Welcome Home: Simple Tips for Turning Your House into a Luxurious Retreat
There are no granite countertops in Placzek’s homey decorating book. Nor are there photographs of brushed-steel fixtures or $10,000 bathrooms. Instead, the author of 2001’s Chin Deep in Bubbles adopts a sweet, cheery D.I.Y. attitude that should appeal to readers already fond of chenille and cozy living. Her book is essentially divided two parts. The first offers suggestions for homey crafts and room decor (make a teacup candle, sew dryer sachets filled with lavender, hang bridal netting over a bed, keep a kitchen journal, etc.); the second contains recipes for homemade spa treatments and "spa cuisine" like Apple Coffee Cake. The effects are more B&B; than Canyon Ranch: decorating ideas lean towards themes ("Secret Garden Bedroom," "Celestial Fantasy Bathroom") and many of the quotations date back the 19th century. However, this old-fashioned streak is part of the book’s charm. Placzek has carefully hand-lettered and illustrated every page of this volume, with the result that the whole project glows with a kind of tender affection noticeably missing from glossier books. Early on, an epigraph by Charles Swain declares that "Home’s not merely four square walls / Tho with pictures hung and guilded; / Home is where affection calls, / Filled with shrines the heart hath builded." Placzek has clearly adopted this sentiment as her motto, and readers who agree with her should find plenty to enjoy in this lovingly crafted book.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.