SUGGESTED READING Below is a list of suggested reading. If you would like to download and print our entire list in a word document please click here.   The Complete Color Directory An invaluable tool for every kind of home decorating decision, this directory packs comprehensive information about color into one handy, pocket-size format. Arranged in rainbow order with removable, perforated color swatches at the end of each color section, the book gives readers a range of hues to consider. For example, the red section shows pure red swatches alongside hues achieved by adding different percentages of other colors to red, so readers can select the right nuance of red for a particular decorating need. Each color section covers the same pertinent topics: color in daylight versus artificial light; color texture and its relation to hue; and how to organize given colors into auspicious combinations. Recipes for mixing paints, washes, and varnishes are also provided, and a card "viewer" enables readers to isolate single colors or look at pairs together. Purchase: The Complete Color Directory Color Solutions • The only book about color that starts with the problems home decorators want to solve. • Problem-solving approach breaks color selection down to 10 basic questions and devotes a chapter to answering each question. • Photo-driven format illustrates options; text explains how to handle specific situations. Purchase: Color Solutions Interior Designers Business and Legal Forms w/cd An interior designer's best work is often measured by abstract standards. The designer's talent and skill can dazzle the eyes and win clients, but creative ability is not enough to ensure long-term success. The less glamorous side of interior design is one of negotiations, contracts, and finances. A designer ill-prepared to cope with the inevitable business and legal complications ultimately loses time and money, but now help is on the way. Attorney Tad Crawford and design business professional Eva Doman Bruck have teamed to provide interior designers with Business and Legal Forms for Interior Designers, a powerful new resource for building the the foundation for a successful design business. Purchase:Interior Designers Business and Legal Forms w/cd Decorating Basics Create comfortable, inviting rooms that accommodate your family's lifestyle with the advice, budget-stretching tips, inspirational lessons, and resources in Decorating Basics: Styles, Colors, Furnishings, from Better Homes and Gardens (R). Purchase: Decorating Basics Express Yourself with Color Better Homes & Gardens editors have done it again, making decorating easier for amateurs. Decorating Shortcuts contains numerous photographs of rooms, with captions pointing out the simple design techniques used and how to achieve them. Some require only a rearrangement of furniture, while others require skill with a needle and thread. Instructions for projects are provided at the end of the book. Color explains how to use color combinations and what colors to use to achieve a particular look. Well illustrated, these books will be excellent for public libraries. Purchase: Express Yourself with Color Room Redux Learn to decorate like the pros and discover every room's potential with Room Redux. Interior designers Joann Eckstut and Sheran James have developed the book that could make their job obsolete. Starting with how to appraise your needs and create a furniture floor plan, and progressing step-by-step toward the big decisions,colors, fabrics, walls, floors, and furniture,the authors' friendly, savvy style demystifies the process and frees up the decorator within. Lively and instructive illustrations will empower even novice home decorators to develop their own style, and the fun scrapbook for-mat will keep those creative juices flowing. Tabbed for quick access and complete with graph paper and furniture cutouts for floor plans, plus pockets for clippings, fabric samples, and color swatches, the format is utterly approachable. For renters looking for quick-and-easy fixes as well as homeowners ready to overhaul entire rooms, Room Redux is the one-stop resource for guidance, inspiration, and great results. Purchase: Room Redux Room and Furniture Layout Kit Moving or redecorating? Use this handy furniture layout kit to design your rooms before you purchase or reposition a single item. Includes 215 furniture shapes, graph paper and complete instructions. Purchase: Room and Furniture Layout Kit Lighting: Recipes & ideas, Simple Solutions for the Home At last-a comprehensive, practical reference for all your lighting needs. Recipes & Ideas: Lighting shows you how to transform any space using the elusive element of light. Organized room by room, this generously illustrated guide offers creative lighting solutions for a wide range of needs. With essential know-how, inspiration, and a dozen specific projects for solving familiar lighting problems, Recipes and Ideas: Lighting will show you how to make the small changes that can make a big difference in your home. Purchase: Lighting: Recipes & ideas, Simple Solutions for the Home The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions To help you achieve you own perfect window treatment is the goal of The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions. The uniqueness--and success--of this book lies combining the presentation of 1000 illustrations with a truly encyclopedic display of window treatments. Whether a budget is lavish or modest, this book offers the optimum number of choices in an individual design situation. Purchase: The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions Easy Decorating Makeovers A fresh look doesn't require all new furnishings and accessories. People are eager for different ways to use what they have. This book is filled with room-by-room suggestions on how to use what readers own to create comfortable, welcoming spaces. Purchase: Easy Decorating Makeovers Elegant and Easy Living Rooms ELEGANT AND EASY LIVING ROOMS is the guide to creating design magazine magic in any home--a living room that's a personal haven for family and a magnetic gathering spot for friends. Whether readers want a design overhaul or just a few beautiful upgrades, this compendium is packed with designer-tested (and budget-conscious) tips, including: the best specific paint colors for living rooms; restful, romantic ways to brighten a room starved for sun; and simple ways to make a ceiling look higher (or lower). Purchase: Elegant and Easy Living Rooms Home Quick Planner Reusable, Peel and Stick Furniture and Architectural Symbols.  Create a room layout with symbols from furniture to the kitchen sink. Purchase: Home Quick Planner Dictionary of Architecture This newly researched and up-to-date architectural reference work should appeal to curious readers as well as serious researchers, as it offers a complete guide to the history of architecture. Its entries cover both biographical and historical material. The information on architects, designers, and craftsmen--from ancient to contemporary--is annotated with useful and relevant cross-references that together tell a complete story about a particular subject, style, or theory. Attractive illustrations render the architectural terms more accessible and help readers to better understand the differences between, for example, Doric or Ionic columns. Biographical entries for a great number of well- and lesser-known architects, some with illustrations of their best-known works, and entries about their influences and contemporaries offer a well-rounded guide through the centuries of architectural achievement. Purchase: Dictionary of Architecture A Visual Dictionary of Architecture A Visual Dictionary of Architecture is a remarkable, on-of-a-kind compendium which uses a combination of textual definitions and hundreds of superb line drawings to illuminate a comprehensive body of essential terms in architecture, including important interrelationships between building components. Grouped by themes, such as history, systems, structures, forms, construction, environmental issues, and behavior, all terms have their visual complement and can be readily accessed in a number of different ways. Purchase: A Visual Dictionary of Architecture Dictionary of Architecture and Construction Revised, updated, and expanded, this comprehensive new edition of the most definitive reference in architecture brings you the broadest possible coverage of the language of architecture and construction. Special care has been taken to include the latest terms from preservation, new technologies, techniques, materials, and trends. This classic dictionary now features 25,000 definitions, 2,200 illustrations, enhanced page design for easier reading, and higher quality paper stock for better illustration reproduction and greater durability. Prepared by a renowned architectural editor in association with 52 expert contributors and incorporating the work of many standards groups, the book presents clear, concise definitions of terms in nearly 80 working areas. Purchase: Dictionary of Architecture and Construction The Curtain Sketchbook 2 The aim of The Curtain Sketchbook is to show, in clear line sketches, hundreds of ideas for curtains and window treatments. This is not a "How to do it Book" - it is a book of window decorating ideas. First published in England by Shoestring Book Company. Purchase: The Curtain Sketchbook 2 The Window And Bed Sketchbook The aim of The Window And Bed Sketchbook is to show, in clear line sketches, hundreds of ideas for beds and window treatments. This is not a "How to do it Book" - it is a book of window decorating ideas. First published in England by Shoestring Book Company. Purchase: The Window And Bed Sketchbook Designers Guide to Furniture Styles, Second Edition This book profiles the history of the development of various furniture styles, exploring the evolution of style in the context of the architectural setting, interior design, and decorative arts of each period. This fascinating book is a beautiful visual reference guide to furniture styles. For architects, interior designers, furniture manufacturers, and antique dealers. Purchase: Designers Guide to Furniture Styles, Second Edition The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles Instilling a cultivated taste for all authentically creative furniture! From ancient Greece and Rome, through medieval times, and up to the present day, domestic furniture has been an integral part of civilization, and its study reveals much about our history and culture. This classic guide to furniture styles discusses the development of domestic furniture in Europe, America, and China, detailing the great periods of French and English furniture from the Renaissance through the Empire and Regency periods. Furniture from every age is represented in over 600 photographs of pieces from major collections throughout the world. The book's highly readable style and extensive coverage make it a valuable resource for interior designers. Purchase: The Complete Guide to Furniture Styles The Encyclopedia of Furniture A completely revised edition, covering every period and development to the present, the designers and makers, the woods and other materials, the architecture and decoration. 2,000 photographs. Glossary. Bibliography. Index. Purchase: The Encyclopedia of Furniture History of Interior Design and Furniture This book is the only current publication of a dedicated history of interiors and furniture. For designers who need stylistic information regarding historic periods, this book is very well organized and thorough. For students, this book offers the possibility of owning a history text without purchasing a general text that makes history only a small part of the information. —Marianne Beecher, Assistant Professor, Iowa State Robbie Blakemore has undertaken a monumental and ambitious project. She has accomplished her goal with zeal and good organization, along with excellent research and scholarship. Purchase: History of Interior Design and Furniture