Home Decorating For Dummies
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An English manor is a big house located in the country, so it's not hard to figure out how to emulate the look: just think flowers. The English Manor House style combines colors and patterns in soft fabrics with traditional case pieces.

  • Floral bouquets abound in this classic traditional style based on English country homes.

  • The most common English Manor fabric is chintz; use this floral bouquet fabric for draperies, upholstery, and to-the-floor tablecloths.

  • Choose fabrics in jewel-tone colors in brilliant reds, yellows, blues, greens, purples, and oranges.

  • Large wood pieces with decorative carved details are a great choice for furniture.

  • Mix and match different art pieces; focus primarily on portraits and landscapes.

  • Walls should either be painted in warm tones like yellows, pinks, and greens or covered in wood paneling.

  • English Manor style can also project a masculine look in browns, rich wine tones, deep greens, dark blue, and deep gold.

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Katharine Kaye McMillan, former senior editor of a New York City-based national magazine, is a writer whose work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers. She is a contributing writer to internationally circulated Florida Design Magazine. She is the co-author of several books on decorating and design, including Sun Country Style, which is the basis for licensed signature collections of furniture and accessories by three leading American manufacturers and importers. A graduate of the University of Texas in Austin, she holds a masters degree in psychology and is a doctoral student in psychology at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Patricia Hart McMillan is a nationally known interior designer, whose interior design work for private clients, designer showcases, and corporations has appeared in publications worldwide, including the New York Times and USA Today. Known as a trend spotter and for clearly articulated views on design, she is quoted frequently and extensively in both trade and consumer publications. She a ppears on TV and talk radio. A prolific writer, she is coauthor and author of seven books on interior design and decoration, with Sun Country Style signature collections of furniture based on two books. She has taught decorating courses at several colleges and conducted numerous seminars across the U.S. She is decorating editor for Christian Woman Magazine and reports on design trends for The Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune newspaper based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has been editor-in-chief of two publications and was head of a New York City-based public relations firm representing some of the most prestigious names in home furnishing and building products. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor in art history (with an emphasis in architecture), from the State University of New York (New Paltz). She was awarded a certificate from The New York School of Interior Design.

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