Country Living Shoestring Chic: Extraordinary Style for Less

Bringing country comfort to your home need not cost a fortune, assures designer Abbott in a coffee-table book that elevates homespun decor from stuffed calico mallards and hand-woven baskets to sophisticated heights. To redecorate or enliven a room on a tight budget, she advises mixing simple color palettes--like timeless, illuminating white walls or furniture splashed with color details (e.g., a windowsill of oranges or bright throw pillows)--with select heirloom items and flea-market finds. The key is learning some basic crafty skills, like how to sew a pillowcase from fabric scraps or revive a rickety set of shelves with new paint. Mark Scott's photographs reveal clean, homey rooms in soothing pastels: a retro country kitchen fitted with its original 1950s cabinets refinished in glossy pale blue and white, or a""contemporary country"" dining room filled with a secondhand white office table and rigid leather chairs, juxtaposed with a spray of pink tulips and giant green-glass sculptures. Abbott's rooms, free of the expected country clutter, are airy and inviting.