Good books for a new look

So you’ve made your New Year’s resolution to improve the quality of

your life. In this first week of 2004, why not extend that urge to

improve by improving not just your life, but where you live?

The winter doldrums are a perfect time to rethink, redo and

redecorate your home. This can encompass everything from hiring a

designer for remodeling the total look of your home to sewing some

new throw pillows or revitalizing with some new paint.

In any case, the library is an excellent place to start thinking

about the changes you want to make. Even if you hire a professional

to sweep in and take care of every little detail, you will still need

to know what you want the final product to look like. Unless you’ve

been thinking about this for a long time, you will need some ideas.

The Newport Beach Public libraries have some beautiful interior

design books made for browsing and gathering ideas.

“Mary Gilliatt’s Complete Room by Room Decorating Guide” begins

with basic design principles and, then, carries them out for you in a

beautifully displayed book -- room by room. “Style on a Budget:

Affordable Ideas for a Relaxed Home” by designer Emily Chalmers, is

geared for the I-can’t-have-anything-I-want set, but the ideas and

innovations are worthy of any home.

Is there just one room you want to make over? Look at “Charming

Guest Rooms: Decorating Secrets from Country Inns,” by Mickey

Baskett. It is a wonderful and, yes, charming book on decorating a

guest room and adding the special touches that will make your guests

feel comfortable and treated as if they were staying at an inn.

Children’s rooms pose special problems. What was once perfect for

a 5-year-old becomes inappropriate for that 5-year-old who is now 12.

Carol Scheffler has written a terrific book, “Great Kids’ Rooms:

Decorating Ideas for All Their Years at Home,” full of style ideas

and practical instructions.

Design guru Terence Conran, has written “Kitchens: the Hub of the

Home,” which includes all the latest design concepts, appliances, and

floor plans to make your kitchen more welcoming, efficient, and

beautiful. “Bed and Bath: Decorating Ideas & Projects” is only one in

a long series of great idea books from “Better Homes and Garden.”

Do you want to go from the general to the specific? The library

also has some specialized books for the home designer who is looking

for a particular style to dominate the home. Suzanne Slesin, for one,

has put out a series of wonderful idea books that include “Caribbean

Style,” “Japanese Style,” “New York Style,” “Indian Style,” and

“Spanish Style” to name a few. Other titles, not from that series,

are “Pacific Island Style,” “Traditional Houses of Rural France,” and

“Adobe! Homes and Interiors of Taos, Santa Fe, and the Southwest.”

And don’t forget that if you only want to add some splash or

spice, there are tons of books on window treatments, pillow making,

faux painting, flower arranging, and much, much more. Just remember

that the Newport Beach Public Libraries are here to help you get some

fresh ideas and to help you jump right in sprucing up, or redoing,

your home to reflect the New Year and the new you.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newport beachlibrary.org. For more information on the

Central Library of any of the branch locations, please contact the

Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.