An Interior Design Book that is About So Much More Than Design: "Learn as much as you can and then acknowledge what you love without apology. You don’t need any excuse to love something and remember that you and your family are the ones interacting with this space every day. You don’t decorate for others; it is a personal investment." This book was very well done, especially for an emerging author - and I've read a lot of interior design books. I loved the format; each chapter focused on what we can "make room" for in our homes: from cleanliness and organization to love and family. My favorite chapter was "Make Room for Style", which goes through different styles and includes beautiful examples of each. The author used examples and photos of her own home design throughout, and the images were gorgeous - I just wish there were more of them! I also appreciated her infusion of personal stories into the chapters, as well as the introduction at the beginning. While this book may cater more towards those with young children (like the author), there are numerous ideas that would apply to any prospective designer. Also, you can't help but be inspired by words like these: "My greatest hope for you, my reader, is that you feel uplifted and inspired from reading this book about how to create soul and style in your home. I like to picture you closing the book, standing up and saying, “Yes! I can do this!” And you can!"

Real Life with Kids Doesn't Have to be Ugly: As a mom of 5 kids, working full-time, I typically stay far away from any design or style books. I usually feel them to be impractical, expensive and frankly, a waste of my time and energy. Enter Lucy Jo's book. She is the real deal. She is honest, has perspective and talks about the importance of ensuring that your home and your body are functioning at their best. She has kids. She is a mom. She is frugal. She has amazing ideas. She loves sharing her passion for creating useful and beautiful spaces. I couldn't help but be hooked after reading the first 5 pages of this book. What a game changer this book has been. Lucy Jo breaks down each room of the house, helps prioritize and is realistic about budgets, time frames and LIFE happening!

Relevant and Motivating: Very well written and flows well, making it easy to read. I devoured the book in two days. The personal stories told resonated with me and I loved how each idea and concept was portrayed in an attainable way, making it very motivating for me to start/continue creating the "style" and feeling I want in my own home. I absolutely loved the "Now What?" portion at the end of each section that gave doable tasks to get me started on my way without becoming overwhelmed. And the pictures were BEAUTIFUL! Such a great read!