Ready, Set, Decorate: The Complete Guide to Getting It Right Every Time - Hardcover

The Editors Of House Beautiful Magazine

3.23

22 ratings by Goodreads

9781588164995: Ready, Set, Decorate: The Complete Guide to Getting It Right Every Time

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1588164993 ISBN 13: 9781588164995

Publisher: Hearst, 2006

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Decorating can be foolproof, when it's done the House Beautiful way! With practical, down-to-earth guidance, and the magazine's photos as inspiration, even true beginners will find out how to get it right the first time and every time.

Go from clueless to faultless! Home decorators who long for a contemporary loft-style apartment, chic Colonial living room, or cozy beach hut bathroom can make their dreams come true effortlessly. With House Beautiful's straightforward, no-nonsense approach to everything from painting and wallpapering to lighting and window treatments, reviving a home is as easy as Ready, Set, Decorate! The segment Ready!” explains the many wonderful options to choose from--colors, patterns, surface treatments, or hardware--and offers confidence-building tricks. Set!” leads you through all the preparatory stages that spell the difference between success and failure. And Decorate!” shows how to do the job yourself or brief a professional--and how to avoid the pitfalls, whichever route you take. Plus, there's practical guidance on quick, fun-to-do projects that add value and beauty to any home.

A Selection of the Homestyle Book Club.

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Review:

Lesson one is that it doesn't hurt to be a mediagenic author; name recognition-as in NBC expert and TV host Corbett (and, by the way, author of Find It, Fix It, Flip It!, 2006)-counts, as does his life experience in flipping 30 pieces of property. Lesson two is that real estate and all its attendant information sells. Think Donald Trump, as one prime example. Lesson three is that it's all about business; leave emotions behind when marketing real estate. Much of the advice proffered here is in the professional know-how category. Such as declutter the rooms, inside and out (or, as Corbett says, save it/store it/sell it/check it); paint, repair, and otherwise make sure it's squeaky clean; hire a professional realtor (avoiding the FSBO lure); and never close on a Friday. Lots of tips around Ready, Set, Sold (RSS) sales successes, as well as data-packed sidebars (e.g., a list of 411 real estate Web sites), add an even higher value to Corbett's counsel. -- Barbara Jacobs, Booklist

From Booklist:

Editor Callery tackles the A-Z of home design in a unique fashion in three steps: ready, or understanding your options; set, the preparation stage; and decorate, the time to do it yourself or hire a professional. She starts with the easy stuff, painting and wallpapering, including the kind of advice only a well-conditioned instructor-expert could provide, whether it's decorative techniques like ragging and striping to copy or tips when papering around light switches or doors and windows. Then it's full speed ahead to seven other categories--tiling, flooring, kitchens and bathrooms, soft furnishings, window treatments, storage, and lighting--each containing more than enough information to finish part or all of one room or the whole house. A great guide for first-time and old-hand home owners alike. Reviewed July 2006))Barbara Jacobs
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