contents Introduction: letting your style evolve; emotive interiors; the wow factor 6
Style Guide: creating a mood board; five key looks 16
Space Matters: open plan rooms; small is beautiful; furniture placement 46 Colour, Pattern, Texture: enhancing neutrals; colour combining; surface appeal 74 Raising the Bar: how to do savvy style on a budget 110 The Details: lighting; artwork; displays; finishing touches 144 Practical Stuff: tool kit essentials; tips and techniques 178 Little Black Book: from the best antique fairs to my favourite online boutiques 184 Index 190 Acknowledgements 192
Decorating with Style
Forget perfection – Decorating with Style gives you the confidence to take risks, embrace what you love, and fill your home with infectiously fabulous stuff: comforting, inviting and imbued with personality. Proving that style has absolutely nothing to do with money, the international design guru Abigail Ahern offers clever, creative ideas alongside a wealth of photos (from the instructive to the gorgeous) and practical advice to help you find your own sense of style. And demonstrates how to take interiors to the next level, with unexpected solutions and a sense of eccentricity; injecting intrigue into a room by mixing and layering different styles and eras; playing around with scale, colour and texture to create an enchanting, idiosyncratic vibe. Packed with insider knowledge, speedy updates and easy DIY projects – that transform affordable furniture and accessories into something you’d see in a designer showroom – this beautifully illustrated guide offers all the tips, tricks and inspiration you need to create a super-cool home. For style aficionados on a budget, interior design just got fun!
Abigail Ahern Designer, stylist, TV presenter, and author of the bestselling tome A Girl’s Guide to Decorating, Abigail Ahern has been heralded as a ‘style spotter extraordinaire’ by The Times newspaper. She is the owner of London store Atelier Abigail Ahern (voted one of the hottest places to shop in the UK by Elle Decoration), and co-presenter of Channel 4’s hit makeover show Get Your House in Order. Renowned for her eclectic, super-exuberant style, her sense of whimsy, and a wholly practical approach to design, Abigail’s interiors have made her famous across the globe. She blogs from the frontline of interior design at abigailahern.wordpress.com, and teaches master classes around the world. She lives in a converted Victorian townhouse in east London with her husband Graham and their two dogs, Maud and Mungo.
£16.99 Hardback ISBN 978 184949 272 0 192pp 248 x 187mm Approx 50,000 words Over 150 colour photographs Publication March 2013
Quadrille Publishing Ltd Alhambra House 27-31 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0LS www.quadrille.co.uk