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Decorate: 1,000 Design Ideas for Every Room in Your Home
In Decorate , the world's top designers and leading decor experts including Kelly Wearstler, Amy Butler, Jonathan Adler, and many others come together to share over 1,000 professional tips, ideas, and solutions for every room and every budget. Written and compiled by Holly Becker, founder of the hugely popular design blog Decor8, and Joanna Copestick, acclaimed lifestyle writer, this intensive home dcor program combines beautiful inspiration with nuts-and-bolts how-to for stunning results. More than 500 gorgeous color photographs provide motivation while line illustrations, checklists, shortcuts, and floor plans make it easy to get started. For those looking to make the most of their home and create stylish interiors, Decorate is the start-to-finish resource to keep on the bookshelf for years to come.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2011
234 people are currently reading
1239 people want to read
About the author
Holly Becker
12 books9 followersAuthor of decor8blog.com and Wall Street Journal Best Seller, "Decorate" 1,000 Professional Ideas For Every Room In Your Home," published by Chronicle Books."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
January 4, 2019
Solid book of basics with some good ideas, but not very many interesting ones. You have to plough through pages of "put a rug down!" and "maybe put your good china where it won't be broken" before you get to anything remotely useful.
Also, I wished they showcased more styles. Because I found a lot of those homes lovely and impeccably styled and really boring. So much white, so much Scandi, so modern.
It also showcases not that many apartments? Like it was the same few people’s apartments over and over, which I get for budget reasons, but I could've done with more variation.
Every once in a while, it'd get offputtingly classist/snobby - “If you want a statement piece, it should be an expensive one, otherwise the statement you are making is ‘I can’t afford anything better’.” Really?
It's also got a lot of advice like "a good idea for awkward or non standard spaces is to commission a carpenter to make storage cupboards to your own specifications!" or “when there is space to do so, false walls are a great idea for creating different zones of activity in bathrooms.” Bro, I live in a small apartment I just wanna make it a small fancy apartment pls
I'm not sure how much of this is because I read the ebook, but the formatting seemed way off. There were typos and weird capitalizations everywhere and the pictures didn’t always clearly illustrate the design descriptions. Like in one writeup, columns of clothes storage are mentioned when literally all we see is the bed.
My main problem with this and every design thing I read is that I need them to talk my language, which means they stop pushing this mid century modern thing and telling us to decorate with vases or whatever, and instead have style categories like “enigmatic courtesan with a heart of gold and a lethal secret” or "bohemian aunt who has the best vinyl collection you've ever seen and might actually be a hedge witch."
Also, I wished they showcased more styles. Because I found a lot of those homes lovely and impeccably styled and really boring. So much white, so much Scandi, so modern.
It also showcases not that many apartments? Like it was the same few people’s apartments over and over, which I get for budget reasons, but I could've done with more variation.
Every once in a while, it'd get offputtingly classist/snobby - “If you want a statement piece, it should be an expensive one, otherwise the statement you are making is ‘I can’t afford anything better’.” Really?
It's also got a lot of advice like "a good idea for awkward or non standard spaces is to commission a carpenter to make storage cupboards to your own specifications!" or “when there is space to do so, false walls are a great idea for creating different zones of activity in bathrooms.” Bro, I live in a small apartment I just wanna make it a small fancy apartment pls
I'm not sure how much of this is because I read the ebook, but the formatting seemed way off. There were typos and weird capitalizations everywhere and the pictures didn’t always clearly illustrate the design descriptions. Like in one writeup, columns of clothes storage are mentioned when literally all we see is the bed.
My main problem with this and every design thing I read is that I need them to talk my language, which means they stop pushing this mid century modern thing and telling us to decorate with vases or whatever, and instead have style categories like “enigmatic courtesan with a heart of gold and a lethal secret” or "bohemian aunt who has the best vinyl collection you've ever seen and might actually be a hedge witch."
June 21, 2020
Some good content let down by dreadful quality control
Put simply, this book has some good ideas and material but is hands down The Worst Kindle Book I have ever read. I haven’t perused a hard-copy version so I don’t know if it’s just a gigantic design cock-up, but this version at least should never have been made available to the public to buy. Typographic errors, almost all the quotes have their lines overlaying one another (not in a cool way) rendering them totally illegible, there’s a lot of tiny type but you can’t zoom in on any of it (e.g. the stockists section at the end is basically unusable) and all the layout maps of spaces have been rendered at such low resolution that between the blurriness, tiny type, lack of zoom and low contrast colour choice, they are almost all illegible. That aside, I found the sections focused on different design styles to be interesting and useful - I’m planning on getting my partner to use them to say what he feels best encapsulates what he likes because I feel we often fall into an abyss of eclectic/mid-century modern on my side and dark-wood man-cave on his (not the book’s terms!) and I feel the approach to styles this book takes might be helpful in my understanding what he will and won’t like so we can reach a happy compromise. The bits I could read were pretty good (although the term ‘ringing the changes’ in this context makes me twitch - it’s interior design, not bell-ringing, people!) and I did read it all the way through, but the vast number of layout errors made it a bit of a trial. That said, I downloaded this Kindle book for free on Amazon’s lockdown giveaway at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while I’d have got more joy out of it it the layout problems hadn’t been there, and I’d have been hugely pissed off if I’d paid for it, I’m not sorry to add it to my collection.
Oh, and an addition - whose ridiculous idea was it to have separate sections for “girl’s room” and “boy’s room” instead of just one “children’s rooms” section?? That actually made me quite angry. Why should sleepovers be solely a girl thing? Why is her bedroom pink and his needs ‘masculine’ touches? “Boys tend to make use of desks [...] more than girls” WTF?? There’s a general “children’s rooms” page and another spread for children’s bedrooms designed to grow up with them (points for that one) but the gendered examples are unnecessary, archaic and actually I found them slightly offensive in a book this modern (2011)
Put simply, this book has some good ideas and material but is hands down The Worst Kindle Book I have ever read. I haven’t perused a hard-copy version so I don’t know if it’s just a gigantic design cock-up, but this version at least should never have been made available to the public to buy. Typographic errors, almost all the quotes have their lines overlaying one another (not in a cool way) rendering them totally illegible, there’s a lot of tiny type but you can’t zoom in on any of it (e.g. the stockists section at the end is basically unusable) and all the layout maps of spaces have been rendered at such low resolution that between the blurriness, tiny type, lack of zoom and low contrast colour choice, they are almost all illegible. That aside, I found the sections focused on different design styles to be interesting and useful - I’m planning on getting my partner to use them to say what he feels best encapsulates what he likes because I feel we often fall into an abyss of eclectic/mid-century modern on my side and dark-wood man-cave on his (not the book’s terms!) and I feel the approach to styles this book takes might be helpful in my understanding what he will and won’t like so we can reach a happy compromise. The bits I could read were pretty good (although the term ‘ringing the changes’ in this context makes me twitch - it’s interior design, not bell-ringing, people!) and I did read it all the way through, but the vast number of layout errors made it a bit of a trial. That said, I downloaded this Kindle book for free on Amazon’s lockdown giveaway at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while I’d have got more joy out of it it the layout problems hadn’t been there, and I’d have been hugely pissed off if I’d paid for it, I’m not sorry to add it to my collection.
Oh, and an addition - whose ridiculous idea was it to have separate sections for “girl’s room” and “boy’s room” instead of just one “children’s rooms” section?? That actually made me quite angry. Why should sleepovers be solely a girl thing? Why is her bedroom pink and his needs ‘masculine’ touches? “Boys tend to make use of desks [...] more than girls” WTF?? There’s a general “children’s rooms” page and another spread for children’s bedrooms designed to grow up with them (points for that one) but the gendered examples are unnecessary, archaic and actually I found them slightly offensive in a book this modern (2011)
November 24, 2019
I think the base knowledge provided here is sound. If you do not prefer the ‘modern, white, Scandi’ look in examples then I would say the challenge of the book is to take this base design knowledge & apply it to your style. Nowhere in here did it say to paint your walls white and decorate with antique rulers. A true design book is about knowing the rules and how to follow and when to break them. If you only need inspiration from photo images about how to decorate, I would suggest a book with a cover that more fits your style. I was very pleased with this book because of the design direction within it, often times you just get magazine spreads of photos that give you nothing else to go on. For interior design I can never learn enough and enjoyed learning in this book!
April 26, 2011
My husband and I are just about to buy our first home. I know what my style is, but I really don't have a clue when it comes to decorating. Cut to this book arriving at my front door via amazon. I spent over an hour one night going through the book page by page. I loved it (as I love the Decor8 blog that the author of this book started), and got some great decorating/paint ideas. I plan on referring to the book often in the next while as we try to decorate the rooms in our home. Also, it will make an awesome coffee table book.
August 15, 2011
Maybe it's because I look at a lot of interior design and inspiration blogs, but there wasn't much in this book that I hadn't already seen elsewhere. I was really disappointed.
February 19, 2024
A lot of white. They rarely take their own advice on the pages, so its hard to remember — or find — their best ideas. Rooms look very large; either that or are sparsely populated. It's hard to say. Colors are rarely identified, so if you see that cool room, what was it? Dunno. On page 108 we finally get some colored rooms -- of course no paint colour names and the items are just one offs, so who knows how it looks in a room. One doesn't decorate like that. They like "open kitchens." I don't recommend them. Lots of dirt and grease on the pots and glasses and dishes, so you have to wash everything before you use it. And that seems to be the theme for this book -- highly impractical. Some nice trinkets on the pages, but overall? Kinda dull. Finally, around 210 we get to tiles and here we see that this book is OLD -- no shiplapping; no tin ceiling tiles. Good library storage ideas but no hobby rooms, i.e. cooking, model making, etc. Don't these people do anything besides work and party?
Finally, I'm glad I paid a 1.00 for this.
Finally, I'm glad I paid a 1.00 for this.
July 28, 2018
Big, thick book with abundant photographs, floor plan sketches, instructional sidebars, and about a zillion quotations from notable design voices. There are lots of pretty interiors, of course, most all perfectly staged and totally devoid of human presence. So, many of these spaces don't really look lived in, I don't see evidence of pets much less children, or messy offices for those of us who work at home or have a side hustle or clutter-y hobby. I think many of the spaces are designers' homes. This is a good inspiration book, better still if you have a bunch of money for stuff and cleaners.
November 30, 2018
This book is a crash course in interior design: outlining the basics, exploring examples and encouraging readers to expand beyond their comfort zones to make their spaces their own. I was inspired after reading it and started tackling rooms and projects that I had been stuck from finishing. The transcription of the electronic version was incorrect in many places, but that didn't take away from the message.
December 10, 2019
A good solid coffee table book that's nice to flick through with plenty of photos as you'd expect to illustrate the text. The overall style is very much clean and contemporary which I like, however, I didn't find it as inspiring as I'd hoped as many of the ideas are quite basic - there are definitely much better interior design/styling books out there.
May 28, 2020
I couldn't read this on my Kindle. Even on my laptop with 25" monitor attached I couldn't read all the print but could see the photos.
The majority of photos were of rooms that were quite cluttered with a very eclectic mix of items. They weren't really to my taste in interior decor so not the best book for me unfortunately.
The majority of photos were of rooms that were quite cluttered with a very eclectic mix of items. They weren't really to my taste in interior decor so not the best book for me unfortunately.
April 5, 2018
This book definitely had a specific style of decorating which was not necessarily my forte. The style was more eclectic, Swedish, and a bit cluttered for me. However, there were some good basic design principles throughout (many that you can learn while reading decorating sites online).
January 13, 2018
Too skewed toward modern styled furniture and interiors, this book did not impress me. It seemed I had read or seen many of the decorating ideas elsewhere.
March 21, 2018
Showed a lot of different styles, which was nice. Good book, if a little basic.
May 13, 2018
It’s ok- too many ideas and not presented clearly. Overwhelming amount of simple solutions that water down the unique or helpful tips.
June 2, 2020
Some nice ideas.
September 2, 2020
Lives up to its billing. Not an instruction manual, but definitely at least 1000 ideas. This is a good one for a step above a lookbook.
September 1, 2021
My house is now filled with containers.
August 19, 2023
I feel like there are good ideas in here and the book is easy to read. The glaring misspelled words were a bit distracting, not to mention grammatical errors.
May 24, 2025
Beautifully arranged with great advice from designers. More than pretty pictures.
January 31, 2017
eye candy
November 14, 2021
Some lovely photos, but it had a heavier emphasis on eclectic and modern, and less on traditional, than I was expecting.
August 28, 2011
I love Holly's blog Decor8 and I'm enjoying this book too. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first got it, I didn't know quite where to start; there's just so much to absorb and admire. Decorate is choke-ful of information, ideas and resources. It covers a range of style although it leans a little toward the country and vintage, shabby chic look.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
September 30, 2011
I love Holly's blog Decor8 and I'm enjoying this book too. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first got it, I didn't know quite where to start; there's just so much to absorb and admire. Decorate is choke-ful of information, ideas and resources. It covers a range of style although it leans a little toward the country and vintage, shabby chic look.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
September 30, 2011
I love Holly's blog Decor8 and I'm enjoying this book too. I was a bit overwhelmed when I first got it, I didn't know quite where to start; there's just so much to absorb and admire. Decorate is choke-ful of information, ideas and resources. It covers a range of style although it leans a little toward the country and vintage, shabby chic look.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
I liked: the fountain of ideas and tips; the great photos and the use of visuals to explain concepts and ideas; the quotes on every facing page from designers, writers and other professionals; the house tours. The book makes interior decorating accessible to anyone and is filled with suggestions that are DIY-able and easy to realize in scope and budget.
There's so much in this book it's pretty easy to get lost in all that eye candy. But the book is divided into 4 sections (Space Matters; Setting Your Style; Room by Room; Attention to Detail) that helps you navigate this library of ideas and formulate your own creative plans.
Unless you're very specific about which style you like and it's not represented here, I think most readers will be able to take away at least a few things from this book. Excellent value for money.
September 16, 2011
This book is fantastic and I can't recommend it enough! A lot of thought went into it and you can tell. What I like best:
* Well-considered text. This is the first decorating book where I have actually been compelled to read every word; after reading every word, I'm also glad I did!
* Great layout of content. Chapters are thoughtfully and logically organized. The last chapter is like the cherry on top and even the resource guide was set up in a reader-friendly format...and yes, you actually want to read through that as well!
* quotes from real people sprinkled through the book give each page an extra hint of life while providing lots of take-away ideas.
* Practicality. Bottom line? I will USE this book and I will USE what I learned from this book. It's hard to think of a person who won't learn from this book and treat it as a resource.
The only thing I would change is what feels like an over-representation of Jonathan Adler's home. While there is clearly a lot of take-away from his home, it would have been nicer to maybe have some other homes illustrate a few of those points. Still, a very minor complaint in light of the overall quality of this book. Good job!
* Well-considered text. This is the first decorating book where I have actually been compelled to read every word; after reading every word, I'm also glad I did!
* Great layout of content. Chapters are thoughtfully and logically organized. The last chapter is like the cherry on top and even the resource guide was set up in a reader-friendly format...and yes, you actually want to read through that as well!
* quotes from real people sprinkled through the book give each page an extra hint of life while providing lots of take-away ideas.
* Practicality. Bottom line? I will USE this book and I will USE what I learned from this book. It's hard to think of a person who won't learn from this book and treat it as a resource.
The only thing I would change is what feels like an over-representation of Jonathan Adler's home. While there is clearly a lot of take-away from his home, it would have been nicer to maybe have some other homes illustrate a few of those points. Still, a very minor complaint in light of the overall quality of this book. Good job!
November 16, 2011
Lots of photographs and bites of decorator advice ranked this as my favorite decorating book: "Rather than concentrating on one trademark look or a particular design aesthetic, we have concentrated on ideas--more than one thousand of them--to provide fresh insight into how you can transform your home." One of interiors shown in the book included those of my favorite fabric designer, Amy Butler, who combines Modern Style and Floral so tastefully. I also liked the quirky colored glass and ceramics in Jonathan Adler's living spaces. I noticed a lot of white rooms, and there's even a section entitled "White Space Thinking," which further jells my ruminations and longings to incorporate more white and gray or natural wood furnishings for a more serene space. However, I also acquire colorful glass and ceramics in blues, aquas and greens as well being drawn to flea market-inspired objects like you would find at Anthropologie. But no matter--there's "Eclectic Style" to help to make room-by-room living spaces that are intensely personal.
July 26, 2013
Decorate is a compilation of advice, quotes and pictures from well known designers and bloggers. It has delicious glossy pages and is jam packed full of gorgeous pictures and quotes like this one from my main swoon Nate Berkus.
What I like most about this book is that it isn't just a book about beautifully styled and staged rooms but they seem to be actual lived in rooms. It also explains step by step how to achieve each look so you can re-create it in your own home. I especially love the pages on arranging mirrors and frames this is a look I really want to have in my home. There's also a sweet section on arranging flowers which will have me never just popping the whole bunch in a vase again.
This book is a gorgeous read full of inspiring pictures and is a must for any home lovers bookcase.
What I like most about this book is that it isn't just a book about beautifully styled and staged rooms but they seem to be actual lived in rooms. It also explains step by step how to achieve each look so you can re-create it in your own home. I especially love the pages on arranging mirrors and frames this is a look I really want to have in my home. There's also a sweet section on arranging flowers which will have me never just popping the whole bunch in a vase again.
This book is a gorgeous read full of inspiring pictures and is a must for any home lovers bookcase.
February 28, 2013
This review is for the e-book version that I checked out of the library. I don't know if the print version has the same problem, but the book was full of errors. It was constant. A single sentence could have two or three. If you want to read this book, I would get the print edition, which I really hope can't be as full of errors.
I was not too satisfied with the book even looking past the errors. While the book was full of pictures, they did not seem to be taken at many different homes. Many of the pictures were of the same room, but shot from slightly different angles and repeated many times throughout the book. The range of styles was not very impressive. Even ignoring that a lot of the pictures were taken at the same places, there just was not a lot of variation.
I was not too satisfied with the book even looking past the errors. While the book was full of pictures, they did not seem to be taken at many different homes. Many of the pictures were of the same room, but shot from slightly different angles and repeated many times throughout the book. The range of styles was not very impressive. Even ignoring that a lot of the pictures were taken at the same places, there just was not a lot of variation.
October 12, 2013
Better than average. Lots of good ideas and inspiration, a reasonable range of styles. The book did not seem too full of itself, or make ridiculous claims about how some 2k objet d'art is a 'must have' (the number of shelter mags and books that do this is astounding to me). Other things I liked: Lots of good ideas on how to get started, achievable ideas that don't have to cost a small fortune, and it doesn't try to claim any decorating 'rules' or obnoxious do/don't lists (which is refreshing). Yes, there were some pictures that had items that cost more than a year's rent in this book, but I did think the ideas it put forth would be doable in the not-crazy-overthetop price range.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews