[.ca] Villa Decor: Decidedly French and Italian Style (ISBN 1586851748)

Quiet French Elegance & Italian Romance:
"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson If you are looking for a rich European style to inspire you in your own decorating, "Villa Décor" is a warm and comforting experience. Betty Lou Phillips demonstrates decorating secrets, like linking rooms with patterns and palettes with out detracting from the furnishings. Her work has appeared in Southern Accents, Traditional Home & Bath, Window and Wall, and Decorating as well as many magazine covers. She is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers and also has a penchant for quotes. There are six main areas to explore: Old World Elegance New World Excellence High-Minded French Italian Panache Points of View Magnifique in America The minute I opened this book, I was in love. The lush carpeting and tapestry pillows, the piano in a sunlit room with the sun casually falling on an eighteenth-century buffet a deux corps. It was a music room of dreams. Not only do you enjoy the aesthetic elements, you actually learn the names of a variety of decorating techniques and Italian and French furniture names. You could also recreate a room by finding similar items. The bedroom on page 74 is to die for: Lavish comfort with sensuous linens and goose-down duvets, not to mention bed hangings (looks like a four poster bed). My main thought while reading this book was "All these rooms look like good rooms to read in." One picture does show a rather elegant two-story library with a spiral staircase and many of the rooms have fireplaces and cozy couches. I've been dreaming of redecorating my bedroom and this book gave me quite a few dreams. You simply must look for: French Influences Provencal Interiors: French Country Style in America ~TheRebeccaReview.com

Well Done Coffee Table Book:
If you are looking for design ideas that match Phillips Mediterrean and French looks, this is a good book. I collect many books on design and hers are well-illustrated. Additionally, they describe the manufacturers of the decorative items & fabrics. While some of the interiors she show are a little "Dallas" or Nouveau, overall they are filled with homes that appear well built with good materials and interior design. I would recommend this one.

Really beautiful book:
I bought several interior decor books for my mom for Christmas & I couldn't wait for her to open this one so I could look at it again. This book does not disappoint. Enjoy!

Very Disappointed:
One glance through this book and it is immediately obvious that this is "Villa Wannabe"--American Style. If you think you are really in a foreign country when you visit Epcot, then you might think this book represents French or Italian Villas, but it does not. It shows homes of American clients that are chock full of 'so called' decorative accessories and fru-fru treatments sold to them by eager Interior Decorators. Save your money and put it towards "Venetian Palazzi", This reasonably priced large format book has wonderful photographs that show great details of interior and drawings of the exteriors. The text is in 4 languages. I love "Venetian Palazzi". OR Venetian Palaces by Alvise Zorzi, Paolo Marton---a much better investment.

Not Really What I Expected ...:
I expected a book filled with photos of French and Italian villas - houses and estates outside cities, perhaps some at the seashore, for passing leisure time. Instead, it is a book filled with text on French and Italian style as applied to USA decorating. ALL the photos seem to be of American homes, most in Texas, some containing some pieces "found in a Paris flea market..." etc., and ALL done in beautiful taste and with very generous-(Texas oilman?)-sized budgets! Having said that, however, I assure you that the book is filled with excellent photos of absolutely beautiful kitchens, bedrooms, gardens, baths, living rooms, porches, filled with great fabrics, elaborate window treatments, chandeliers, sconces, wonderful wrought iron, porcelain, ceramics, woods, rugs, marble and all the things you either love or hate about French and/or Italian style. The text is also very helpful, although occasionally a little gushy, and I could have lived without the recital of so many details of European History. (Okay, I admit it, I'm an uncultured swine. So sue me.) If you want a book of vacation villas on the shores and islands of the Mediterranean, this isn't it; but if you want ideas for beautiful, comfortable homes for "gracious living" -- then this book is a gold mine.