Before You Buy Decorating Books

The best way to determine if you'll enjoy a decorating book is to look at it. Page through the pages. Feel it in your hands. You might do this at a friend's house, in a library, or at a bookstore. See if the photos and text appeal to you and if the style of decorating is one that you like. Decide if the colors, arrangements, and projects are things you'd like to either emulate or learn more about.

If you can't see the decorating book in person, the next best thing is online browsing. Visit a few online booksellers and look for decorating books that include excerpts. Many sites include expert reviews. View the pages, evaluating both the photos and text pages posted online. Many retailers offer notificaion services so you can sign up to get email notification of the newest books on "home and garden" for example.

The editorial descriptions, book reviews, and customer comments are posted on major bookseller websites. Take customer comments with a grain of salt, however. They may be written by friends or competitors.

It's always a good idea to compare prices before you buy. Use the links listed below to find suggested books. Notice that some of the books offered are used. Individual book links go directly into the price comparison pages of PriceGrabber. Once there, you may sort the columns by book price or total price including shipping. You can also see which outlets have the book in stock. Fast and easy!

Once you find your book in stock for the best price, click through to one of the online retailers for ordering info, or to simply read more about the book. If you order a lot of books consider setting up an account with that site so you can do easy and fast "One Click" ordering, without having to enter your address, shipping info, and credit card information every time.