and their homes. From the reason you should always live close to the ice cream shop to the definitive philosophy for dealing with your junk drawer, it will help you make a new house into a home or inject new life into your forever home. It will go beyond design to personal connections, with stories of how Kortney and Dave found each other, built new dreams together and manage to have a happy marriage (and business!) while raising three amazing children.

Full-colour and heavily illustrated, Live Happy will feature over 200 photos drawn from Kortney and Dave’s family and design projects. Think of it as The Wisdom of Sundays meets Domino with a shot of The Magnolia Story. Through it all, Kortney and Dave’s voices will be in hilarious and heartfelt conversation in the way fans have come to know and love on Masters of Flip.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2019

Reviews

[Rebecca S]

Sadly, I was disappointed with this book. I was really looking forward to this after watching their show. I finished the book and shortly after heard they announced their divorce shortly after. I found much of the book to be fake especially based on the advice they provide to couples.

[Jennifer Frost]

Cute book, with sound house and life advice. Beautiful pictures and stories!

[Stacey]

I always enjoy watching Kortney and Dave on their show 'Masters of Flip'. Their natural banter makes the show flow and the same can be said about their book Live Happy. I just picked this up yesterday at their book signing and I have read most of it already. It is not meant to be a read 'cover to cover' book; however, that is what I have done and it's worked out fine for me :) It is interspersed with tips and tricks to make decorating your home easier, and it lets the reader get to know them as a couple a little more through personal stories (what a lovely proposal!). I have laughed out loud at parts of this (the story of their gig playing at a corporate function comes to mind) and smiled along with many others. Honestly not sure if I would have picked this book up just browsing through the book store (despite my love of their show), but I am so glad that I went to the signing and took the time to explore what this book was about as I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Jennifer]

I'm not sure how to describe this book. There's some decorating advice, some life advice, and then some insights into who Kortney and Dave are. But all in all, it was a lot of fun to read this. Yes, there are a few chapters where I thought this wasn't really for me, but every now and then a nugget surfaced that I thought was worth thinking about and trying to do in my house. What was by far the best part about this book was the personalities behind it. Dave and Kortney write like they interact on the show. They're fun and a fun couple. And this book offers enough fly on the wall moments to satisfy any of their fans. I chuckled a lot and then screen grabbed a ton of quotes to share with friends and family. What a great book! I think it ousted the Joanna memoir for me.

[Cassandra]

Fans of the show Masters of Flip will enjoy this lifestyle book from the stars, Kortney and Dave Wilson. Their personalities definitely come through each page. The photos are beautiful so it's enjoyable to look through but it's a bit light in terms of practical tips and advice.
If you like the show and want more of the Wilson's banter, definitely pick it up; anyone else might find it a bit insubstantial.

[Sarah]

Funny! I agreed with so much. Very fun.

[Bee Ostrowsky]

About half of this seemed to be about lifestyle rather than design, but I enjoyed the humor in the parts that were otherwise useless.

[Carol]

Cute and breezy but not much concrete design info. More about them as a family

[Blanche]

3.75 library book. Something for everybody. A nice book to flip through and find something that speaks to you

[Helen]

Some quick tips on how to make your house a home. I really liked some of the tips given for decorating.

[Joan Gough]

More than just a decorating book. Quite enjoyed it

[Rachel]

This book is like sitting down for a chat with Kortney and Dave Wilson. I found a lot of interesting information in this book and loads of helpful tips. I can see reading this book before designing or even (re)decorating your house would be very helpful. A few tips I picked up: Decorate in odd numbers (3/5/7), when hanging pictures, use a frame that contrasts with your wall colour, don't be afraid of paint - you can always change the colour if you don't like it.
This book is broken down by topics - some only a page long. There doesn't seem to be any specific order to how they are arranged in the book, so you can pick it up and read from wherever - no need to read cover - to - cover. The Wilson's also include personal stories. These two are broken down into short segments, so you it doesn't read like a biography at all.

[Jen K]

I usually grab a few home design books on my way through my public library just so I can thumb through the pages of photos at home, but this grab pleasantly surprised me. This is not just another picture book of pretty rooms. This is a book you read from cover to cover as it reminds you (as indicated on the back cover) to "Love your home. Celebrate your life. Live Happy." I found many useful suggestions in Kortney and Dave's lovely book, and will return to it again in the future for tips on how best to hang my curtains, refinish a table and get my house cleaner faster. They have inspired me to get my home in shape quicker than I was planning and have shared some great ideas as to how to do that (lighting! groups of three! closet organization!). Great book!!

[Jackie]

I really enjoyed this book as it was a mix of humor, life, and design and in one fell swoop.

[Rebecca]

I thought all the quotes were super annoying.