Howdy, hudee, here’s a great gift idea: A reissue of the 1961 classic, Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book: How to Plan Colors and Furnishings That Reflect the Personality of Your Family. At 432 pages, it delivers a lotta bang for your buck, too. Thanks to Heather for this tip! She found her copy at Costco, and also spotted it >> on Amazon here. << Note, I earn a small commission if you click through and buy anything from Amazon links. More info on this hours-of-fun reading:
From the Amazon description:
Take a walk down memory lane with this 1950s decorating classic, re-released for a whole new generation
The year is 1956….And during this boom period, grateful young families thrilled to find themselves homeowners after the uncertainty of the Great Depression followed by a second Great War. Those empty rooms needed filling in order to make the house a home, and homeowners turned to the iconic Better Homes and Gardens brand.
Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, the first edition of a title that would spawn ten editions over the years, became the new home bible for injecting class, style (and the occasional misguided cowboy wallpaper) into American homes. While exploring numerous styles, the main theme of the book is the on-trend mid-century modern sensibility, a style as appropriate today as it was six decades ago when the book was initially released.
Filled with hundreds of full-color period photos, dozens of adorable illustrations, and decorating tips and tricks that are both helpful and nostalgic, the book remains a fun classic. With this welcome hardcover release, reproduced exactly as it looked and read in the 1950s, everything old is new again.
Again, ya can nab it >> on Amazon here or via the widget below << or like Heather, maybe a store locally.
Felicia Alexander says
Pam, you are an angel from heaven. Your posts have made my day two days in a row–first Elizabeth’s miraculous pink kitchen, and now this!
Pam Kueber says
Thank you!
Elizabeth from Texas says
Thanks, Felicia! And yes, THANK YOU, PAM!!
rich says
you guys are awesome, thanks for sharing.
Karin says
This is great, thanks! I’ve been looking for this at thrift stores and haven’t located one yet. I think I lost my mind in the psychedelic era too, lol.
dkzody says
I have the original version. Have often pondered tossing it out, but just never could make myself do it. Now I’m glad I didn’t. Same with their cookbook. I use it, though, on a regular basis.
Bette Jean says
If you get a commish in Sudanese pounds, that’s from me in Vero Beach. ???? My kids live in the Sudan and I put this on my good girl list. Love the interwebs! ????????????
Neca says
I have the original edition of this book – I love it!
Kathi says
We’ve lived a 1954 ranch with a 1958 addition for two years and still have LOTS of projects and decorating ahead of us, so this is a must have. Thanks for the tip!
Carolyn says
While the magazine dedicated the last page to a “blast from the past” the last few years, I don’t recall them advertising the re-issue. What tha?! Yep, I see a Christmas wish here!
Jay says
Yes, I thought the same but then they put out so many cooking, gardening and decorating books and magazines.
Tess says
I’ve picked up later versions of this at thrift stores over the past several years but have never found an original edition so I know what I want for Christmas!
My son and I were delighted to see a lot of the photos from the early 1970s edition enshrined on the very funny (if you can take a joke) site ‘Interior Desecrations. http://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/
I must admit, BH&G lost their minds a bit in the psychedelic era…. But who among us didn’t? ;-). It looked cool at the time, honest!
Carolyn says
Tess, If you’re talking about that guy who made fun of the cookbooks, I always thought he was pretty mean. It wasn’t like they used EktoChrome film! But it was also funny if you came across these recipes and what your eyes saw and your brain processed never…quite…reconciled.
I’d heard/read the ’70’s were called “The Lost Decade”. We were too late for what the early Boomers started and we just never DID anything. I don’t count polyester leisure suits and matching white belt & shoes. It was like we built up all the excitement for the Bicentennial and petered out after. Music was transitioning into disco. Mini-skirts were renamed “sizzlers”. Boy, am I glad I got rid of my yearbooks! YIKES!
You know, if it hadn’t been for Pam showing the ’70’s houses that got it right (even the completely wallpapered rooms house!), we would still be writing off that decade instead of appreciating it.
Pam Kueber says
I don’t like mean. I don’t spotlight it, allow it, etc.
Mary Elizabeth says
I kind of take James Lileeks as tongue-in-cheek rather than mean, but it’s in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
Michelle says
Same here, James definitely has a reverence and care for a lot of history and he has many different books and his website is chock full of goodies. I don’t think he’s mean at all.
Dan says
I’ve had several editions of this book over the years and the originals show up frequently at thrift stores. I can’t recall my parents or any of their friends worrying so much about color schemes, and the proper proportions of primary to secondary to accent color. And, yes, contrary to the rules in this book, we often had furniture partly on and off an area rug.! Such bohemians!
Michael says
It’s a wonder you lived to tell the tale! 😉