Use What You Have Decorating : Transform Your Home in One Hour With Ten Simple Design Principles -- Using the Space You Have, the Things You Like, the Budget You Choose

Among the many tips and guidelines, Ward starts with the top 10 decorating mistakes that professionals all know about, but that anyone can recognize and fix. She covers diagnosing problems that jar the eyes, offers suggestions on items to banish and others to borrow from elsewhere in the home to create more visual appeal, talks about how to shop for furniture that will work with what you already own, offers tips for new homeowners and people just starting out to make older furniture work in new spaces, and covers the kinds of dramatic improvements possible through the use of the right artwork, accessories, and lighting. This is a great gift book for newlyweds, new homeowners, or anyone interested in creative, lively home decorating without breaking the bank. --Mark A. Hetts

This book does not focus on interior decorating as a whole or the components that are traditionally addressed in interior decorating books(picking a style, a color theme, window treatments, picking furniture and accessories). This book concentrates on the arranging portion of decorating. The book does not contain color photos (However, I did not find that to be an issue and actually found black and white to be helpful in this case because it didn't distract me from the topics). If you are looking for a book to guide you through the overall decorating process, you will be disappointment with this book. Check out Better Homes and Gardens New Decorating Book for a complete book on interior decorating. However, if you are looking for a book to help you arrange your stuff, then you will be absolutely thrilled with this book and the results you produce.


The Answer to "Where Do I Start?"   January 25, 2000
Carolyn Cooper-Smith (Alexandria, VA)
36 out of 36 found this review helpful

The genius of this book is that it gives you a firm foundation for any decorating you want to do, and you can do it WITHOUT SPENDING ANY MONEY! This book is the first and last word on furniture arrangement for non-professionals, and it doesn't tell you to buy new furniture before you start. This is not a comprehensive book on the whole decorating/design process, but it does teach by realistic example, it's thorough, and it's easy to understand. No, there are not a lot of color pictures, but color is not the point of this book. The photographs feature the sort of furniture and rooms that most of us are dealing with, rather than fantasy rooms that few of us can afford. I found it very helpful to see the bare bones without having every detail planned out for me. I do wish the author had ventured beyond the living room--perhaps most people request a re-design of their public rooms. However, what I learned certainly helped me to plan other spaces in my new house. If she ever does a book on other rooms of the home, I'd stand in line to buy it. I agree that some of her ideas are arbitrary, and I don't buy all of them. I have to admit, however, that removing the photographs and odd objects from our bookshelves considerably improved their appearance. This book is a wonderful companion to other decorating books you may all ready have or plan to buy. And it may save you a lot of money!


The Most Useful Decorating Book I Own   January 10, 2002
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

I have dozens of decorating books. Most of them feature a particular style or document the decorating characteristics of a foreign country. These books are beautiful and fun to read. Unfortunately they have not been very helpful in decorating my own Manhattan shoebox apartment.

This book, however, is a noteable exception. The pictures are all black and white, and some of them are slightly fuzzy. But the text is very clear. I have been trying for at least a decade to get my furniture arranged correctly. It is now perfect, thanks to the very simple instructions in this book. And my art is hung correctly, my lighting is both functional and attractive, and I am comfortable in my own home. When people come to visit for the first time, they frequently say, "Wow! Who decorated this place?" All the credit goes to Lauri Ward, who has addressed a real need.

If you want to look at pretty pictures, this is not the book for you. But if you want to carefully analyse your rooms and figure out how to make them look wonderful using mainly items you already own, this is the book for you.


Really useful   September 26, 2000
23 out of 23 found this review helpful

What I like about this book is that I can apply it right away and make a big difference in my day-to-day life without repainting, buying new stuff (that I wouldn't know what to do with, anyway) or starting from scratch. I just redid my living room and can't believe it's the same place. Her ideas are simple but may take a little playing with to get it right--I tried 2 or 3 versions until it all popped into place. Now it's my turn to fine tune things with my artwork and collections, but already things are both more cozy and spacious, adult yet personalized -- and give me a groundwork from which to work. Once things are clarified, it's easy to know exactly what I need (if anything) to make the room work best. I love books on interior design, but this is the first one I have been able to apply instead of just dream about.


I CAN DO THIS!   December 12, 2001
Suz54 (CA United States)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

Finally, a book for those of us who are "decorating challenged". What it does really well is show how to arrange furniture and hang artwork so that your home is comfortable. Lots of good before and after diagrams and photos make it easy to understand the author's points. I appreciated the examples from real life and not idealized magazine houses.

I've arranged my living room furniture many different ways and never knew why it didn't work. In one day, I rearranged the stuff we already had and everyone in the family felt immediately more comfortable (even my husband who dislikes change). I even found room for the piano which had been stuck in my daughter's bedroom.

This book does not address colors, patterns, walls, floors or window treatments or what furniture to buy if you are replacing a lot of pieces. Will have to find another source for those. Meanwhile, make the most of what you already have!