Carole Talbott

Not a bad book, in fact it's fairly interesting. ?á

But: I couldn't actually test this method, because the instructions insist one take everything out of a room and start from scratch. ?áUm, no, I'm not nearly that unhappy with my rooms; I just checked this out because of curiosity & maybe small tips.

From what I could tell, the advice is not really that revolutionary. ?áThere aren't any photos, any actual 'before/ after' examples, and the assumption is that you have furniture that is more or less traditional. ?áMostly the advice seems to boil down to:

Don't line up your furniture against the walls like ranks of soldiers.
If you have a sofa/ armchair/coffee table grouping, put it on diagonal so you can have more flow & life in the room. ?áFill in a couple of corners with plants, a sofa table behind the sofa, leave an empty corner for access to the door or next area of a great-room. ?á
Mind your shapes (triangles and pyramids are good) and your weights (porcelain lamp next to light wing chair, not next to heavy sofa, etc.) ?á
Use texture and proper (not just overhead) lighting to make the room inviting & alive.

I'm looking around my living and bedroom and seeing that I have an instinct for her advice (at least how I understand it). ?áI have the peaks and valleys going, and the judicious use of accessories and art, and a variety of effective lighting options. ?áBut I have no sofa, no diagonal, only one armchair, no central rug, and my coffee table is being used as a room divider so we have a 'hallway' coming in from the front door.

Btw, I don't see any TVs in Carole's rooms. ?áNbd for me as we don't watch TV, but if you do, you might find you need to adapt her advice. ?áAgain, though, I did just skim the book, so you'd have to judge for yourself.

I think about my mother's house, and I think that she's rearranged her furniture a few times and has, somehow-I-don't-know-how, gotten closer to Carole's vision. ?áAt first her living room was very cold/ uninviting, but she's brought the sofa into a grouping that gives the room a core of coziness and plenty of walking space around to get to the beautiful bay windows and to the rest of the house. ?áShe's also put her chairs in the den on the diagonal and pulled them away from the wall.

Btw, Carole is the designer, Maggie put her ideas into words and so is the author, and Cira drew the illustrations.

I do recommend this book, especially if you are moving into a nicer or larger space and want to see what you can do with the pieces you own before you buy more just to fill it up."… (meer)