Vern Yip's Vacation at Home: Design Ideas for Creating Your Everyday Getaway

by Vern Yip

Vern Yip, veteran interior designer from Trading Spaces and HGTV--and author of the NYT bestseller Vern Yip's Design Wise-- is back to reveal the design tricks and practices that will give any home a serene, luxury retreat-like feel.

We've all heard that our home should be our sanctuary, but most of us fall short of that ideal. Too often, the reality is that our homes are just another place for stress and work. Now trusted HGTV and TLC interior designer Vern Yip is here to guide us on confidently creating a home where we can instantly feel relaxed and rejuvenated, while also reflecting our individual style and needs.

In this lush, beautifully illustrated book, Vern shares the tips, tricks, and design principles that 5-star resorts and hotels use to help guests get into vacation mode, and shows how we can duplicate that sense of ease and relaxation (while fitting into our personal design flair). He also opens the doors to some of his clients' homes to show you how these key design principles can vary with different styles, tastes, and locations. With Vern's reassuring tone and clear, easy steps, readers can create spaces that can make everyday feel like vacation!

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Interior Design

240 pages, Hardcover

Published August 27, 2019

Reviews

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a blah bland book without much eye candy.

[Heidi Thorsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished it just a few days ago, and already I’ve forgotten his main points. No worries, I *do* remember he’s got a cheat-sheet in the back of the book with them all. Wait, some if it is coming back to me as I write. Get rid of everything you don’t really need, display the things that make you happy (but don’t put them all out at once, rotate them in and out of storage), and keep the utilitarian things handy but in closed storage— drawers, cabinets, closets, or pretty boxes.

The photos of his/clients’ homes strike a balance between minimalism and coziness. I got some ideas for how to approach my next room renovations, so I’m satisfied with the book. Things can be a bit bland for my taste, but they do evoke a sense if calm and order, and his whole “vacation at home” premise is that people like hotel rooms for their calm and order. So evoke the bland calm and order look into your own home, but personalize it with your special art and mementos instead of corporate art prints.

[Mila Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just received my copy of Vacation At Home and I am so impressed. It's really beautiful and it has immediately made me want to "edit" the things in my home to create a more restful and beautiful place. Seriously, I am inspired. There is something about the layout and gorgeous images and even though there is text, it is all super useful and easy to read and it doesn't talk down to the reader. In fact, I like that Vern gives you ideas on how to do this stuff on a budget and how to really honor your own taste and style. One of the ideas is to look at things you have out and to sort them by what really means something to you vs. what is just there because it's there. Then he offers ways to give the things that you love prominence so you enjoy them more.

I've admired Vern Yip on TV and I liked the concept of making my house feel more serene, but I didn't realize the things I was doing that work against that. Anyway, I don't review a lot of books, but I was moved to share this.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

To me Vern Yip's Vern Yip's vacation at home : design ideas for creating your everyday getaway was a little more than disappointing. I thought it would contain thoughts of how to host certain events given a certain decor; however, I discovered that it was based on a Feng shui method used by hotels and resorts in that they do not CLUTTER any space. It does not have a lived in look complete with children and/or grandchildren. The over-sized book does contain a huge amount of photographs so that you can see exactly what is meant. There is also a checklist and a few reminders in the back of the book that may prove helpful to those interested.

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is for people who want to live in a modern, minimalist hotel room-like atmosphere. No, thank you.

While I don't like clutter, I do like comfort and style. This book shows more of today's trend of cold, modern, sterile, white, gray, metal, and glass that seems to appeal to someone. There is some brown in it, but not enough for my taste.

Toward the end of the book, it has full-page photos - with no page numbers, so good luck finding the chapter you want if you're not going through this page after page in order.

Thank goodness for my public library. This only cost me a trip to and from there as well as my time.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though this book seemed pretentious the first time I flipped through it, after I actually read his thought process, I was sold. I loved how examines, Why do most people love walking into a hotel room?, and puts those principles into tips for making your home feel like a hotel - clean uncluttered (though not minimalistic) easy to walk through, easy to maintain, fresh, etc. Combine with this Marie Kondo and it's a great method /thinking to make your home as amazing as walking into a hotel room!

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which Vern Yip denies being a minimalist, while claiming that a room full of chill gray hard surfaces is "warm".

The big pro tip here is to hide everything behind a clean surface. Get a smooth box for your remote control, put your coffee maker in the cabinet. Become the kind of person who irons sheets and vacuums twice a day.

Nice fantasy, even less practical than most decorating books.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn’t say that these solutions are accessible to most of us, but I enjoyed the design eye-candy. Read my full review here.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I loved this book because I love Vern, but there wasn't enough cozy for me. I did love some of Vern's carriage house the most, but I would rather see lived in homes than the sterile perfection in this book. I guess I do't want my home to look like a hotel room.

[Pía López Copetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this book as an introduction to Interior Design. Concise, with good examples and take-away tips for making your next project emulate the vacation hotel feeling

[Kris Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t get enough photos of Vern and his husband and kids. I think he and I share a love for the color orange.

[OhWell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tips but too much repetition, even if you are warned about it from the start. The showcased designs don't really work for me. The resorts I like best give you a warmer feeling.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always loved him as a designer. The book it's self is designed amazing. like getting to know more about Vern and his family.

Some of his tips I will even use.

[Pamela Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty pictures, but I find the look too sterile. I don't want to live in a hotel room.

[Mary Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely photos and nice book design. For fans of the author, minimalist design and those who want to achieve an upscale hotel look.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s easy to make your home feel “vacation” when your windows provide a backdrop of ocean, desert mountain or alpine resort.