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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The restoration wasn’t so much a project as a full on love affair. And it shows. The property has that rare quality: a real living atmosphere as well as perfective pitch amid the design selections and the raw bones of the wondrous relic that initially caught her eye.”

Simple Way Of Creating A Home Made Bbq Sauce Pic

Simple Way Of Creating A Home Made Bbq Sauce Picture

Simple Way Of Creating A Home Made Bbq Sauce Image

Most helpful customer reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Total Disappointment
By J. Zenz
I have her previous book and was waiting for this one to come out, with excitement I might add. Well, save your money and if you really want to look at the book, go to the library or the bookstore. It’s a rehash of her work and previously printed material, as well as photo shoots that were done by one of the fashion magazines. Pure self-promotion. These days I want more for my money. I actually returned this book after looking at it…that’s how disappointed I was in the book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
I Loved Kathryn M. Ireland…Until She Opened Her Mouth.
By Mod Chicago
I didn’t know much about Ireland until I saw an episode of Million Dollar Decorators. I found her to be daffy and annoying in person, but thought her fabrics, home and designs were lovely (a tad like my design idol Peter Dunham, although he is of course the master). I’ve been Internet stalking her ever since: poring over her website, searching Google for images, reading every blog post and magazine article about her I can find. Finally I ordered this book, hoping for a nice overview of her style. What a disappointment.

First, this book is about one single house Ireland decorated. So be prepared for at least 5 different angles of each room, because there’s not a lot to show here. Second, nearly every single interesting picture (the ones that aren’t extreme close ups of door knobs, tiles, flowers or pillows) are already available on her website. So there is nearly nothing new in terms of room ideas here. Third, the text is awful. I get that an interior designer has to have a certain…flair…but Ireland is full of herself to the point of boorishness. She talks about herself nearly constantly. And if that weren’t enough, you can’t miss the treacly quotes *about* Ireland (mostly by other designers!) she has scattered throughout the book in oversize typeface. As well, this book could have really used a good editor – you can pick any page and read the first two sentences and you’ll get the gist of everything else written on that page; the rest is just a plodding and rambling repetition and rephrasing of what the original two sentences said.

In contrast, I kept thinking about Celerie Kemble’s book To Your Taste, and the engaging and thoughtful accompanying text (even though Kemble’s design style is not so much to my liking). Kemble actually seems to want to be helpful to readers of her book: she offers her thoughts on design principles, how to pick furniture, how to make important aesthetic decisions, mixing materials and textures. All very useful stuff. Ireland, on the other hand, wants to fawn over herself and let you watch. To top it all off, not related to this book, I was sifting through Ireland’s blog the other night and saw where she wrote that only children of Republicans should be allowed to be drafted into war. What a nut! I don’t usually look to interior designers for hate-filled political commentary, but there you have it.

In short, I loved Ireland until she opened her mouth. This is definitely a case of better seen than heard.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
needs better editing
By Carlos Raffo
The contents of the book are good and if, like me, you like this kind of architecture and decor and, as I do, you like remodeling and construction, you will find this book interesting. However, all the photographs should have descriptions and they don’t….that would make the book a much easier read. And, since the book is about the remodeling of an old house, it would be have been interesting to see the before and after floor plans…..that would have given the reader a better scope of the project and a better idea of the author’s concept for the remodel. Also, there should have been pictures of each room with the caption of the work done (sort of a before and after) and the description of each room.

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