Bunny Williams' Point of View

If you appreciate Bunny Williams' rooms, you should equally appreciate this book on her point of view on design. Organized by topics in chapters, each chapter begins with her point of view on subjects such as color, furniture, room arrangement, rugs, walls, layering and accessories and more.It is like a master class on design written in clear language followed by rooms which illustrate the principles.Some of my favorite design principles in this book:* I confess that I frequently get the best ideas (for color) from looking at antique rugs which incorporate colors in often unique ways.FURNITURE*...I am always searching for unique design and character, wonderful hand finishes, beautiful workmanship, amazing woods - anything that makes a piece distinctive and holds my attention.* When working on a project, I photograph pieces that catch my eye, return to my office and lay them out on a table, and start thinking of how to make furniture arrangements and combinations. It becomes a giant puzzle. Once I make a few decisions, the the other pieces have to work perfectly.* When I begin mixing furniture, I think of the expression "opposites attract", and how I like rooms to combine the masculine and the feminine, the eccentric and the classic, the exuberant and the refined. Think of painted or lacquered chairs around a polished wood table. Think of something sleek against something coarse, something very old with something brand new, something shiny next to something matte. If I have a very ornate mirror, I might want to hang it over a simple table.* For every project I always try to find a few chairs with interesting lines that I can float in the middle of a room along with the upholstered pieces. You must always look at chairs from all angles. ...if your seating group is in the middle of the room, the profile of the chair is very important. And in dining rooms, how a chair looks from the back is more important than how it looks from the front.* Enchanting rooms, like fascinating people are multidimensional. Just as you can love both football and opera, you can like worn leather chairs and gilded Regency tables. If you accept the idea that many different tastes can go together, you can create rooms that are never boring and always captivating.*...I started collecting antique fabrics without knowing exactly what I would do with them, which is still my practice today. At thrift shops, antique shows, and flea markets, I buy material, fold it up, and put it away to use one day on a pillow or bench. I always like to use at least one antique fabric in every room to add patina.*...after settling on a color palette, I focus on mixing textures, solids and patterns.* I often choose a monochromatic fabric for a large sofa, which lets it become a canvas for layering on leopard print throws, needlework pillows, and other patterned items.* When I have assembled all the fabrics I want to use for a room, I make a pile of them. If one jumps out, I eliminate it. I want all the fabrics to harmonize.If you find these tips useful, you should love this book. The pages are large, the colors are true and the rooms are beautiful.I will use the ideas in this book for design classes.

I was fortunate enough to see Miss Williams give a lecture on this book, complete with slideshow presentation. It was a delight to hear this funny and engaging woman relay the stories behind these interiors.That personal touch doesnt really come through in the book. It's telling that the most interesting parts are about her own NYC apartment and her home in Costa Rica. Her previous book--about her Connecticut farmhouse--is like sitting down with an old friend (it even has recipes). This isn't in the same vein, and thus all the disappointed reviews on here.Still, Williams is a legend, and the work she has done for her clients is worth studying. Many of the interiors look as though they have evolved and been collected over time, which is a hallmark of her style.Her rooms are at least more interesting than the sterile, joyless snoozefests featured lately in Architectural Digest and Elle Decor.Her best advice: pick neutral finishes for your kitchen cabinets, and above all a neutral backsplash, using accessories to satisfy your color cravings. Your tastes will (or should!) evolve over time...and that expensive turqouise backsplash wont be easy to replace. All Americans need to read that chapter and sign it!

This book is a treasure, of good taste and charmingly understated elegance.Bunny redecorated my Mother's homes in Paris and in New Your. It is now the style as it wasthe day my Mother died. I still find it a comfortable, intelligently designed space to live in .The Book is a surprise for us, it has several of the rooms done for my Mother's homes.I only have had her "Bureau D' Elegance" to recover pieces with the same fabrics.Bunny uses only the most high quality fabrics available to her staff and her personaldesigns. I highly recommend this lovely book to all, it is a classic of the elegant,and understated design that lasts for years, Her work never is out of style, Her ideasfor homes are original and suited only to the clientelle for whom she so appropriatelydesigns. It looks as if it were just the way it has been always. Her designs, as shown, in this lovely book, look as if they have always been that same way and never decorated! Yet the look is one of having been lived in, that space and the rooms'furnishings and Art,have been collected over time, it looks the same, as if it were never " done" , and that it has stayed that way for years. "Timeless"Style...It is the style of those with restrained taste, and it shows the home to be comfortable andlivable. Buy this book!!, if your taste runs to the very understated, the unimpressivestyle of well heeled and the well informed people, who expect their house to be lived in!!. It is a very good read and the photography is superb, Indicative of the style we expect!Comfort and livability is the re'alite' of this book, Enjoy!! TRG Thanks to Amazon and the incredibleselection of books of good taste!  Bunny Williams' Point of View: Three Decades of Decorating Elegant and Comfortable Houses

I love this book, whenever I pick it up i feel transported! Part memoir and part how to manual, packed full of detailed knowledge and inspiration. The interiors are traditional and very high end which will appeal to some more than others. No matter what your personal taste, Bunny truly helps you to look at details in decor that you may not have considered. As she puts it "you learn from people with great taste" and that is so true! It has opened my eyes to a whole new world and sparked me on a journey of collecting and appreciating beautiful things.

Geschenk. Ist sehr gut angekommen.

A fabulously gigantic book of a book! I love it! And it came well wrapped and quickly.

A lovely look at classical interiors perfect for any interior designer or enthusiast