Make It Yours!: Customize and Personalize--The Trading Spaces Way!
. TLC Publishing (VA), $19.95 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-696-21727-2
The cast of the popular Discovery Network television series Trading Spaces struts their stuff between the covers of this latest installment of the show's bestselling collection of home-decorating books. Though this volume claims to show readers how to""discover and express"" their personal style, the discovery portion of this book is woefully brief. A daffy 17-question""Stylin' Quiz"" is all the guidance readers get before the authors rush forward into slapdash presentation of apartment makeovers (whether one prefers""dinner and dancing,""""burgers and good friends"" or""moonlight and jasmine"" on a date, for instance, is supposed to indicate one's preferences in interior decor). The book does contain an impressive number of color photographs and instructions for dozens of do-it-yourself projects, such dressing up pillows and building folding screens (though the directions are rarely step by step). But the book's design and organization feel as wild and kinetic as, well, an over-energized television show. Avid TV watchers may enjoy such flashy quick-cuts; serious would-be decorators will be better off looking elsewhere.
Details
Reviewed on: 08/01/2003
Genre: Nonfiction