Sensible Chic: Smart Style on Any Budget

by Amy Tincher-Durik

Features: Includes rooms with designer looks and low-cost alternatives; Offers 'make-a-statement' decorating ideas for remarkable living and family rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms; More than a dozen... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0696221322
• ISBN13: 9780696221323
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.2" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

home decorating

I haven't had a chance to really put this book to use yet. Most of the styles are very modern and my taste is a little more traditional and "old world". I am not sorry that I bought the book, but I don't think I will be able to use it like I had hoped.

Full of Decorating Tips, even if you don't watch Sensible Chic

This book is based on the TV show Sensible Chic. It takes an inspiration room and tries to create a "similar" room without the high cost of the inspiration room. Like another reviewer, in this book, many of the rooms DID look better than the inspiration room. This is probably because the "Sensible" rooms were generally not as foo-foo (my word) and less cluttered than the inspiration room. The show and the book are good if you need a jumping off point and don't have any idea where to start. If you find a photo of a room you like, then you can try to create a similar room based on YOUR budget. One disappointment in the book though is that many of the "Sensible" items are not referenced anywhere. The book tells you how much they spent on each item in the room, along with the cost of the inspiration items, but in the back of the book, there might not be a reference to where you can locate the item. For example, Lesson One is a bedroom with an Iron Canopy bed. The inspiration bed was $6,000 and the "Sensible" bed was $235. In the back of the book, the only resource they list is the designer who did the room. There is nothing about where they bought the furniture, bedding, fabrics, paint, etc. which is a red flag when you are trying to show how to do something on a budget. I thought the lesson was full of good tips though regarding color, texture, fabrics and such. There are some rooms that the resources ARE listed. I liked the information given in the book and thought it was helpful and easy to follow. Even though the book is text heavy, it is easy to follow because the paragraph that starts new information has titles. There were call out boxes that had specific tips, i.e. "Pattern Perfect" which gave you tips on how to mix fabric patterns successfully. I thought the photography was great! For those who like these types of before and after shows, there is a new TV decorating show called "Double Take" that takes the inspiration room and tries to create the exact room on a budget, unlike Sensible Chic that tries to create a similar room on a budget. I do recommend this book. I think even if you have never watched the show, it has some excellent tips and information on how to match looks and decorate your rooms tastefully.

A sensible choice

I am a big fan of the show! I found the book to have a variety of room styles. They offered tips to create the look and broke down the budget showing how the money was spent. I did expect a little more though. I've seen so many great episodes and I found myself wondering, "how come they didn't include the room from that episode". Nevertheless, it's still a book worth buying.

Worth Every Penny !!

This is put together so well !! I love home decorating shows, on TLC and HGTV, and as a result I own a lot of their books . Most are full of lovely photos , but few real ideas , that real people can use . Sensible Chic , is full of helpful information,creative ideas , and references to stores found in every city . I love Sensible Chic ( the book and the show), because of the way they can take inspiration from an expensive designer room , and create the same look for less . This beautiful book , puts all of the other *home decorating* books to shame !! Buy a copy, you will not be sorry !!