BY THE BOOK
Too timid to retool?
February 6, 2010
Peggy Mackenzie
TORONTO STAR
Flip! For Decorating: A Page-by-Page, Piece-by-Piece, Room-by-Room Guide To Transforming Your Home
By Elizabeth Mayhew
Random House, 2009
256 pages, $28.
This book is for those too scared to begin decorating. Elizabeth Mayhew, lifestyle expert for NBC's Today show and editor/contributor to many home magazines, has written a book detailing exactly how she decorated her home, right down to the colours.
Her apartment in New York serves as the backdrop to showcase how to decorate. And just like the title says, it is a page-by-page, piece-by-piece primer. A bit too much paper is taken up with moving a couch into her living room but since Mayhew believes this purchase requires the most thought and expense, it feels justified.
Mayhew begins her introduction acknowledging that there are "infinite possibilities in home decor." Her friends, when asking for advice, don't want to know all of them, they just want "no-fuss solutions." Her answer is to give them a distilled view of all she has learned as a longtime decorating editor accompanied by photos that illustrate exactly what she means.
Colour is the focus of Chapter 1 and all paints are by Benjamin Moore, not because that's the only paint Mayhew uses but because it's ubiquitous and friendly to the wallet. She loves Farrow & Ball but they're not available everywhere and while wonderful, are expensive. She takes the entire inventory of Benjamin Moore and condenses it to eight colours in eight rooms. Amazing.
Chapter 2 looks at windows and their treatments: curtains, shades, or blinds. Not only does the reader get to learn how to decorate, they also get to learn proper terms. Difference between blinds and shades? Form, not function.
Chapter 3 takes us into her living room and we get a very long, close look at her couch and also her rug.
Chapter 4 brings us to the dining room and discusses how to hang art easily.
Chapter 5 has us relax in the family room and reminds us that comfort, not fashion is the most important factor. Storage is also a plus.
Chapter 6 gets us ready for bed, and most importantly tells us exactly how to make a bed.
Practical advice is the raison d'etre for this book and Mayhew doles it throughout the book. Didn't know how high to hang a curtain rod? How to measure for window treatments? Choose the size for a dining room rug? Decorating dilemmas are recast as decorating triumphs.
Peggy Mackenzie is a Toronto Star librarian addicted to home, decor and gardening books. Contact her with book review requests at pmackenzie@thestar.ca.
Toronto Star