Quoting from the foreword: Today's shifting social patterns and lifestyles and greater job mobility have brought about a change in attitude toward the decoration of apartments and houses. There's a restlessness, a desire to experiment, to keep up with the times and enjoy the stimulus of new trends in living. We are increasingly open to innovation and to radical changes of style and design within the field of home furnishings.

Paradoxically, as we try to live larger and more adventurously, modern housing is getting smaller and more standardized, and will become even more so as we move into an age of mass-produced, prefabricated housing necessitated by rising costs in labor and materials. In the not-so-distant future, we'll have to face the challenges of how to give these engineered living units some identity, individuality, and warmth. Everyone who has had to cope with the problem of decorating a typical city high rise apartment or a suburban builder's house knows that you can end up spending more money than you intended just trying to make the place liveable and attractive.

All this requires a more flexible approach to decorating, an ability to decorate for today while thinking of tomorrow. It also means a very realistic appraisal of what you can afford and what you can get for your money, what you can pay someone else to do and what you can tackle yourself. Nowadays it is easier than ever before to decorate well on a limited budget. You can find an incredible variety and quantity of home furnishings in every price range, and good design from the highest level to the lowest...

There has been an equally impressive increase in do-it-yourself materials you can buy in building centers across the country: precut, presized and prefinished paneling, screens, grilles, shelves, self-stick tiles of all types, sheets of acrylic plastic that can be made into shelves or furniture. The manufacturers provide kits with instructions, and they supply leaflets and booklets that tell you how to install their products as well as all kinds of ingenious ways to use them.

There is so much you can take advantage of that will help you decorate easily, effectively and inexpensively. What you need to know is where, what and how. The aim of this book is to show you what is available and how you can use it, to give you the inspiration that will spark your ideas, and the know-how to put them into practice, to enable you to get the best return for your decorating dollars. (End Quote.)

This book shows wildly innovative ideas for what to do with wood, plastics, mirrors, vinyl, manmade materials, tile, fabric, furniture, etc. Some of the ideas are VERY retro-cool! However, some of the ideas are icky, TACKY and dated. This book is what it is…a 1970’s design guide showcasing what was in style at that time. If ya didn’t like the 70’s style the first time around you’ll probably hate it just as much now; if so, skip this book. If the disco aesthetic appeals to you then by all means get your own copy of this book because you will love it! Or, at least check out the photos below for a closer look before making up your mind.

Please click on any of the photos below for a close-up view.

This review is by me, Amy Solovay. It gives you an idea of my own humble opinion about the book…your mileage may vary! If you have a different opinion I encourage you to submit a review for publication on this site…all reviews will be credited to the author who wrote them. Please email me to submit.

Where would you like to go now?

-To read more book reviews, go back to the reviews main page.

-Return to Amy Solovay's home page