Book Review: Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney

Title: Design Sponge at Home
Author: Grace Bonney
Enjoyment Rating: 8/10
Source: Ordered new from Amazon
Referral: I've been reading Design Sponge for years, so I've been eagerly anticipating this book
Books I've read this year: 118

Ever since a friend in Texas made fun of my plaid couch a few years ago, I've tried to pay more attention to what's going on in the world of home design. I've frequently added and dropped design blogs from my Google Reader since then. For example, I love Apartment Therapy, but I start to hyperventilate when my Reader has more than about 20 posts in it, and I can rack up 20 posts just from AT every day. Other blogs seemed lame or repetitive after a few months. But I always read Design Sponge. In fact, it's probably the only design blog where I give at least a passing glance to pretty much every post (not the ones about building a business because it doesn't apply, or the ones about flowers because I have zero floral intelligence and I can't open that can of worms right now).

So the blog is great, and the book captures everything I love about the blog. I have a voyeuristic obsession with Monday's"Sneak Peeks" (and a secret desire to be included one day), and the images in the sneak peek section of the book are amazing. The Thursday "Before and After" is my other favorite feature of the blog, and the B&A section of the book is awesome. I wasn't as big a fan of the two middle sections (DIY and flowers), probably because all of the DIY stuff looks so easy in the book and it scares me that it won't be, and flowers just plain scare me. But if you like the Design Sponge blog, or if you appreciate an aesthetic that involves bringing other stylish, eclectic and personal design, often on the cheap, I think you'll find it in this book. I've already referred back to it several times since I read it a few weeks ago.