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The House Always Wins
Book Reviews
Los Angeles Times
'The House Always Wins: America's Most Trusted Home Columnist's Guide to
Creating Your (Almost) Perfect Dream House' by
Marni Jameson
By Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 11, 2008
MARNI Jameson: dizzy, uncertain, overwhelmed ditz?
Don't believe it for a second.
This author and home-design columnist (who
also has written for the L.A. Times) is
smart, seasoned, savvy and unwilling to
settle for anything less than "just
right."
Her new book launches with an epiphany and
sails through aggravation, turmoil,
bargain hunting, major outlays of cash and
numerous other ups and downs encountered
when a person sets out to create his or
her "dream home." Eventually, she comes to
a sane and satisfying conclusion.
Is she a schlub like the rest of us? I
don't buy it. But it does make for
entertaining reading: She hates doing
laundry. She weeps upon the discovery that
her chosen drapery fabrics have been
discontinued. She has dead trees in her
frontyard and scratches all over her arms
from planting. Her flowers promptly croak.
The adventure begins when her husband
decides the family needs a really big
change. He quits his corporate job, they
sell the house and take their
California-home profit to Colorado. There,
he has a new job, and they buy a bigger,
brand-new house on a nice chunk of land
with Rocky Mountain views.
Jameson's design and decorating juices
begin flowing in earnest as she
industriously works her way through their
decorating budget and beyond.
The book takes shape around her
first-things-first plan: Put your
backgrounds in (the paint, carpet,
cabinetry etc.), dress the windows (blinds
and drapes), select and place good
furniture and top off with accessories.
But within this framework, she hits on
numerous topics. Her nuggets of advice run
the gamut: how to select the right slab
stone for countertops, how to buy the best
area rug, how to avoid being gouged on
builder upgrades, how to pack for a move,
how to choose home- theater equipment, how
to create a "tablescape" for your coffee
table, and so on.
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