Southern Accents on Color

McDougall revisits some of the lavish homes featured in Southern Accents magazine with an eye toward color schemes in this glossy interior decorating guide. Organized by shade (with chapters on blues, greens, reds, yellows and neutrals), this volume showcases rooms in subtly different pigments; the blues chapter, for example, presents cobalt wallpaper and a matching bedspread in a Dallas bedroom, and a periwinkle-and-aqua Palm Beach living room. Sage green (the author's personal favorite) gets loving attention in garden rooms and bedrooms, while pink pillows make a fine contrast in a mocha and cream hall. Designers offer their takes on decor (""Our philosophy has always been that the use of bold color, when tempered by a layering of varied textures and balance of organic and architectural design, creates a timeless expression of refined taste,"" one says), and MacDougall's running commentary is informative, but the real stars here are the 200-plus color photographs. Southerners may not corner the market on decorating with color (indeed, some of the designers and fabric manufacturers featured here are Yankees), but this is an enlightening look at how they manipulate tone and hue.