Living Rooms (California Design Library) - Softcover

From: San Francisco Chronicle By Casey Ellis Design Series Shares Style Secrets Is your kitchen dreary? Your living room lifeless? Whether you plan a major renovation or just want to inject a dash of pizzazz, you'll find step-by-step help in two new books by Diane Dorrans Saeks, a style writer and frequent Home Section contributor. "Kitchens" and "Living Rooms" are the first volumes of the California Design Library--a series by Saeks from Chronicle Books. Rich with color photographs, the books are compact in design small enough to tuck under your arm and tote along to a furniture store, but big enough to contain a myriad of marvelous ideas. Both books are organized into two main sections: "Style Portfolio" showcases rooms of interior designers, architects and celebrity chefs; "Design Workbook" offers advice on subjects ranging from kitchen design to armchairs. Statewide guides to some of the most interesting home and garden stores are included. Best of all, these books will help you design rooms that fit your tastes and lifestyle. "Design rules--those incredibly restrictive ideas about what has to go with what--have gone the way of the dodo bird," Saeks writes. "The freshest and finest interior decor in California celebrates individuality, gives more than a passing glance to design history and revels in comfort and charm."

Diane Dorrans Saeks is the California editor for Metropolitan Home, the interior design editor for PaperCity, the San Francisco correspondent for W and Women's Wear Daily, and a frequent contributor to national and international design publications. She