Most of us spend more time in our homes than any other place. For better or worse, this highly personal space has a powerful influence over the way we feel about our lives. Based on the program used by the authors in their successful home consulting practice, this book teaches readers to use psychological and design principles to transform their houses into nurturing and supportive living.
The exercises in the book encourage readers to list the activities they engage in, room by room, in their homes. Readers learn how to analyze each room's size, layout, and decor and how to read their psychological and physiological reactions to the various spaces. Then the book offers readers a step-by-step process they can use to figure out what they and their living companions-family members, roommates, and even pets-want out of each room. Based on these discoveries, the book proposes cleaning, organizing, and decorating ideas guaranteed to make each room function better.
"This book unlocks the door on home design, giving you keys to creating a home that lifts your spirits and agrees with your lifestyle." -Candice Olson,one of North America's top designers and host of Divine Design on HGTV
Date Published 4/15/2005
Ratings
Rated By: Jacquelyn King
From: Unavailable
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Comments: Emotional House by Robyn and Ritchie Emotional House is a book I wish had been written years ago. It provides everything I need to know to make a comfortable, welcoming home for family and friends and, wonder of wonders, for me as well. I don't know how Robyn and Ritchie do it, but they write as one. Their style makes for an easy and enjoyable read. I planned for it to be one of those books that put me to sleep after a couple of pages, to be read on a night-to-night basis. Instead, I found myself reading on and on, finishing it before the week was out. I couldn't wait to get their next suggestion, many of which I'm actually applying to my home. It's given me and my home a new lease on life. Emotional House is fun, it's refreshing and it's smart!
Rated By: Kimberly Smith
From: Los Angeles, CA
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Comments: Emotional House: Redesigning your home can change your life I received this book as a gift recently and I am completely amazed at how it has shaped my idea of what I truly want in my home, and in my life. Thank you Emotional House!
Kimberly Smith
Rated By: Samantha Varga
From: Utah
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Comments: Great book! Makes me think about my house in a whole new way. Very motivating!!
Rated By: Carolyn Smith
From: Unavailable
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Comments: A "Must-Have" Book for the Home Decorator! Why didn't I think of this? It's amazing how much lighting affected the mood in my home. The authors provided straightforward advice that I could actually apply in my own home. No frills! No gimmicks! Just straight talk and practical ideas that worked. A must for the home decorator! Carolyn Smith
Rated By: Cynthia T. Paulson
From: Unavailable
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Comments: It Changed My Life! I tried the exercises in the book and for the first time in my life I have a great color scheme in my house! I did three rooms and love them all! The colors work with my furniture and friends have even commented on it. One room we never used and now we are in there all the time. It is warm and cozy and you feel good in there. Guess that is what the authors meant by color therapy!"
Rated By: Gail Schier
From: Carmel, Indiana
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Comments: Change your Life by Changing Just One Room A work of an emotional home is never finished. The art of creating that perfect sanctuary is very chalenging but the book," The Emotional House" makes the process flow more smoothly. I was impressed at how the authors appeal to all ages and cultures. I found the suggestion of a house binder very simple yet very important and time- saving. Following the house rules will open your eyes by seeing that you can change your life by changing just one room. This book is an excellent companion to the authors' earlier book, "Spitirual Housecleaning,"
Rated By: Jill Swanson
From: Portland Me
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Comments: Turns your home into a best friend My mother taught me that it is okay to have many best friends, and I do. I have one who is really good for talking to about business, another for creative ideas, one to plan great dinner parties with, and another to share the fun and scary stuff about being in love. This book helped me turn my home into the space equivalent of having all my best friends around. It explained how different rooms care for different parts of my life and made me realize that, like friendship, my home was in it for the long haul. I could take my time to make plans and savor the process, just like having tea on the veranda.
Rated By: Margaret J. Butts
From: Bend, Oregon
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Comments: The Emotional House - a review While not all suggestions in this book are either applicable or practical for our family,there are enough good ones that I am totally satisfied with my purchase. I believe this book would be very helpful for all homeowners.
I am eager to being putting them into practice in our multli-generation family, ages 1 year to 85 years.
Rated By: Robert R. Pyke
From: Unavailable
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Comments: What you really need to know before you redecorate What you really need to know before you redecorate is not a color scheme or your favorite era of furniture, it's what will make you feel good about being home, and this book helps you get there in a panoply of ways. Make no mistake, it won't teach you; it will help you read your own mind (and that of your live-in partner if you have one)--develop your most basic interests, help you achieve the harmony and balance that you need. I'd still have enjoyed some pretty pictures and diagrams to break up the text and help me think in new ways, and that's the only reason I didn't give it five stars.
Rated By: cybra "cybra"
From: Seattle, WA
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Comments: I really enjoyed this book... After reading and looking through many different style books and interior design advice books, I found that I was confused about how to pull different ideas, doodads and furniture I already have together. Ms. Robyn has a gentle and clear writing style and a way of helping the reader to assess HOW enjoyable one's house is and WHY a room is, or isn't, working. A brief example... do you have a formal style but live casually? There is going to be a clash that will create tension. This book is structured aroound some very basic rules, that will help any style you choose to work well.
Rated By: WMVF
From: San Francisco, CA
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Comments: The Emperor's New Age Clothes Based on the other reviews, I was eager to read this book. What a disappointment! The decorating advice is the same as every other book: declutter, have comfortable chairs with reading lights, hang some art, put kitchen things where you use them, design your home for you, not based on decorating magazines. What differentiates this book is that the standard material is wrapped in New Age 'spiritual' veils and tassles, so a room now has an "altar" instead of a "focal point." This lingo might have some value in knocking people into thinking about what they truly want in a home, but if you already have a comfortable home, you won't learn anything new here.
Rated By: DEE
From: Toronto, ON CANADA
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Comments: A LIGHT BULB MOMENT BOOK The Emotional House is no ordinary design book. Doing the exercises inside will set off a series of light bulb moments for anyone who tries them. This book offers amazing action plans and goal-setting exercises that go way beyond designing. There are plenty of good design techniques too (I really enjoyed the colour therapy and personal style exercises) but it was learning about the emotional functions of rooms that was the real eye-opener. I finally understood some of the issues in my home and fixed them.
Some other reviewer mentioned something or other about altars instead of focal points(?). I don't remember anything like that and I read this book cover to cover. Focal points were discussed throughout as a way to anchor the emotional function of the room (according to Amazon's Search Inside This Book option, focal points appear on 15 different pages). Perhaps that reviewer mixed this book up with another? From my perspective, The Emotional House is well worth the read.
I'd sum it up as: the road to a great life starts in the home, so fix your place up!
Most of us spend more time in our homes than any other place. For better or worse, this highly personal space has a powerful influence over the way we feel about our lives. Based on the program used by the authors in their successful home consulting practice, this book teaches readers to use psychological and design principles to transform their houses into nurturing and supportive living.
