A Passion for Detail

I am much too old to be a "Grandmillenial" but I share their love for traditional, pretty rooms with sentimental touches from the past. It's so interesting to me to peruse older decorating books. I enjoy looking at the photos and picking out the elements that seem more timeless, that would remain in a current home (that wallpaper is fine but the heavy drapes would be simple linen panels today, maybe with a contrast trim on the leading edge, but I'd keep the plates on the wall! ). This book focuses entirely on the accessories so there is a lot that would last. The photos in this book are often quite small--there are very few full page much less double page spreads--and the lighting/sharpness are not at all to today's standards, as you'd expect with a much older book. But an awful lot of the design is timeless in my estimation. Moss uses a lot of quotations from other classic decorators of the past and even from fiction, which is fun. Her advice is sound but you probably don't need it. One interesting thing about the book is that it includes painted illustrations of classic rooms of the past from variously famous folk (Fred Astaire, Cecil Beaton, Thomas Jefferson, etc). These illustrations threw me for a moment because they were so unexpected but they grew on me. Charlotte Moss is one of my favorite decorators so I really enjoyed this look at her early career.

The book is very nice, but I was expecting more photographs of rooms showing details I could use in my own home.

Having recently discovered Charlotte Moss and her lovely books, I have purchased several. They are beautiful inside and out, so much inspiration and they make a lovely coffee table book, easy to pick up anytime you have a few minutes and a large cup of tea! I am collecting all of her books now and love them. Please read all the reviews, as I did, and make your own decision to purchase, you will not be sorry. Happy reading and between 3 and 4p, is tea time for me! :)

I never tire of looking at a designer's work where a lot of thought and detail goes into each room. She doesn't disappoint. Unlike so many designers rooms where you see everything in a brief scanning of the room, she fills and delights each room. The renderings of rooms belonging to well known individuals are also a highlight of the book and are very well done. I enjoyed reading it from cover to cover and its lovely photos.

Excellent book by Charlotte Moss. Detail is so important and she doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to decorating.

Well, it IS Charlotte, after all. I have come to the conclusion that just as there are details in decorating, details are what make life, life.

Details are my favorite part of decorating.

I'm a die-hard fan of Charlotte Moss' books and this one doesn't disappoint. It's just beautiful! I could spend hours immersed in its pages.

Nothing new and just a way to make money. I am beginning to think Michael Smith is doing the same. His last two books were just repeating the same rooms as his excellent first book.