Make Life Beautiful

by Syd McGee, Shea McGee

Now a NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, Make Life Beautiful is the new autobiography from Syd and Shea McGee, the stars of the Netflix hit series Dream Home Makeover. This book offers the fans of Syd and Shea McGee a new and intimate look into how they built their business. 

For the one million-plus followers who turn to Syd and Shea McGee for advice on building a beautiful home and life, Make Life Beautiful is a behind-the-scenes look into how the couple transformed Shea’s small room of fabric samples and big dream of becoming a designer into one of the most successful and fastest-growing interior design businesses in the country.

Both long-time and new fans will not only gain insight into how the McGees built such a successful company but also be inspired to apply design principles to their lives. Inspirational topics to help readers build an authentic life include


Renovate your life
Visualize the outcome
Listen to your gut
Elevate the everyday
Want to live the best version of your life? Read this book to follow Syd and Shea’s lead and learn how to Make Life Beautiful.

This is an essential book for:


Entrepreneurs
Interior Designers
Working Parents
Couples Building Family and Career
Self-Starters
and Anyone Chasing Their Dreams
New York Times Bestseller / Wall Street Journal Bestseller / USA Today Bestseller / Publishers Weekly Bestseller

Praise for Make Life Beautiful:

"Make Life Beautiful is a necessary reminder there is inherent beauty and warmth in all moments. Shea and Syd invite us into endearing conversations filled with wit, humor, creativity and an honesty shining light on the couples beautiful focal points." - Alyssa Rosenheck, interiors and architectural photographer, stylist, and author of the New Southern Style

“In a world of picture perfect, Syd & Shea are a much needed breath of fresh air. It takes courage to admit that things aren’t always perfect. I applaud them for authentically sharing their story with the world.” - Mikel Welch, interior designer, lifestyle expert, and TV show host

"Make Life Beautiful is raw, honest and motivating. A captivating read as Shea & Syd navigate us through the early days of their relationship, family and growing business. A form of a modern day romance success story. I enjoyed reading about their compelling journey that shaped their design empire we know as Studio McGee. Truly inspiring in every way.” - Monika Hibbs, Founder and Creative Director of Monika Hibbs and author of Gather at Home

"There’s nothing more beautiful than taking a leap and devoting your life and your heart and your work to helping other people enjoy beauty in their own homes. We’ve all come to know and love and yearn for the Studio McGee look but hearing the humble “how's” behind the empire is even more moving and motivating. This isn’t about just making your home beautiful—this is about making your LIFE beautiful. Shea and Syd are talented (obviously) but they’re also dreamers and supporters and risk-takers and pioneers and somehow, still completely down-to-earth. My heart is warm and I’m now taking notes on more than just mixing patterns.” - Julia Marcum, Co-Founder of Chris Loves Julia, Good Influnce_r and Proper Tee

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Design, Biography, Business, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 27, 2020

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

My two star review does not reflect the value of the book. It was just two stars (Goodreads says two stars means "okay") for me personally. This was my fault for not reading the description more carefully. I expected this book from supposedly famous home designers Syd and Shea McGee to be about home design, but it is not. There are no photographs in the book, and it didn't really seem to be about making life beautiful except for the authors' lives. Instead, it is part love story/memoir, part inspirational self-help/build-your-business guide. The authors seem like lovely people but I was not familiar with them or their supposedly super successful business and I wasn't really driven to read about how they met and built their family and business.

Those who are fans of the couple and their style or who are enjoy stories of how entrepreneurs built their businesses and "brands" will surely enjoy it a great deal.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Janssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this - so interesting and I'm such a fan of them.

[Lorilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't even know about the McGee's until I watched their show, Dream Home Makeover, on Netflix. I like Shea's style, and of course the banter between Shea and Syd is pretty funny.

Like many other reviewers have said, this isn't a design book with lots of glossy pictures and how-to moments. It's more of a memoir of Syd and Shea's relationship, how they met and started a family, and how they eventually began working together to create an interior design company. Both Syd and Shea are likable, and I appreciate how honest they are about the highs and lows of marriage and running a small business.

Overall, this is an interesting book...but I still can't wait for them to publish a big ol' pretty book of design ideas and photos.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

Eh, not for me. A he said-she said conversation between husband and wife about how they created their life together. Blah, blah, blah. I stopped reading the moment I thought to myself, “who cares?”
Congrats to them on their successes but they just are not as interesting as they want you to believe.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a pleasure to get to know Shea and Syd McGee in their heartwarming memoir, MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL.

This delightful couple reveals how they met, launched and grew a family AND their famous design business, Studio McGee, which attracts 1.2 million followers on Instagram. They share success principles, too, that you can apply to your own life.

They remind me of another famous design couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, who also started small and grew an empire.

MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL is missing one element: Photos of the McGee’s gorgeous design projects, which would add beauty and luster to their story.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this engaging book to Studio McGee fans, interior design buffs, and entrepreneurs who want to achieve success in the age of social media.

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 27 Oct 2020

Thanks to the authors, Harper Horizon, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#MakeLifeBeautiful #NetGalley

[Mary Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was certainly interesting, but it’s not a “how-to” book by any means. It’s more about how they built Studio McGee. As I have background in retail and consumer PR, I found the business strategy interesting - but you aren’t going to get all the pics and tips you would in a standard design book. That being said, they do have a modern approach on business and you could argue that you get all of that design imagery we’ve come to expect from design books on Instagram, their blog or even the Netflix show.

[Maxine Smitiuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loveeeee Shea and Syd so much! This book is amazing, I’ve followed Shea on Instagram for a long time and her recent breakout success is so amazing! Loved reading about their early days of meetings and growing their business. If you like interior design, I highly recommend this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Camille Maio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Studio McGee has long been my favorite place to dream about decorating. Their aesthetic of combining light colors with natural finishes is exactly what is in my heart. So upon learning that the married founders had written a book, I was eager to read it.

I thought it would be about design, but in fact - even better - it is about love, marriage, family, and the highs and lows of starting and running a business. Understanding their struggle and journey makes me appreciate what they've accomplished even more.

I highly recommend their book and their Netflix series and only wish I could fly Shea out to redo my home!

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tyckte inte om den i början men oj så bra och inspererande den blev! Vill ge mer än 5 stjärnor!

[Su · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. I thought it would be LOADED with pictures of their "rooms", homes they've designed, etc. There was not a single picture in the book. I'm sure the McGees are fine people and I enjoyed their Netflix show but I'm not invested enough or curious enough about them as people to want to only read about them and their business and methods without at least some photos to illustrate their work/inspiration/methodology. I'm sure many people will enjoy this book but it wasn't what I wanted or expected.

[Cathy Sites · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't watch a lot of TV, so I don't even know who these people are. I was expecting a design book, and this isn't it...it is a collection of "dear diary" entries that journal the couples experience in starting a business from the ground up. From idea, to customers, to employees, to websites, to logistics. I didn't get a lot out of it, but maybe someone who follows and is a starstruck by this couple's work would enjoy it more.

[Catherine Riviera · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super inspiring and wonderful account of failure and success. A soared through this in one day!

[Neile B · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate a book like this. If you follow them on social media or HGTV, then you will enjoy their backstory.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining if you rather read than watch them on Netflix.

[Zvezda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the honest and authentic recollection of how Shea and Syd McGee built their business. I wish there were photos to accompany the story. Design is such a visual business (and so is their story), I wish we had photos of their first apartment, design projects, warehouses, etc. to go along with the journey.

[Monica Lunardelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not necessarily a fan who has been following Studio McGee on Instagram for years, but I still really enjoyed reading this book! I don't understand some of the reviews saying they're disappointed because this is not a coffee table book or because they wanted a step-by-step business book on how to be successful. To me, the book fulfilled the premise: it's about the journey of a couple in building their successful business and what they learned in the way.

It is a quick and well written read. I thought the format "he said, she said" would bug me, but I think their complementing views on situations helped me better visualize what was going on. I also admire their grit and their hard choices, how candid they are about some of the tough situations, and the secondary story of real love, trust, and spouse support. It gave me lots of ideas, and I think it works well as a business case.

What I wish is that they would have included pictures, just like many memoirs do. She mentions a lot of specific projects, and I would have appreciated seeing the pictures there instead of a lengthy description (that I kind of skipped), which resulted in me having to Google the projects. It would have been nice to see pictures of their first home, the nursery, their rental in SLC, etc.

Overall, I recommend this book.

[Sirenna Patapis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Shea McGee and her beautiful designs that she creates and shares on Instagram. Even her new show, Dream Home Make Over on Netflix is something that I truly enjoy watching. However, even being such a fan of her and her design work this book was just ok to me.

What I didn't like about it:

The book switches every paragraph between Shea and her husband Syd's perspective. Personally, this made it very choppy and repetitive for me and would have loved if the book was all in one person's perspective. Even switching from chapter to chapter would have flowed a lot better.

Some of the info about their life was interesting and new to me but a majority of the book was things you already learned and knew about them if you watched their show on Netflix.

I'm not sure what the point of the book was- it didn't really provide design tips and while I think their goal was to inspire people on how they started their business it didn't feel like they provided real information on that to actually give people tips on how to do that either. The tone often felt like they were bragging about themselves which annoyed me.

All in all, I don't think you'd be missing out if you skipped out on this book and just watched their show on Netlfix instead.

[Melissa Borsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story about how Syd and Shea became partners in life and ultimately in business as well. A fun look into this very successful design team. I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Courtney Birkbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, if you like Magnolia, you'll like this book! This is an amazing book. I love learning about their lives, and how they got to where they're at.

It's real. It's down to earth. It's not your typical "coffee table" book. No pictures, but a beautiful recounting of their life, and how they do life, how they climbed out of debt and. how their journey has led them to where they're at.

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the chances of me ever starting a business are extremely remote, I still enjoyed learning from the McGee's about their beginnings, struggles, solutions and growth. I am in awe at their can-do never give up attitude and their belief that there is always another better way. A lot of their lessons can be applied to our personal lives.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography both mcgee & co and its founders. This kind of story is that startup companies need to encourage themself to keep going, but on other side knew the risks (though in this story the risks taken was successful).

[Mel Muscarolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. An easy read and simple book. More interesting for me as I love their style, their website and shop and have followed them as their business has grown. Good business decisions! Perhaps the next book can be a more traditional coffee table book of their lovely designs.

[Tasneem Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve loved this couple and Shae’s design aesthetic ever since binging their show on Netflix a few months back. It was so interesting to read about how they formed their business and the way they persevered as business and life partners. Really enjoyed this!

[Chelsea Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved getting to know them better behind the scenes! I’ve followed them on Instagram for years so it was fun to hear more of their story. Also fun to get the details on how it feels to run a start-up!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning people’s stories and backgrounds so I found this very enjoyable learning the in’s and out’s of the McGee’s start, their family and business. Fun design tips and life lessons all mingled throughout made for a great read!

[Akona · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I feel stupid for thinking this book from interior decorators was a home decor book. I want my money back🥺.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Katie Sais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love their story. I loved all the detailed moments, good and bad, of building Studio McGee.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable - mostly an auto biography of their business

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read and really fun for someone growing a business with a message that every fail leads to success at some point and to never give up