Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #417349 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
With its floral prints, chintz fabrics, and flea market finds, vintage style is a popular one and Vintage Style: Creating a Complete Look for Your Home introduces us to Cath Kidston's variation on this theme by taking us on a tour of her own home--bedrooms, bathroom, living rooms, kitchen and home office.

Kidston's original love of this style stems from the patterns and fabrics she grew up with. When she started her own design shop as an adult, she realised that these same fabrics hadn't lost any of their freshness and comfort, and she began designing around the patterns and items she found at thrift shops and flea markets. Her vintage style consists largely of rose prints in chintz fabric as well as comfortable linen and ticking. Lavish details abound--velvet curtains, tassels, and bobble fringe, for instance.

Liberal in her use of colour, Kidston often recommends mixing clashing colour for a vibrant feeling in the room. Her rooms' walls are usually painted white, and colour is added with fabrics, furniture, and accessories, which makes it easy and inexpensive to change the colour scheme if you get tired of the old one.

Resourceful decorating ideas include the use of old scraps of patterned fabrics and striped linens, ribbon, and haberdashery flowers to create padded clothes hangers, cover ironing boards, and stitch lavender sachets--all of which would make excellent homemade gifts as well. Kidston is practical about her flea-market finds--she never buys anything she can't use. But as she points out, there are lots of unusual uses for items you already own--you just need to use a little ingenuity. A chipped china cup becomes a laundry detergent scoop; old curtains are turned into tablecloths. There's something very refreshing about such resourcefulness in an age of disposable items. Kidston's Vintage Style is all about cheerful, well-worn rooms that are as comfortable as they are pretty. --Kris Law

Amazon.co.uk Review
With its floral prints, chintz fabrics, and flea market finds, vintage style is a popular one and Vintage Style: Creating a Complete Look for Your Home introduces us to Cath Kidston's variation on this theme by taking us on a tour of her own home--bedrooms, bathroom, living rooms, kitchen and home office.

Kidston's original love of this style stems from the patterns and fabrics she grew up with. When she started her own design shop as an adult, she realised that these same fabrics hadn't lost any of their freshness and comfort, and she began designing around the patterns and items she found at thrift shops and flea markets. Her vintage style consists largely of rose prints in chintz fabric as well as comfortable linen and ticking. Lavish details abound--velvet curtains, tassels, and bobble fringe, for instance.

Liberal in her use of colour, Kidston often recommends mixing clashing colour for a vibrant feeling in the room. Her rooms' walls are usually painted white, and colour is added with fabrics, furniture, and accessories, which makes it easy and inexpensive to change the colour scheme if you get tired of the old one.

Resourceful decorating ideas include the use of old scraps of patterned fabrics and striped linens, ribbon, and haberdashery flowers to create padded clothes hangers, cover ironing boards, and stitch lavender sachets--all of which would make excellent homemade gifts as well. Kidston is practical about her flea-market finds--she never buys anything she can't use. But as she points out, there are lots of unusual uses for items you already own--you just need to use a little ingenuity. A chipped china cup becomes a laundry detergent scoop; old curtains are turned into tablecloths. There's something very refreshing about such resourcefulness in an age of disposable items. Kidston's Vintage Style is all about cheerful, well-worn rooms that are as comfortable as they are pretty. --Kris Law

Customer Reviews

This is a book packed with inspiration
I wish there were more books like this one. Cath Kidston's bright, imaginative style has inspired me in choosing decor in my own home and although I have recently become a junkie for interiors books and magazines, this one is my favourite! Her ideas are simple but really chic, and nothing in there is expensive to do. I hope her next book is out soon.

A great read for Vintange Junkies
Even if you are not a great fan of all things vintage, you will find this book a delight. The photographs alone make it worth purchasing, as they tastefully and cheerfully capture the appeal of a home decorated and accessorised with items of the past. It is also an extremely useful book, providing a wealth of usable ideas for re-creating the look in your home - without spending a fortune on designer "old." You get the idea that the author really wants you to spend hours roaming around markets, antique shops and village sales to find the ideal things for yourself. She obviously derives a great deal of pleasure from it herself and she clearly wants to share it with you. Her book is not just showing you how your home can look, but urging you to indulge yourself in the process of getting there. The narrative is inspirational and you will find yourself going back to it again and again. Every time you do, you will discover another new idea!

Inspirational motivation
I must admit that when I received the book it looked like it belonged on the coffee table with a pile of unreadable books. But I gave it a go and then couldn't put it down, I finished within the day, but was finding it hard to sleep that night... Why? All I could think about was the magnolia paint that dominated my house - It had to go, so, at 2am I started boxing up my house and searching on a well-known auction website for a few key times and next day got into town where I bought tins of white paint and went round all the charity shops. I'm happy with the result, as it didn't cost much at all. The moral of this story - Box up your house and paint the walls white BEFORE reading the book!