Elegant and Easy Rooms

by Dylan Landis

Dylan Landis has an inside track with the decorating pros. Elegant and Easy Rooms will tell you their opinions on everything from how to arrange furniture in comfortable and imaginative ways to how to choose a color to create a certain mood or period (in the 1940's a particular shade of yellow was the most popular). The chapters Paint and Color, Walls, Windows, Problem Rooms--Great Solutions, Home Furnishings, The Art of Display, and Telling Details. There will also be an incredibly useful and valuable appendix listing all the best mail order resources for everyone's decorating needs. It will be illustrated with charming, elegant black and white drawings that will further entice you to upgrade your decor.

Genres: Interior Design, Nonfiction

240 pages, Unbound

First published September 8, 1997

About the author

Dylan Landis is the author of the novel Rainey Royal, a New York Times Editors' Choice, and the linked story collection Normal People Don't Live Like This. She has won an O. Henry Award and published fiction in Bomb, Tin House and Best American Nonrequired Reading. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good simple, elegant ideas for overall home, though I craved so much more. Good for general ideas and how to recognize to get ideas for space.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of brief tips on interior decorating culled from numerous professional designers. It's written in a concise matter, with a header followed by a brief paragraph with a succinct tip. It's well-organized, and I found myself highlighting a lot of tips.
Published in 1997, a lot of the resources mentioned in this book are outdated. Though it's not that old of a book, it pre-dates internet shopping, and half of the companies in the appendix have gone out of business, or have significantly reduced their presence (remember Laura Ashley? Bombay Company?)
Still, there is a lot of classic design information here. In fact, I was surprised that the information didn't feel more dated. There were a few things that have gone out of style--stenciling and wallpaper, for example. And the author seems to have a fetish for beveled glass on tabletops. But it's still a good and thought-provoking read.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Practical, but not very inspiring.

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides ideas to decorate your home simply.