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I've never heard of Larsons' lifestyle blog 'A Beautiful Mess', but, judging from this book, I'm not sure if their blog is any better. I was scrolling through my public library's digital catalogue, looking for some non-fiction books to read, when I stumbled upon A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home, and decided that I was indeed in the mood for reading a creative, interior design sort of book. However, I was rather greatly disappointed by its contents.
It was a bit of a mistake on my part, but at first I didn't realise this was a book about DIY projects, rather than focusing on how to style your home. I don't do a lot of DIY, but eventually I didn't mind that it was the focus of the book. However, the information in the book and most of the DIY is really nothing very different from what I have seen, especially coming from someone who is most definitely not a seasoned DIY-er, and could easily be found online. The book is separated into sections, e.g. living room, dining room etc., which is convenient. At the end of each category, the authors outline seven different ways to DIY a material, e.g. a pot, container, etc. These ideas were pretty useless as they were very obvious (e.g. decorate a pot with sharpie pen, really?), and were used over and over again on different materials on the other sections, which I found quite lazy on their part.
A Beautiful Mess includes a lot of pictures that were pretty to look at, so I suppose those could give newbies some ideas on how to style their home. However, overall, this book does not add much at all to designing your home, and is rather a waste of time.
It was a bit of a mistake on my part, but at first I didn't realise this was a book about DIY projects, rather than focusing on how to style your home. I don't do a lot of DIY, but eventually I didn't mind that it was the focus of the book. However, the information in the book and most of the DIY is really nothing very different from what I have seen, especially coming from someone who is most definitely not a seasoned DIY-er, and could easily be found online. The book is separated into sections, e.g. living room, dining room etc., which is convenient. At the end of each category, the authors outline seven different ways to DIY a material, e.g. a pot, container, etc. These ideas were pretty useless as they were very obvious (e.g. decorate a pot with sharpie pen, really?), and were used over and over again on different materials on the other sections, which I found quite lazy on their part.
A Beautiful Mess includes a lot of pictures that were pretty to look at, so I suppose those could give newbies some ideas on how to style their home. However, overall, this book does not add much at all to designing your home, and is rather a waste of time.
Nothing really fresh here
The DIY projects mainly consists of fabric paint, electrical tape, and creating up your own stamps for everything. Style is pretty basic and book is on the thin side in regards to pages. Hinted at each thing would show each girl's aesthetic but found it lacking. Find more interesting stuff on their blog.
The DIY projects mainly consists of fabric paint, electrical tape, and creating up your own stamps for everything. Style is pretty basic and book is on the thin side in regards to pages. Hinted at each thing would show each girl's aesthetic but found it lacking. Find more interesting stuff on their blog.
A lovely Christmas gift, already sifted through, now I have to put all the laid back colourful creative inspiration into action in my beautiful mess!
First of all, the photography in this book is great. For the most part, the layout is good as well (although the "9 ways..." pages have photos right in the gutter so you can't see them -- major points lost there).
The DIY projects are disappointing. There are a few gems (I like the woven pillow cover and scrap wood letters), but many are repetitive (add glitter! draw with sharpies!). There isn't much fresh here, either; some of these projects are the same ones I first discovered on Pinterest years ago. I found much more inspiration just in admiring the photos of the authors' homes, where they mix and match furniture in various colors against white walls.
If you haven't created a Pinterest account yet, and you aren't afraid of color, you may find some good ideas here. Many of the projects will appeal to the teen set, so there may be some fun mother-daughter DIY afternoons to be had using the ideas in this book. But if you already count yourself a crafter, you may be better off just reading the authors' blog online.
The DIY projects are disappointing. There are a few gems (I like the woven pillow cover and scrap wood letters), but many are repetitive (add glitter! draw with sharpies!). There isn't much fresh here, either; some of these projects are the same ones I first discovered on Pinterest years ago. I found much more inspiration just in admiring the photos of the authors' homes, where they mix and match furniture in various colors against white walls.
If you haven't created a Pinterest account yet, and you aren't afraid of color, you may find some good ideas here. Many of the projects will appeal to the teen set, so there may be some fun mother-daughter DIY afternoons to be had using the ideas in this book. But if you already count yourself a crafter, you may be better off just reading the authors' blog online.
the photography in this book is beautiful, there are lots of ideas..now I need a bigger house!
I'm only taking away two ideas from this book. But, hey, maybe it's more your style.
see also "How to ruin perfectly good things with hyper-trendy designs that will be super dated in 1 year"
I like their aesthetic. It makes me feel right at home.
I probably shouldn't have read this, because now there's too many projects I want to add to my list!
I did feel like a lot of the ideas were repeated in slightly different ways, but I think they were meant to be inspirational, get the gears turning examples, anyway. My favorite part, though, is that they are letting people know that it's okay to be as crafty, colorful and homespun as you like!
I did feel like a lot of the ideas were repeated in slightly different ways, but I think they were meant to be inspirational, get the gears turning examples, anyway. My favorite part, though, is that they are letting people know that it's okay to be as crafty, colorful and homespun as you like!