Blooming Rooms: Decorating with Flowers and Floral Motifs

Blossoms--live or silk, printed or painted--can freshen any room, write authors Llewellyn and Lester in this handsomely illustrated guide to home decorating. The authors, both accomplished gardeners, go room by room, giving ideas on color, patterns and function to fit different spaces and tastes. For""Blooming Kitchens,"" for example, they suggest bright, vital shades versus the subdued, calming tones they recommend for bedrooms. They sweep through a wide variety of decorating styles, showing how to incorporate flower motifs into the spare modernist apartments and provincial cottages. Readers may take inspiration from the anecdotal""Flowers Through History"" sections in each chapter, which detail the bloom's importance in ancient cultures, like the Egyptian and Celtic, or periods, like Rococo and Art Nouveau. Lists of useful resources for decorating, as well as simple instructions on decoupage, pressing fresh flowers and printing fabrics, round out this vibrant volume. Color photographs throughout.