Picture Credit –Daily Imprint
There are some books worth spending money on, and others good enough to look at in libraries. This is a book worth buying!
Even though Decorating With Antiques by Caroline Clifton-Mogg, is several years old, (published in 1999), it is far greater than some of the newer 2013 books I have bought this past year. When it comes to spending $40 dollars or more on a new book, you hope to get something great, and lately, I have felt I have been let down at some of the new decorating releases this year, that this book was a pleasant surprise. Used, this book comes to a grand total of about $8 dollars!
Decorating With Antiques contains over 400 color photographs, and I honestly have to say every photograph is of high quality. Many books, you end up spending money on just a handful of photographs that you enjoy, but this book I have found myself pulling something of value out of each photograph.
Here is how Decorating With Antiques is divided:
1. Furniture, subsections – tables, chairs, sofas and daybeds, cupboards, desks and so on. This covers pages 12 to 40.
2. Fabrics– Curtains, soft furnishings, pillows, and wall hangings. This section covers pages 44-52
3.Objects and Ornaments- Ceramics and china, silver and glass, single objects, collections, outdoor ornaments, pictures and frames, and mirrors. This section covers pages 54- 84
4. Lighting– Wall and ceiling lights, lamps. This section covers pages 86-92
5. Rooms – Color and texture, flooring, living rooms, dining rooms, bathrooms and kitchens, bedrooms, hallways and landings, sun rooms. This section covers pages 94 through 162
6. Antique Styles- This special section discusses each individual style- English, European, American, and Eastern.
Below, I scanned in some of the pictures that spoke to me the most, and many just details of a particular shot. With so many photos in this book, this gives you a glimpse of what the book focuses on. For more pictures check out the album in our Swedish French Decorating Group on Facebook
A Review on Amazon:
By B. Lang on January 17, 2001
This is by far my favorite decorating book!! If you have antiques (or just old or quirky things you really love) this book explains how to arrange them with other furnishings in a way that is both beautiful to look at and also very livable. I’m decorating my tiny house, and have been reading a lot of decorating books. This is the ONLY book I’ve come across that explains HOW to decorate. It breaks down this daunting task (it seems daunting to me since I don’t know where to begin) into smaller components that make sense. Each chapter explains how to work with the different elements of your home, such as Furniture, Fabrics, Lighting, but also explains the elements of each room, such as choosing Flooring and Wall Color. It also tells you how to pull together items that don’t necessarily match through use of Color, Texture, Pattern, and through Proportion & Scale (yes, even I was able to understand these concepts because of the direct, yet eloquent wording of the text and great pictures that reinforced the concepts being explained). Some of the pictures had the typical 14-foot ceilings and grand spaces that I will probably never live with, but many others were of small-sized rooms that were beautifully done. Even the 14-foot-ceiling pictures had many, many ideas that I could use because these rooms were decorated by function–most contained small groupings of furniture (i.e., sitting areas, dining areas, etc.) that broke up the large spaces and made them look comfortable and inviting. I just finished reading the book, and I’m looking forward to going back and really study it again. I do feel more confident that I’ll be able to create a home that is lovely and comfortable.
By A Customer on November 26, 2000
In many ways, the pictures in this volume reminds me of interiors shown in books on French style. Rather than trying to create museum-perfect rooms that represent a certain period in time, this book is about combining what you love in ways that are pleasing to the eye and easy to live with. So, if you wish to have a stylish home that mixes antiques with more modern furniture and is accented with collections representative of cultures from around the world, this book is for you!
By John P. Garry (the BEST decorating book, and I have at least 20)
This book explains in so many useful ways how to create a home, that makes you proud of living in it. The photographs are very beautiful and well chosen, and the author explains step by step how to mix colors, patterns and not to forget how to arrange furniture and pictures in order to create a relaxed atmosphere. You will not regret buying this book, it is next to the awesome pictures really worth reading! ENJOY!!!
