‘No Place Like Home’ Review + Giveaway

By Kate Riley April 19, 2011

The other day, I received a copy of designer Stephen Saint-Onge’s book No Place Like Home.  Many of you know, Stephen’s work appeared in a monthly ‘House Calls’ series in Better Homes & Gardens, and I always looked forward to his makeover features.  He’s been named one of the top 15 Designers by House Beautiful. 

When I first casually flipped through the pages of this book, nothing really jumped out at me so I put it down to ‘read later’.  But then I actually started reading it, and I have to say, after finishing it, I gained so much from the sense and sentiments on the pages, especially Stephen’s insight on simple, clutter free family friendly design. 

stephen book cover

My favorite thing about this book that really surprised me is that it is written in Stephen’s voice, with his influences and thought process clearly apparent on the pages.  I love in the ‘Introduction’ how he details his “very Norman Rockwell” small town upbringing, and how so often movies are his creative muse in design. 

stephen quote

I love that too.  

Inside the 170+ pages, you’ll find tips for styling bookcases, quick ways to bring personality to you home, tips for mixing fabrics and furniture styles, tricks for making rooms feel more spacious, and creating better flow in your home.  It’s filled with pages of Stephen’s ‘Creative Thoughts’ on the best ways to make all of your spaces comfortable and inviting, from family rooms to kid spaces, and also make them work for the way modern families gather and live together.  He is a father, husband, and homeowner with a fantastic sense of what families really need and want in their homes.

 

For example, with this formal living room makeover, Stephen walks the reader through the steps of transforming this space from blah to beautiful, from choosing the paint on the walls, to the layering of the area rug and properly scaled furniture, to the addition of the window treatments, and then the final accessories, all combined to bring warmth and style into this sophisticated but not stuffy living room.  

stephen 1.tif

You can view the video of this room’s transformation and hear Stephen’s voice as he walks through the step by step in this room’s makeover at BH&G.  

Stephen worked his same magic on this cottage style dining space.

stephen nook before

 

In the book are Stephen’s steps to giving this room a facelift where he shows how by adding wainscoting to the walls, painting the hutch, and energizing with a palate of crisp blue and warm yellow, the space is much fresher and more modern.

stephen 2.tif

 

There’s an entire chapter dedicated to renovation and all the things a homeowner should consider before starting the process.  This ‘after’ attic space was one of Stephen’s projects where the empty storage attic was redesigned into a functional home office filled with personality and style, but also to perfectly suit the homeowner’s needs.

stephen 3.tif

 

He discusses all of the rooms inside the home in great detail, including the kitchen, and how to make it work best for the family, and also capture the feeling of the family members that live there. 

kitchen quote

stephen 5.tif

 

My sole criticism of this book is that most of the images are darker and smaller than I prefer, I was even squinting with some of them.  Maybe I need a new prescription?  I even brightened some of the images you see in this post with my own software.   I think with all the magazines and blogs I read, I’ve become accustomed to big bright images of spaces, and in my opinion, this book’s photographs could have been much bigger and brighter, but again, that is my personal preference. 

What I do like about the photographs in the book is that they are taken by Stephen himself.  They are not overly styled pictures of high end homes, rather they are images of real families living in real homes designed for real living, and that is what Stephen captures very well in this book. 

My favorite takeaway from this text is the idea of a scrapbook style ‘Look Book’.  I keep tear sheets from magazines in binders, but Stephen takes it further.  He recommends  keeping a touchable inspiration guide where you can write thoughts and store your favorite images and textures, and then use that as a guide for decorating your home.    

You can purchase a copy of Stephen Saint-Onge’s No Place Like Home here and also follow his blog too. 

I also have two copies of No Place Like Home  to giveaway !  Simply leave a comment mentioning the one space you struggle with the most, and you’ll be entered to win!   Giveaway ends Saturday April 23rd at 8 p.m. PST.  Two winners chosen at random. 

 

.

691 comments

  1. Oh I would love this. We are moving and I would love the inspiration.
    thank you for your own inspiration. I painted my kitchen cabinets white before Christmas and I swear it helped enormously to sell our house.xxxx

  2. I struggle with our family room. It is hard to keep it looking nice because we use it so much that everything is always cluttered looking.

  3. I struggle most with a very large and tall wall off of my living room. Would love to win this book.

  4. I wrote about this new book by Stephen St. Onge about a month ago on my FB page, Gracious Spaces. I really like his common sense approach to decorating with family in mind. I love that he’s a family man, as well. It’s a great book to have and thought it would make a thoughtful gift! Love to have you like me as well over at Gracious Spaces, my restyling & decorating biz. Thanks for your inspiration!

  5. I struggle with our family room/kitchen area…the family room is small and we can’t seem to get the right sized furniture in there to accomodate the family..it’s frustrating b.c it is the center of our home…loved the review of the book and will check out his blog..thanks!!

  6. My master bedroom! It’s a really odd space- smaller but really long and narrow, I always have a hard arranging furniture and deciding what looks right.

  7. I struggle the most with my bedroom. I’m not quite sure where to begin, and it seems like such a huge (and expensive) project! I have a few paint samples painted on the wall, and the shape of my dream headboard outlined with painter’s tape above the bed…but I haven’t gotten much further than that, yet.

  8. I would love a copy! We are moving into a home in the near future that will need a kitchen remodel and some bathroom redos. I would love to read his tips on making the kitchen reflect the family that will be living there! Love your blog, cant get enough! xoxo

  9. I also struggle with our family room. Shape is not quite right, fireplace takes up one whole wall and so on.

  10. I struggle with my family room, I have changed the curtains way too many times and just don’t know what to do. There’s a lot of windows and too much glare on the tv. I hope I win.

  11. my desk. it’s always been such a disaster and I just can’t get it to work with the rest of the pieces in the living room.

  12. I love what Stephen did with the attic room! The second floor of our 80 yr. old farmhouse is two rooms with sloped ceilings. One is our master bedroom and the other a dressing room/sewing room combo. Each room has a 5′ long closet built into the slope with narrow doors, making it difficult to access anything in the back. I need organizational ideas, particularly how to utilitze the closet space for our clothes and how to make use of the space beneath the sloped walls. Right now most of hour hanging clothes are on free-standing racks and the little ones are into everything. Thanks for showing these photos and I hope I win a copy of No Place Like Home.

  13. In the next month we are moving into a brand new house. I am concerned about storage and decluttering our stuff and only bringing things we LOVE into the new place. Thanks :)

  14. I struggle the most with our two story entry. We have these huge walls with nothing on them because I can’t figure out how to decorate them.

  15. I have a *formal* living/ dining room space right off my open planned kitchen which basically means you can sit at one table and look potentially at the other. It’s just weird. I struggle with how to configure these spaces constantly in my head….do I embrace convention and buy the dining suite or do I configure the Living room and stick in a home office (which is what is going on now) Ah me….decisions, decisions.

  16. I struggle with our two story family room, and figuring out how to bring things down and make it cozy.

  17. Would love this book – his style is so real, family-friendly and simple! I’m currently struggling with just about every room in my house! LOL! But mostly probably our living room :) I definitely need to actually READ more design books, rather than just look at the pretty pictures.

  18. I find my living room to be challenging because the natural light is a bit tricky. Thank you for this giveaway!

  19. I am struggling with my dining room. It needs something, but I don’t know what that something is!

  20. Definitely having some trouble with my kitchen. Looking to redo but there are just so mnay options!

  21. I always struggle with my kitchen, I HATE it and want a new one but simply can’t afford it. I also struggle with the finishing touches of a room.

  22. My new home has a 19×20 living room space that I have no idea what to do with! We were blessed by having an office and family room int he house, so I’m kind of at a loss as to how to make this a function space that’s well used.

  23. I struggle with the living room and finding a cohesive style around the clutter!

  24. I am struggling without great room – since it adjoins our kitchen, is two stories, and has a fireplace at the opposite end. Continuity would be nice, but comfort is needed too.

    Help!

  25. Living in an apartment!! I can’t wait to live in a house and just PAINT!!!

  26. I struggle with our large staircase – never know how to paint/hang things. Speaking of a “Love Book” – do you use Pinterest? Would love to follow you if so!

  27. I struggle with my small living room, which has tall walls that I have to idea what to do with. Thanks for the chance to win this book!!

  28. I always struggle with my dining room. I have a small house and I feel like it has too many functions other than just dining room.

  29. My basement is a big rectangle. I need help defining space!! I’d love this book to give me some ideas on what I need to do!

  30. I would love this!! I struggle with my living room. It’s a big, long rectangle, and it opens up to the dining area and kitchen. Just awkward all around.

  31. Well, since my studio apartment is all one space, I’d go with that – although the “living area” needs the most work. It’s so boring!

  32. I struggle with my dining room – I’m starting to hate the table and chairs, so that’s proving to be quite a challenge for the whole room! :-p I have hope for the future though!

  33. I think it would be my kitchen. High vaulted ceilings and an open floor plan make it hard for it to be it’s own room. Does that make sense??? I hope so.

  34. I struggle with the kitchen/dining area. The kitchen is decent size but there isn’t a lot to work with. It connects to the dining room and I would love for it to have a more cohesive look.

  35. Sounds like an interesting book. I am almost embarassed to say I struggle most with the landry room! It is pretty much a nothing room and needs lots of help!

  36. Only one space? The family room, dining room, office, bathroom, and master…transient living…

  37. I struggle most with our dining room. We moved into our home several months ago. As newlyweds, most of our furniture was donated or bought on a bargain. We’ve refinished some peices, but have a long way to go. I love to cook and we love to have people over, so I want the dining room to be somewhere we enjoy being. Would love to have this book!

  38. Our master bedroom…it is always the last on my to-do list. I made improvements awhile ago, but never added those finishing touches.

  39. I struggle with my bedroom. For some reason I always have great plans for decorating but, but it’s always the last place I actaully give attention to.

  40. Oh my gosh, that yellow and blue dining room is gorgeous! My favorite snuggle place is my family room!

  41. The space that gives me the most trouble is our living room. It has a vaulted 25 or 30 ft ceiling with large unreachable windows. I need ideas for window treatments that help reduce energy consumption and look stylish too.

  42. I struggle with the living room/dining room. So hard to not make them collide!

  43. I have these weird ledges going up my stairs that seem like a wonderful decorating opportunity, but I have no idea what to do with them.

  44. My living room is the room I struggle with the the worst. The room is so big and I have so many empty spaces because I just don’t know what to put in it. Thank for the chance!

  45. I constantly struggle with my living/dining combo. It has a oddly placed bay window, 2 different entry ways, and its narrow. I’d love a new book full of ideas and inspirations.

    Love your blog – I’m a daily reader!

  46. MEH. Ugh. and Blah… are some pretty good words to describe my living room. It is so bland and safe… I need to break free! I would love to have this book! I need help… clearly…lol.

  47. My struggle is the kitchen. It’s the first place you walk into in my house and I’ve never found a way to keep the entrance clean. I’ve tried mats (just got dirty), rugs (get dirty, but can be washed), and just constant keeping up with the dirt. Other than constantly wiping down the floor there is really no way to keep that Pennsylvania country dirt out. I love decorating and would love this book! Peggy from PA

  48. I struggle with my living room because of its odd layout, as well as the fact that we have lots of new-ish expensive wood furniture that my husband doesn’t want me to alter or sell. I wish I could step back in time and un-buy it.

  49. I struggle with my dining room! My antique china cabinet is pretty low, so figuring out how to deal with what to do above/on it is always a challenge. Would love to win this book!

  50. I struggle with my dining room! My antique china cabinet is pretty low, so figuring out how to deal with what to do above/on it is always a challenge. Would love to win this book!

  51. I’m struggling with my dining room. I think it needs something, but I can’t figure out what.

  52. I think the room that I struggle with the most is our living room. It’s a large room but not really wide. It’s more long and narrow which makes arranging furniture difficult. It also doesn’t help that we purchased our couch without measuring the room. Not a wise move but I didn’t know any better then. It’s amazing the things you learn during the adventures of homeownership.

  53. My living room is a lousy size/shape and it’s really the kids domain. So it’s generally a pig sty! I would love a pro’s advice on how to make this room work for us all. I love Stephen’s style and am excited for this book!

  54. Home Office. I am looking for ideas to combine home office with laundry room, craft room, mud room, etc. Of course it would be great to gather ideas for updating the entire house too!

  55. Pretty much any room in my house, but the most irksome is my laundry / mud room space at teh entrance from the garage, small and not very functional st this moment

  56. I’d love to enter! I really struggle with my kitchen, specifically the dining area. It is already very large, but there is also an eating nook/bay window. I have enough room for two large dining tables, and don’t quite know what to do to make it comforting and inviting, and how to make sense of it.

  57. I struggle with my dinning area. It’s a small space but I know it has potential.

  58. I have always struggled with my bedroom! The “Master Suite” Well, after 6 years it still sits – a room with furniture – but definitely NO style.

  59. Ooh I would love to win this book! The one room that I don’t know what to do with is the family room. Of course it is the one room we hang out in ALL the time but we’ve already painted and have furniture from our past residence so it just seems like that’s how it’s going to be… forever!

  60. My living room! It sits at the very center of the house so there are many entrances/exits and you have to pass through it to go anywhere. I don’t know how to make it flow.

  61. I struggle with our master bedroom. I keep on trying to figure out what’s wrong and two bedspreads, new lamps and some art later, I still can’t pinpoint it.

  62. My bedroom is the room I struggle with the most. The storage and the style. It is just thrown together bits and pieces of furniture that my husband and I have had since we were young. It lacks color as I can’t ever decide what color to go with and so I keep the walls white. We have very little hung on the walls. It is just a very jumbled mixed up space.

  63. I’m at a loss with our office — we need TONS of book storage and room for two desks, plus the pets like their corner (since they like to be with us and we work in there!) AND my husband uses the closet for his clothes. The room always feels so disjointed and cluttered!

  64. Ok. I am going to go back a read this book. My first impressions were not good. I found the photographs uninspiring and of poor quality and nothing new or impressionable in the content. I felt like this book was a waste of money & time.

    I respect everything you do/say, so I will put this one back in the pile to read/look at again ;)

    -XOXO

  65. I definitely struggle most with my formal living space. It’s the first thing my guests see when they walk into my home and so I feel like it should set the mood. But all it does is stress me out! I’ve moved everything around 100 times on different walls with different art and different colored pillows and I’m just lost everytime I look at that room.

  66. I struggle with my front living area/dining room combo. There is no division between the 2 rooms, an odd placed column, and no furniture in the front half. Makes me sad whenever I look at it.

  67. Yeesh, gotta be our dining room/kitchen. We live in a small house (13 sq ft) with four young children whom I homeschool. Because the rest of the house is closed off with walls and doors (typical Ranch), those rooms have to serve many needs. Eating, school, projects, entertaining, storage, entryway, mudroom, etc. It’s been hard to make it all work.

  68. I have a living room/dining room open plan with access/view into the kitchen. I really need help with choosing a design that brings the three spaces together but giving each their separate identities.

  69. I struggle with the master bedroom. I just can’t get it to be sophisticated AND comfortable

  70. I struggle with a little “library” area in my stair landing. It’s a lovely little space and I want it to remain functional for our books. It’s hard to find classy furniture that fits in such a small space. I would love to win this book! Stephen is my favorite and I love his features in BH&G.

  71. Like others, my problem area is the living/dining space. To make things worse, I have a baby grand piano I have to fit, too. Hoping to transition to a library/music room in which we occasionally dine…

  72. I struggle on a daily basis with what to do with our family room. I’ve redone every room in our home except our family room. I’ve changed curtains, pillows, decorations probably on a monthly basis. It’s narrow with a ginormous wall to ceiling fireplace, a door out to a muddy backyard that we never use and a flat screen TV perched on an enormous TV cabinet ( I should mention that he planted it right in front of our paned picture window!) that my husband bought. The furniture is too big for the room but we’re not able to change that out just yet. I just can’t for the life of me figure out what colors to use (the bottom half of the wall is wainscotted) or where in the room the furniture looks good. Help! lol

  73. I struggle with my living room. Super high ceilings make it difficult to fill empty walls and make the room feel more cozy.

  74. Our home office is a disaster. We need organization and filing. It’s a small space, so it probably wouldn’t take a lot to get it under control, but it’s finding the time to do it, and the right organizational tools and supplies. Thanks for the review of Stephen’s book. Looks interesting.

  75. I have the most trouble with our family room. It is partially underground with two windows and no matter what i do it feels like a cave to me.

  76. I struggle with our bedroom… I focused so much on the kids’ rooms that I am coming up empty for ours!

  77. Kitchen, kitchen, kitchen! It never feels completely perfect.. And it’s the part of the house where I spend the most time along with guests. Would love to win a copy of the book!

  78. My biggest challenge is the 1950s era kitchen here with extremely limited counter space & very few electircal outlets. With no money to spend for a major remodel, I am constantly looking for ideas to help me cope with this space since I love to cook!

  79. I have two rooms that I struggle with the most – our master bedroom, and now especially the “spare” room – which was the office but is in transition now to become the nursery for our baby. I have no idea what to do with it!

  80. i struggle with the living room. right now it’s a mix of styles and colors–it could really use a makeover.

  81. I struggle with our dining room the most. I want it to be like Stephen says, ” a place to make good memories.” I want my boys growing up knowing that that is where we gather as a family and eat and have good family talks.

  82. Love your site, love your ideas, stealing, I mean borrowing your ideas, and trying to make my home beautiful one room at a time. I am struggling most right now with paint color and window treatments. I want to go with a warm neutral, but everything in my room screams warm neutral and it’s time for me to break out and try something new. Help!!! Hope to soon be brave enough to start tackling some refurbishing of old treasures.

  83. I desperately need help in my formal dining/living room. It’s very long 13X39 feet and I want the same type of formal—but not stuffy—design as pictured above. It’s just so daunting I don’t no where to begin!

  84. I struggle with my living room. It is the first thing people see and I want it to make a very good impression.

  85. Right now, I’m struggling with our living room in our new house. It’s very oddly shaped and our furniture is not quite fitting as I had hoped.

  86. I struggle with the entertainment center. I’m all in favor of covering up the TV and all the equipment in a nice antique cupboard, but my husband loves to look at his flatscreen all day. It’s hard to find ways to display the TV in an attractive way.

  87. Kate my biggest struggle space – Kid’s Craft Area! I hate to relegate them to the basement as they love to be in the common great room area but all the crayons, paints, papers, stickers, playdough, etc. needs to be easily kid accessible without laying all over the kitchen table. Looking for a permanent kid space without sacrificing my dining table or sense of order. Stephen’s book sounds like it might have a family friendly suggestion – I’d love to gobble it up!

  88. I struggle with my kitchen the most. I love how his style is so pulled together yet family friendly.

  89. We recently moved into an apartment while we decide on our next place (almost empty nesters). In the meantime, I struggle with how to turn the apartment into a “home.” I love Stephen’s style and have incorporated a number of his ideas already but would LOVE to do more.

  90. I struggle with my basement family room. It’s dark and artificial light. Need help!

  91. I struggle with my kitchen and breakfast area. I’m always wanting to create a better use of this space, but it’s got a main walk-through right in the middle of it, and I can never figure it out! Thanks for the giveaway – I would really enjoy reading this book!

  92. I struggle with our living room/office nook/ dining room. They are all one big space and I really have a hard time making them their OWN space with having them work together to

  93. I just love SS-O’s style and casual attitude. Love his regular column in BHG. I wish he could help us with our Master Bedroom! Its always such a disaster. A mish-mash of styles and furniture cast offs from other rooms. The book would provide great inspiration! Thanks Centsational Girl!

  94. My living room is the biggest pain in my rear! I have great stuff but have no idea how to get those finishing touches that make a house look tied together…

  95. Our sun room is a challenge. It’s huge, which is great, but it’s huge and I don’t know how to deal with it. Two small seating areas? One big one you have to yell across? Ack.

  96. We´ve been living in our house for three years now and the living room still needs a makeover since we used most of the furniture we had in our previous house. I´m struggling about the curtains in this room.

  97. I am desperately struggling with our master bedroom right now. With 2 little boys, I so want the bedroom to be a place to retreat, but I also hate spending too much (time or money) on a room that really only my husband and I see. Right now it has become a dumping ground and I HATE that! I could really use some inspiration and motivation for that area.

  98. I live in a small apartment, and my problem is clutter! Especially in our living area where we entertain guests. I feel like I’m trying to cram too much stuff into to little space, and I don’t like being in that area.

  99. Is “all spaces” an answer? A living room with lots of doorways…a home office that needs more warmth…I could go on and on! Looks like a great book showcasing my kind of casual style.

  100. I have struggled for the last two years with the HUGE wall in my kitchen/dining room area. I have tried a few paint colors and wall coverings and I cannot figure out what to do. Recently, my husband and I added board and batten (using your Basic Board and Batten instructions) to this wall to give it a little more dimension but I am still having trouble with what to do on the top half.

  101. Oh to choose just one space! This book looks great!!! My biggest challenge right now is our master bedroom. We just moved and left a tiny, cramped little bedroom behind and now have a ginormous space (really its both giant and enormous!!)…but it feels so cold and empty. I have no idea what to do with the room however, I do know that I don’t want to fill the space just for the sake of filling it. I’d love to warm it up a bit and give the room a relaxing atmosphere!

  102. I struggle with the fact that I run a daycare out of my home and my home always looks, well, like a daycare!

  103. My bedroom because we went from a large room with loads of light to a smaller one with hardly any light so our dark wood furniture makes it seem waaay smaller.

  104. I’m still trying to figure out how to make our living room look like it’s ‘ours’. The built-in bookcases just aren’t right, and I’m not sure what to fill them with!

  105. I have 2 rooms I struggle with. My kitchen and bathroom!!! Both need a lot of work and we just haven’t had the burget to much with them. They are both so outdated. Someday :)

  106. The book looks great! The space I am currantly struggling with is our hallway/stairwell. The stairwell is open with really high walls and I’m trying to figure out how to fill the space but not make it look random or cluttered.

  107. I can’t stand our front room. It’s a mix of an office area, reading area (which has NEVER been used as set up) and dining area (also not used). It’s the first thing you see when you walk in our house and it drives me nutso.

  108. I struggle the most with my bedroom. I need it to be a much more relaxing space, but also more personalized.

  109. I struggle with furniture arrangement in our living room. It has a wall of great windows with a view that I want to maximize but there are no true walls in the space (one full of windows and the other taken up by a fireplace and built-in shelves). Too MANY focal points!

  110. Wow, those rooms are gorgeous! Right now I am struggling with painting all the common areas (kitchen, breakfast area, family room, foyer, etc.) in our home. They are all connected and I just can’t figure out what paint color I want to use.

    Thanks for the chance to win!!

    Teresa <

  111. I LOVE Stephan Saint-Onge! I struggle with my living room. It’s so tricky to balance function (including comfort, technology, storage) and style. Plus it’s a small space and I’m still slowly trading out my college furniture for “grown-up” stuff.

  112. I love the “farmhouse” style of the yellow dining room. Beautiful! I struggle with our dining room/living room area. Way too much oak! Maybe I need to get out the white paint…

  113. I struggle with “my” room. Ideally it would be a space for crafting/yoga/reading etc. But I never seem to get to it, the other rooms come first.

  114. Hey Kate, I struggle with my kitchen. There’s pretty much a wall of windows, so it’s nice and bright all day, but the walls are the same taupe/beige color as our living room and hall way. I want to paint it white this spring, that’s the easy fix. The worst part is the dark gray slate floor, it shows EVERY crumb or fuzz. We rent, which means I won’t be getting new flooring. But I figure once the walls are lightened up and I add a few shelves on one wall to display my collection of pitchers and vintage dishes, it should look much better!!

  115. This book looks great! Right now I am struggling with our playroom – I want it to be fun, kid friendly, functional and stylish all at the same time and I just can’t seem to get it right!

  116. I love the pictures. I can’t wait to go through the book. The one area in my house that I would love to renovate or at least decorate is my laundry room. It is such a small space, I would love for it to be more organized and pretty too!

  117. I struggle with the living room… there’s just too much going on in there… TV, snack time, toys, kids… I need help!!

  118. I struggle with my bedroom– I love super feminine details, while my boyfriend prefers plain plain plain– Hopefully this book will help!

  119. I am currently struggling with my “formal living room”! There is just NOTHING about my life at the moment that is formal! I need this room to function in so many different ways and do it in a stylish approachable way!

  120. I kinda have a struggle with my whole house! It’s my first house and I have lots of bare walls that I am just not sure what to do with. I search everywhere for inspiration but I’m still not sure I have the hang of it!

  121. I am struggling with our home office/playroom. I never have enough places for all the toys and I hate that the desk always looks so messy.

  122. Oh, definitely the family room: it is centered on the TV and that drives me crazy. Add in reflections from windows, odd spaces built in on both sides of the fireplace (as if we were going to set up two TVs for heaven’s sake).

  123. I am just now learning about design, instead of simply function, and oh how I could use some guidance!

  124. First of all, I love Stephen, he has such great style and so sensible. I am currently struggling with the basement and how to make it a “hang out” space for my kids but still keep it looking presentable.

  125. The kitchen/family room area…I want it to function well and be cozy at the same time! I need some help!

  126. I struggle with my eat-in kitchen that flows into the dining room. There is a bar that separates the two, and to me, it seems like too much seating in one area. Yet I can’t bring myself to take out the bar because I don’t know how we would redesign it! Ugh!

  127. These images have me drooling!

    I struggle with a small, square-shaped room off our dining area — we use it as a “library” — sort of. Three of the walls are either big windows or doors, so it’s like a big, glass box. This makes finding a place for bookshelves and arranging furniture pretty really tricky.

    I like Stephen’s unpretentious and liveable style and would LOVE to glean a few tips from his book! :)

  128. Sounds like a great book! We struggle with our kitchen- the space is small. It’s hard for it to look cute and be functional. There aren’t a lot of hiding places for bulky kitchen items.

  129. By far the space i struggle with most is our living room… it is a work in progress! That said, I could use help in our master bedroom, kids’ rooms, kitchen, bathroom, family room…. lol!

  130. My family room is the bane of my existence. Just bought furniture for it for the 3rd time in 6 years. New furniture arrives in 4 days. Wish me luck!!

  131. Looks like a great book. I struggle with out family room. It is long and narrow and where we spend most of our time playing, watching TV and just hanging out. I’ve yet to come up with an arrangement that fits the room and really serves our needs.

  132. Definitely my TV/Family room, windows along one wall, fireplace on another, TV on another and open plan to the kitchen etc. Really hard to furnish nicely, I feel like it’s a very bitty room. Would definitely be the one I would like madeover, perhaps the book has some ideas!
    Tracey

  133. Love Stephen’s casual sophistication. I adore designers who can effortlessly combine style and comfort in a room. The room in our house I have the most difficulty decorating is the addition. It’s a long, narrow room that serves as dining room, music room and sitting room. I need it to multi-task and cannot find the right configuration, but will continue experimenting until I get it right!

  134. We have a family room that has a lot of potential — a space where with a wood-burning stove we spend most of our winter evenings, but in the summer it’s just a big dark “cave.” I’d love some advice on how to tap the potential of this large space in our house.

  135. I struggle most with my kitchen/dining area. I just don’t know how to make it functional and fitting with the rest of the house.

  136. I actually loved his articles in BHG! Sadly they arn’t in there any longer. I actually used all the paint colors he suggested in one article – brilliant. Love his stuff! If i don’t win – i’ll definately be buying his book! Thanks Kate!

  137. What a lovely book,so inspiring..I think I struggle the most with our family room.I want it to be casual and fun but blend with the rest of our home..Help Stephen!!!

  138. The space I struggle with the most would be the interior of our house! It is just over 1000 sq ft with rooms that are narrow and that have odd corners making furniture hard to place and look ‘right’.

  139. I love the living room! I am inspired to get going on mine that has been pretty blah for so long. I want to use an area rug over the carpet(until I can afford wood floors) like Stephen used.

  140. Like many others have mentioned, I struggle with our combined kitchen/dining area/family room. It’s just one large area and I have trouble making them all work together.

  141. I struggle with knowing what to do with my loft area. It’s the TV area and not the first place others come to in my home, but I spend time there and am still living with old “college” furniture that I’m ready to replace with something…whatever that is.

  142. oh my, one space? Currently my kitchen – we can’t afford a remodel (even a budget remodel), and its a battle to make that space look lovely.

  143. Hi Kate, I love Stephen Saint-Onge, love the way his designs are so doable for anyone on any budget! Anyway, my laundry room/mudroom is the hardest working room in our home…backpacks, shoes, and stuff. It is a major dumping ground as it is the first room we walk into when entering from work, school etc.

  144. That book looks fantastic! I definitely have the hardest time with our living room/dining area. We have limit space in our small apartment and I know our big furniture is not helping the situation. Additionally, I struggle with making the space modern, cozy and functional for our two young boys (2 years and 3 months). I could use his inspiration in a major way. Thanks for the book recommendation!

  145. The book looks wonderful. If only my office could find some inspiration from Stephen!

  146. I love his designs! i think the room I struggle with the most is maybe the living room? Probably because I hate our sofas and want new ones.

    Meg

  147. I love his style. It seems very do-able. I am really struggling with my formal living roomthat I’m trying to turn into a home office. I don’t want everything up against a wall, but how do I deal with all the wires?

  148. Stephen’s book sounds amazing and maybe he has some tips to help me! I am at a loss for how to arrange the furniture in our family room… there is this weird large nook in the corner where we have the TV and a cabinet but it just doesn’t look right…aaarrrgghhh

  149. That book looks awesome! Perfect for a someone who’s new to the design field (like me!). I’d love to win a copy.

  150. I struggle with my office. It’s functional, but doesn’t showcase the personality and emotion that the rest of my house does. The worst part is that it’s right inside the entry of my home, so first impressions are never great.

  151. Thanks for the giveaway! I struggle with the family/living room…trying to make it comfortable and designed well!

  152. I don’t think I struggle with just ONE room, it’s ALL of them! My hubby and I have a hard time collarborating our ideas. As soon as I tell him my plans, suddenly he has his own ideas for the space, which are difficult to take in ‘czu we have such different tastes! The basement bath/laundry room is our next project…could use some help from the book!

  153. i love stephen’s designs. i really struggle w/ my living room. it’s a bit formal and i would love to make it more “user friendly”. i don’t want family and guests to feel like it’s an off-limits room.

  154. This books sounds awesome. I currently struggle with the kitchen/dining room.

  155. We just finished house plans and I am definitely struggling with the kitchen. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted but I still don’t know. Especially know that the house is starting I really need to make a lot of decisions. I need major help.

  156. I always have a hard time knowing a fade from something timeless. Also how to get the “biggest bang” for my $.
    Thanks for the giveaway.

  157. My bedroom is my biggest problem – need to figure out how to get it organized and beautiful! Thanks for the giveaway!

  158. The ONE space I struggle with the most?? How about my whole apartment =/
    Except the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen last year and I love it!

  159. I guess I am still “finding my style”, so that’s what I struggle with most. How to make rooms beautiful, but also ME, and finding the time (and $$) to actually do it.

  160. The space I struggle with most is my living room, the life of our family. Odd traffic flow and handmade built-ins make this a hair pulling space that once again is going to get figured out soon.

  161. The space I struggle with is my master bedroom. We finally got rid of the awful blue stained, shag carpet and put in hardwood floors. But now I am not sure in which direction to go, I want something that is traditional, coastal, soothing, chic hotel, potter barn and ballard catalog all rolled up in one. At any rate you inspired me to paint my ugly oak fire place. Love it. Slowly working on the stairs.

  162. This truly looks like a very practical book, Your pics look fantastic. I like larger than life pics, it helps to “pull” you into the room. My problem room is the family room which I call….”leftovers”. It has that very lived in ranch look, complete with folding table/computer desk and all the paraphanalia there intwined! Idid a beautiful mural on the wall, but the room definately needs a more pulled together look! Thanks for sharing all your tricks with us.

  163. I struggle w/my master bedroom. It is huge and I’m very lucky but it is oddly shaped and i don’t know what to do w/this space…

  164. My struggle in our home has been decorating our master bedroom – it’s just never been quite right; now we’re moving, fresh start full of totally new struggles like not being able to paint since we’re renting for the next year …

  165. Love the book! Thank you for the giveway. We moved into a new home two years ago and I am still struggling with our dining room. We have a very open floor plan where the entryway, dining room, kitchen and family room all flow together. All I have in there right now is our table and a couple pictures on the wall. I want it to be a casual space where we can entertain family and friends, but that has been difficult since it is so open to our entryway/kitchen/family room. I would like things to flow together, yet be their own individual space. Does that make sense? :-) Right now it just seems to be a space we walk past everyday, but aren’t really using to its full potential.

  166. The living room and the master bedroom. Add storage everywhere. I enjoy his articles in BHG and think this would be interesting to read.

  167. That looks like a great book. I love his style.

    I`m struggling with my living room. It just doesn`t seem finished and I`m besides one part in particular, I`m not sure what I`m missing.

  168. I struggle with the furniture arrangement in my living room, there is really only one wall that can house furniture, so its always a battle trying to figure out how to get everything in.

  169. That looks like a great book. I love his style.

    I`m struggling with my living room. It just doesn`t seem finished and besides one part in particular, I`m not sure what I`m missing.

  170. We struggle with our living room. Looks like it used to be 2 rooms at one time and it is tough to arrange furniture especially with the additional doors going to the front porch, hall closet and bathroom.

  171. Looks like a great book. The place I struggle with is our converted attic space. Years ago it was the kid’s playroom/tv room. They’re at college now so it’s now a “catch all”. I would love to be able to convert it to look like the attic space pictured above!! Hopefully I’ll win!!

  172. I struggle with my living room. In large part because the furniture doesn’t fit the space, can’t wait to update it someday.

  173. The space I can’t quite decide on how to set up and decorate is my library. I know what I want for bookcases, but the rest of the furniture, style, look, and feel are what I’m struggling with.

  174. Our house has one large room as all the living space and I still haven’t gotten it right. Too many doors and traffic patterns.

  175. I’m just about to move…and this would be a great read prior to making any changes!

  176. The room I struggle with the most (eight years now!) is our master bedroom. It is only called the master bedroom because it is the biggest bedroom, but really is not all that big. I have a mix of things in there and it just all looks terrible. Problem is, I need the storage too….

  177. The family room is my nemesis! The furniture is too big for the room but it’s so darn comfy that my kids whine every time I suggest we get new sofas! There’s got to be a way to marry design and comfort and create comfort and a happy mama! Look forward to your blog everyday!

  178. That’s a tough one. I just moved into my new house so I struggle with all the rooms! I’d have to say my bedroom is the one I struggle with the most though. I put it off and complete all the other rooms first and now I don’t know what to do with it. Plus, it’s got all this dark wood furniture that is extremely matchy-matchy (as in it’s a complete set) that my boyfriend brought with him. Granted, it’s pretty furniture but too much matching for me! So now I’m trying to dilute the effect of that and soften the room a bit. I’d love a copy of the book to give me inspiration! Thanks for the opportunity!

  179. My kitchen is the toughest — can’t figure out how to begin updating it! The book sounds very interesting and now I have another blog to check out. Thanks!

  180. I struggle most with my family room. I have two young daughters, so the space needs to be fairly childproof. It is also the messiest area, since we spend the most time there, and for that reason it is the most neglected.

  181. I struggle with our living room/dining room/office that is all one open space. Our house is 106 years old, and the plaster walls hidden behind old wallpaper is too daunting to deal with. I’d love all the help Stephen could give!

  182. HI from Quebec Canada. It’s my very first comment on your blog which I love. I’ve been trying to decorate a bonus room in our new house for about 3 years now. Yep 3 years. It’s a large room intended for a home theater and a library. I’ve been strugling with the placement of the furmiture because I find it’s too sparse (my budget his quite small). Help would be glady welcome. P.S. I’m french so I hope I didn’t make too much mistake in my writting.

  183. I struggle with our family room/kitchen area. Sometimes it’s hard to make both rooms (which are actually like one big room) cohesive.

  184. I struggle most with our dining room because it is a fairly small space and there are 6 of us. I need to keep it easy-going because of the kids, but want it to look stylish and up to date. I’d love to have the book as a resource!

  185. I struggle with getting our master bedroom to have a “retreat” feel. hellllllp!

  186. Definitely my living room! It’s open to the kitchen and dining room and has this 20 foot long wall that I’ve yet to do anything with… And because of the openness, it’s hard to find good furniture placement. But I know I’ll be here a while and will have plenty of time to experiment!

  187. oh..just the book i need…the biggest struggle i have is my kitchen, and bathroom…they are small and in need of help big time…xxx

  188. My “master” bedroom, and I use that term very loosely, is the biggest problem in my house. It irritates and intimidates me so much that I have been completely ignoring it. It is a very small L shaped room with no possibility of expanding into any other space and I just don’t know what to do with it!

  189. My living room/dining room area is the biggest struggle. All of the rest of the house has defined uses, and because I work at home, I put a lot of effort into the rooms where I work (and the bedroom where I can relax at the end of an exhausting day!), but the main room sadly still hovers in functional-but-unappealing purgatory.

  190. My master bedroom is always tough. I want it to reflect both my husband and me (I would hate to make him sleep in something too frou-frou), but his style is quite rustic and mine is more French eclectic. Marrying those two styles is such an “Everest” for me.

  191. I feel like most of my home is in fair order except for my kids’ room – a 10′ x 10′ room with a crib and single bed in it?? Teeny closet and two toddlers and toys and clothes and you name it. With changing seasons/clothing/diapering systems etc., I am constantly revamping and never quite “arriving”. :)

  192. I really struggle with our living room…a constant work in progress that needs some direction.

  193. Our master bedroom is the one I struggle with the most. I guess because we move often (military) and by the time I get the living spaces and kids’ rooms organized and decorated, I’ve run out of ideas for our own room. I’d love to have a master bedroom “retreat” sometime before my kids are all grown….

  194. I struggle with my bedroom. The shape and window placement in the room limits where I can put the bed and dressers.

  195. I struggle most with the family room/kitchen area. That is where we do most of our living, and consequently it is where we have the most clutter accumulation issues.

  196. Hmmmm…only one space? I think the hardest part of my open kitchen/living room is trying to figure out how to make a good transition. That is the space that needs the most help!!!

  197. My biggest struggle is my master bedroom! My husband and I have never had a completed master bedroom in either of the two homes we have owned. I want something that is cozy and inviting and I have had a hard time capturing that feeling for YEARS!!! Help!

  198. I am having the hardest time with our back living room addition, it was put in before we bought the house, and we love the extra space, buts its kinda a weird space with a fireplace, a patio door, a huge window, the bathroom door and the cut out to the kitchen, and its long and narrowish, ugh…any inspiration would be better than what i have now :)

  199. My kitchen and bathroom are my current concerns right now. I need to find inspiration on how to improve on them and get the most use out of my space!

    bellsandkilts.blogspot.com

  200. My Living Room is my challenge space. Seems bland despite the bold color choice. I always need help with the fluffing.

  201. I struggle with my family room. I think it’s big enough, but when we have our 3 children and their friends here, we don’t seem to have enough places to sit comfortably. And I hate having the room oriented toward the TV, but that’s how it works out. I could use some expert advice!

  202. Hmmm, I think I struggle most with my home office/playroom. It is so hard to combine kid friendly, organization, function & style!

  203. I struggle with my master bedroom. I want to incorporate more bold color, but still make it feel sophisticated and serene.

  204. A free design book giveaway– What a treat!!! I have the basic needs in every room but I’m struggling with pulling my look all together.

  205. We struggle the most with our family room. It’s somewhat narrow with 12 ft ceilings.

  206. Hmm… just one room I struggle with? ha! I guess my master bedroom is the hardest for me- I want luxury but my 2 and 4 yr olds don’t… Great Giveaway- thanks for doing it!

  207. I struggle with my tiny bedroom (10×9) with a queen size bed and no closet! Oh well, at least I have a roof over my head!

  208. My master bedroom is my biggest struggle. Somehow the kids’ rooms always get updated while the master bedroom just gets thrown together.

  209. Thanks for hosting this giveaway! I really struggle with our “formal living room”. I want it to be useable and not too stuffy, but since it’s the first room you see what you walk in, I also want it to be beautiful!

  210. I struggle the most with our Master bedroom. It’s currently not a retreat or sanctuary but rather just a place to sleep that is far too cluttered. Thanks for the opportunity!

  211. I struggle most with my family room … it’s gigantic and I have a hard time figuring out how to use the space.

  212. I struggle with our living room, kinda dark, one window.
    Long room, I am confused on where furniture should go…I need help!
    Great giveaway, thank you!

  213. My master bedroom is my pain…I cant get it just the way I want it and feeling like an oasis, a place to escape and rest.

  214. The home office. I want to brighten and rearrange to make the room functional and cozy!

  215. It’s our bedroom that gives me headaches – it id a small space in need of more storage. It’s too easy to toss the clothes in an ever-growing heap and turn a blind eye. I yearn for a magazine-worthy space and it just isn’t happening right now!

  216. Seriously it would be the whole house. The house really hasn’t been updated since the 70’s and I’m going to slow at getting things done.

  217. I struggle with our master bedroom. It’s the most important room in my opinion because it is meant to be the most relaxing part of a home, but for some reason I always leave it to last- last to decorate, last to clean, last for everything!

  218. Love Stephen Saint Onge! Am on a waiting list for his book at the library but I would love, love, love to own a copy. Thanks for the chance! :)

  219. Our Kid’s Retreat {upper loft} is the biggest challenge. It is an open room, and I want it to be functional, stylish, but not kiddie-like.

  220. I struggle with my family room. It overwhelms me, so I’m just stuck – afraid to make any change.

  221. I struggle with the layout of the living room! It would be nice to have some tips. Thank you for the giveaway!

  222. My kitchen and den areas are really bad – lots of wall paper from previous owner in the kitchen and the den area is peach – yuk!

  223. I would have to say the family room/kitchen for me. They both flow together and I am at a loss as to what to do. Thanks for the chance to win!

  224. The kitchen! It’s ridiculously small and awkwardly designed…windows in the wrong places, too many doors, not enough storage space, etc *sigh*

  225. My home office is the most difficult space. It gets the most use but trying to integrate it into the rest of the home is a huge challenge!

  226. I too struggle with my open floor plan. I want each area to be it’s own separate space but I want the decor to flow and look like it all “works” together.

  227. I struggle most with our living room. It’s an awkward shape, and I have trouble creating a great space that still has a convenient enough walkway to get to either side of the house!

  228. Thanks for the giveaway! My kitchen is the worst- poor layout, not enough storage, not enough countertop workspace.

  229. I struggle with keeping things organized and functional, but still livable. I like have space that is for living not displaying.

  230. i need help with kitchen, especially a back splash and accessories. Thank you for giveaway!!

  231. My kitchen is my biggest challenge. We bought a small farm over 10 years ago and the kitchen still hasn’t been touched. It has odd doorways, etc. Would love this book for inspiration!

  232. Right now it is my basement den/office/school room. Too many functions to live harmoniously with leftover furniture! I am working on it, but still not totally sure of my direction.

  233. My frontroom and dining room are one room. I am having a hard time making them flow together.

  234. I struggle with my kitchen CONSTANTLY!!! Always cluttered. No counter space. Cabinets are full…

  235. Hmmm…the room that’s giving me the most fits has got to be our living room. We live in a VERY (and I do mean *very*) small home. There are four of us and a dog, so things are…cozy. This means our living room has to serve many purposes (living space, home office, media center, storage area, guest room, etc.).

    It’s crazy trying to pull all that functionality together while dealing with our pack rat tendencies. I want the room to be welcoming, calming, decluttered and pleasing to the eye all while filling all those roles.

    Phew, sorry to post so much. Once I got rolling, it was really hard to stop. LOL

  236. I struggle with our master bedroom. We have been living in our new house for over a year and a half, and I have yet to decorate it nicely!!

  237. My master bedroom – feel like the layout is sorta locked in and I want to change it up! I really enjoy Stephen’s features in BHG – and feel like his decor solutions are so personal and thoughtful to how the owners really live.

  238. My dining room is pretty much just my hallway. I’m struggling to make it work!

  239. We have a room that has the adult section kids section and office. I really struggle to keep this area flowing..and not flowing into one another. See…it is even hard to describe!

  240. I have lots of rooms that need help currently. I guess my most troubled area is the great room. It’s in desperate need of a makeover…like now!

  241. Hi Kate-My living room/den is small and I’m struggling to find a way to fit space in for a whole wall bookcase, possibly a sofa/loveseat with castors in front of it, storage for art/jewelry supplies, chair, etc…I’ve been looking at Ana White’s blog to see if I can make the bookcase. She posts plans for many pieces of furniture and has a wall for everyone to post their finished pieces. I love your blog.

  242. I am struggling with what I am calling my craft, sewing and private getaway. Right now it is just catching everything I have been buying for the room. I am not even able to decide on a color to paint the room. The color right now is like a gray with a hint of blue and is very depressing. I want something bright and cheery, I have no idea what I am going to do. I have been collecting things such as milk glass and an old bakers shelf and so on. I just need lots of help and I think that that the book could help me or you could just come to Carolina and help me. LOL
    Thank you ever so much.
    Bunny

  243. I struggle the most with the living room. There are so many details to think about, and it’s in the center of the home… I’m not sure what to begin with, should the rug be first? Or the sofas? That kind of thing.

  244. I struggle with our bonus room!!!

    It consists of a huge tv and a couch… that’s it. And it’s been like that for 4 years!!!

  245. I need help with the flow of my living room. I really dont have any walls, so furniture needs to be in groups. I lack confidence. Ugh.

  246. I think the areas I struggle with is finding the right balance in my master bedroom as well as my eat in kitchen.

    I think this book would be wonderful. I love Stephen Saint-Onge. Thanks for the chance to win.

  247. The space I need the most help with is my living room. It just needs something to make it exceptional.

  248. I struggle with the layout of my living room. In fact, I tore out the pages from the issue of BH&G of that exact living room redo. Of course, I have a gazzilion other pages from various magazines. I would love to win a copy of Stephen’s book.

  249. My challenge right now is my entire house – 1100 square feet and a family of four!

  250. I struggle with making the family room kid friendly while also keeping it an adult space.

  251. My living/dining/kitchen are all pretty open plan and flow into one another. It’s a struggle to get it “right” for us and just doesn’t have the comfy, relaxed sophistication I’m longing for.

  252. Just moved into a new apartment and not sure what to do with the shared living/dining space

  253. My home office desperately needs attention and some direction! I just can’t seem to get inspired when it comes to that room.

  254. Our living room and dining room are one big long space with no division. tricky to design around

  255. I have two young kids and combining their play space with our living space is always a challenge! We are moving into a new home soon and this type of inspiration and overall philosophy is just what I was looking for, thanks!

  256. My bedroom. It’s an awkward space that’s difficult to decorate…especially since it’s open with the ensuite.

  257. We’re trying desperately to remodel/redesign our master bathroom and bedroom!

  258. My biggest design challenge is my family room…..way too many doors in and out and windows and not enough wall space. If it was bigger I could float the furniture but that isn’t practical for the size. Grrrr.

  259. My biggest challenge is having downsized from a house to a condo, all our furniture is too large for the space. We can’t afford to buy new furniture right now, so I would love to get some ideas on how to make the space feel less crowded until we can get something more size-appropriate.

  260. The space I struggle the most with right now is my stairway, I just dont know how to tackle to window treatments, but at the same time let the light in….. :)

  261. I am really struggling with my kitchen. What color to paint the walls? Should I paint the maple cabinets? Should I paint the hutch? Too many decisions.

  262. I love what I see! I would love to book for some help with my keeping/sitting room off the kitchen.

  263. My kitchen is my biggest challenge right now! Please help! I would absolutely love to win a copy of this book.

  264. I struggle with my dining room and my main entryway. The ceilings are incredibly high and I just don’t know what to do!

  265. I struggle with my great room. Its open to the kitchen and I’m not sure how to separate the two. Also, my couches are way too big. Thanks for the giveaway!

  266. our family room — it’s so overrun by toys, it’s hard to keep it looking beautiful.

  267. I struggle with my bedrooom. I want to make it a calm and comforting room that I can relax in.

  268. I struggle with my living room/ dining room space. It’s a large rectangle that makes it hard to define each space. What to do?

  269. The Living room- everyone sees it. I struggle with how I want my living room to say about the personality of our family.

  270. Family room needs help with some new furniture and possible better arrangement of furniture.

  271. My basement. It’s finished but it just seems like it’s always an afterthought.

  272. Definitely the kitchen! And the home office, and well, the family room could use some help also… Sounds like this book would be the perfect read :)

  273. Um, that would have to be the family room … we spend most of our time there yet it doesn’t “work” as a friendly, comfortable space.

  274. I am struggling with our family room because it is such an odd shaped room and it definitely needs more interest/color.

  275. I’m definitely finding it difficult to style our open office/living room/breakfast nook area to reflect our style but remain very toddler friendly…and do it all on a budget :)

  276. I have several rooms that are challenges. Currently, I’m focusing on the kitchen and master bedroom as spaces that need more thoughtful organization and cohesive design.

  277. Just one? Hmmm, well, then I am going to go with my office. I need to purge and organize. And then the master bedroom which is about to undergo a make over.

  278. My bedroom! It’s the last room in the house to get tlc. I run out of steam and money before I get there!

  279. I have a ridiculously awkward space under my stairs…..so frustrating!

  280. I struggle with my kitchen. My family and I are stationed at Travis Air Force base and it’s so hard to make the kitchen ‘our style’ and homey in base housing with everything outdated. Love your blog by the way and I think it’s kind of cool when I know what places you are talking about in your posts because I too live in Northern Cali. Thanks!

  281. My master bathroom– the floor plan is terrible, the vinyl floor is worse, and my cabinets are literally falling apart!

  282. I struggle with our 2 story family room. This room is where we spend 90% of our time but is the room I just cannot figure out where to start!

  283. My living room needs all kinds of help – too many doors, not enough places to sit.

  284. My kitchen. We have lived in our farmhouse 10 years now and it AND the cabinets have been painted 5 times each. I have finally decided to go White on the walls……but am having trouble pulling everything else together!

  285. We have trouble with the open kitchen/ living room in ours. We like color so its hard to make the two rooms cohesive and yet not be boring to us.

  286. I struggle with my home office. This is because the space has become a catch all for my projects, books, and work. So it is always very cluttered looking. I would like to learn to create a functional uncluttered environment that would inspire me to want to work, not dread it. Cheers :)

  287. My kitchen needs help. It is in need of a serious transformation to flow better with the style throughout the rest of the home.

  288. This book sounds great – I just posted a rant about how most home designing blogs drive me nuts because everything in the pictures is so totally unrealistic. Could this book be a better shot in the arm? My entire house needs help – we’re about to have our 4th kid and we’ve got only 1100 square feet (thank God it’s a rental with only a year or so to go – this is not permanent). I’d like to start is the master bedroom – I’m done with it being a landfill.

  289. I have several “struggle” rooms. My kitchen is too small & I have too many things. I love cooking, but it’s hard to be functional sometimes. My living room is a multipurpose space & I wish I could make it more usable for all the things it needs to be for!

  290. The room I am struggling most is my kitchen. We remodeled when we moved in 11 years ago so we have the natural maple kitchen cabinets, tile floor and while appliances. I would love ideas for an easy update without a huge expense, and a little motivation to tackle the project

  291. I guess it would be the family room only because I feel like I don’t have a lot of options for furniture placement. The fireplace and shape of the room limits me. Or at least feels like it!

  292. The dining room is the area I am struggling with. Color choices- how to brighten it up and keep the character of the older home that it is.

  293. Hi – My family and I recently moved to an older home that has had random “remodeling” done along the way. :) The room I’m struggling with the most right now is the kitchen. It is a good size, bright, with original plank/vaulted ceilings (built in 1926!) However, the cabinets have had a bad paint job, the walls are a hideous shade of green, my son drew all over the island with a sharpie, etc… So, I just am stuck on where to even begin. Love your blog by the way. :)

  294. The space I struggle with most is the living room area of my loft apartment. It is very narrow, and my furniture is probably much too large for the small space.

  295. I struggle wirh my downstairs family room wirh an awkward fireplace placement.

  296. My biggest struggle is my family room. It is visually apart of my kitchen and has a large window, a door to the backyard, a door to the powder room, a door to the garage, a door to the front foyer, a door to the basement, and last but not least a very large double closet door. Plus it’s a long narrow room. I think it looks pretty good…all things considered. I hung a quilt over the door to the garage (no one knows it’s there)…but, it limits entry to the house and gives the room a country look…on the up side it does give me a place for the sofa.

    Thanks!!!!

  297. I struggle with my dining room. I just can’t seem to make it look right and be functional for a large family.

  298. My family room – it’s large and open & I don’t know where to put the furniture. Looks like a great book!

  299. I struggle with the family room most of all– too much stuff and furniture, and not enough space!

  300. I struggle with our master bedroom. I start decorating it but never finish because I see something else I really like and then go in that direction.

  301. Um, my whole house. We moved from an older home ~1000sq to a much larger home built in the late ’90s. Somehow my ‘style’ went with our old home, or at least it felt cohesive, while with our new home it feels like I just continue to stick things on the walls no sense of satisfaction, or uniformity of style. The uniformity of style I think ultimately creates a sense of comfort.

  302. Hi Kate! I am currently struggling with my living room/family room, which is too small and somewhat awkwardly shaped. I’d love to learn from Stephen!

  303. My living room is my struggle space. It’s a big room but hard to place furniture for a good flow. I would love to win this book!

  304. I really struggle with my dining room, its small, dark and really needs brightening up, plus it is part of a living room, dining room combo & just doesn’t for my family. I would love to win Stephens book. I have followed him for a few years now, always loving his makeovers in BHG & I just really love the feel he has for making spaces beautiful, functional and inviting.

  305. I struggle the most with my master bedroom. Since I’m a single mom I focus all my efforts on my son’s room and the more “public spaces” of the house. Then when it comes to my bedroom I am usually too tired, way over budget, and extremely out of ideas. This book would give methe perfect push to finally attack my space.

  306. my master bedroom….it never appears “finished”….just can’t figure out what it is missing. so i’ll cross my fingers!

  307. I’m struggling with my living room. My husband asked for neutral walls for once, so I’m trying to figure out how to give it enough color.

  308. right now, I am struggling with decorating a shared boy/girl room for my daughter and son.
    how to mix girlie and all boy in one room? help!

  309. Creating a relaxing, retreat-like atmosphere in the master bedroom continues to allude me.

  310. We just bought a new home and you have inspired me to start painting and decorating – so thank you!!! The tip on the vegetable oil after using oil primer was a must, thank you soooo much for that one, otherwise, I would still be wearing a “white wig of paint”.

    We are now preparing to remodel our master bedroom with the a new master bath. The master bath space available is just so small but still worth while to do … we are struggling organizing the space….

    Thanks again for all you do!

  311. What room don’t I struggle with. That is a better question. Thanks for the chance to win this book it sounds good. I love his style.

  312. i struggle with my bedroom! i need some help with it!

    nelly dot barney at yahoo dot com

  313. I’m struggling with my dining room – it’s a dark, blank hole in the back of my apartment!

  314. I’m struggling with our bedroom. I would love to make it a more peaceful and relaxing space and get ideas on the placement of our bedroom furniture.

  315. I struggle most with my kitchen because I let my husband and the contractor talk me into oak cabinets. I don’t like the color and some other things about it. I also don’t like the laminate counter but also don’t want to spend money on granite.

  316. I struggle with the kitchen and family room. We don’t have enough window and the painted espresso color of the cabinet by the previous owner makes both area even darker. I’m struggling if we should paint the cabinets white and wonder if it’ll look better and brighter.

  317. I struggle with the master bedroom. My husband and I just recently got married and it’s been a challenge trying to come up with a style that includes him and isn’t too girlie.

  318. problem area: basement — a huge room with many purposes but terrible flow currently. i can’t seem to find a solution!
    thanks for the giveaway.

  319. My struggle is with the living-dining area. I don’t know what to do with the blank walls and need to inject some personality to the room.

  320. I have the biggest struggle with the open floor plan of my kitchen and family room. I am so undecided that I still have not hung anything on the walls in the 9 1/2 yrs we have lived here! Well, yes, I did. A trivet in the kitchen :-(

  321. My biggest problem has always been with my master bedroom. I just can’t strike the right balance of masculine and feminine-to have my husband enjoy it as well as myself and at the same time have it be a special enclave stylistically apart from the other rooms in the house.

    A question. You mentioned a software you use to brighten up the pictures. Is this something that came with your computer (like on a mac) or as a stand alone. I’d love the source info either way.

    Thanks for the giveaway, Kate. Have always loved your blogs but this is my first time commenting.

  322. Right now my biggest struggle is with the family/dining room. It needs a serious update but I’m torn between a few different colours/styles and the direction I want to go… thanks!

  323. My biggest struggle is my family room. It is the room used most often and it is the hardest to decorate. There are french doors, a door to the deck. one window and a corner fireplace plus a big archway that leads to the kitchen. I have moved the furniture numerous times and I have never been happy with it. I cringe when I sit in there and start looking around. Help!

  324. I struggle with my living room. It is the first room you see from the entry and it is a pass-through room to an office. Each wall has either windows or a fireplace or french doors…it perplexes me so.

  325. I have a spare bedroom that the kids use as a playroom. I end up putting all the extra furniture and junk into the room. It looks so unfinished and ugly.

  326. I am struggling with my kitchen….the “heart of my home” looks like a dungeon!

  327. I struggle with every room. I have tons of ideas, but seem to not make them happen.

  328. I struggle with my spare bedroom. It’s now a catch all room. but I’d love for it to be a cozy but functional computer/craft room. One day…

  329. Love your blog which I follow from Italy.
    Was recently in California and visited Los Gato, Santa Clara Valley, which I imagine is the kind of place you might live…given you blog style.
    My recent mortgage has me married to the Bank for another 17 years.
    Am having trouble decorating my hall/shoe-room/home office and would appreciate any support
    best
    Muthoni

  330. Love your blog which I follow from Italy.
    Was recently in California and visited Los Gatos, Santa Clara Valley, which I imagine is the kind of place you might live…given you blog style.
    My recent mortgage has me married to the Bank for another 17 years.
    Am having trouble decorating my hall/shoe-room/home office and would appreciate any support
    best
    Muthoni

  331. This book is all done in my decorating style it looks like….sooo I would LOVE a copy!! The space I’m struggling with the most is my living room. Thx for the giveaway!

  332. We are a growing family of four and we need help with our kitchen. In the worst way! Thanks for the giveaway!

  333. The biggest struggle I have is with the living room. Since we only have 2 rooms and we use both as our bedrooms, the struggle is to find space for living/chilling area.

  334. We have a room we euphemistically call the “sun room” simply because of its location in the house it gets the most sun. It is essentially a wide hall with large windows. It needs lots of help.

  335. The kitchen, living room, and dining area are all open to each other, so I have difficulty arranging the furniture and getting the look I really want. Thanks for the giveaway.

  336. I’ve always been a big ssg fan in bhg too! Your review is great and you’ve picked great images & sentiments to highlight. Would love to receive one of your book giveaways!

  337. I struggle with my master bedroom, living room…well pretty much any room in the house. If I don’t win this book I will definitely get me a copy, so far I love what I see. Thanks!

  338. Would love to brighten up our living/dining room which are open concept. Not sure what new direction to go in – just that it should be more inviting.

  339. Hi- love your blog! The room I am struggling with is our family room. It’s kind of long and like a rectangle. the furniture is fine- sectional, one end table, entertainment console but the walls are hard to figure out since they are long. Can’t quite figure out what to do. I miss Stephen’s article in BH&G so I would love a copy of his book! Thanks.

  340. My biggest struggle right now is the master bedroom. Everything else seems to come first, and that room REALLY needs some love! :)

  341. My greatest struggle is our living room/parlor. Two small rooms with french doors between. No wall space. After 20 years, we still haven’t found the perfect furniture layout! Would love help :)

  342. I struggle with our living room. It is a long skinny room with a fireplace and a ton of windows. We LOVE the room, but getting it just right has eluded us so far. It is a french country styled room, but I am always looking to give it one more touch of our personality.

    I used to watch Steven Saint-Onge on TLC. I love his style.

  343. Working on the sunroom and how to create flow between the living room and sunroom. Thanks for the giveaway.

  344. My Living Room !!!! It is the first room you see as you enter my home. It is all about the first impression. I want it to reflect my personality but I am struggling to put it all together. I need Help :)

  345. I struggle with paint colors and window treatments in all of my rooms and because of my indecision and fear of doing it wrong, then leads to nothing getting done. Right now I am working in my family room and kitchen but have reached a stopping point until I determine what to do about window treatments and possibly a rug.

  346. I am struggling with my husband’s office/den/library. He needs more seating when friends come to watch soccer games. I can’t figure out how to make it work!

  347. Our open concept living room is where I struggle. I hate to commit to wall decorations because I love to move the furniture around– but the placement is never perfect! Thanks for the chance!

  348. I have a small house and want to redecorate my basement: install a half bath, freshen up the laundry room, create a crafting space, and create storage, storage, storage.

  349. We’re struggling with the kitchen because the refridgerator is sort of free-standing and visible when you first walk in the door due to a strange remodeling job from the previous owner. Would love Stephen’s ideas! Thanks for the chance!

  350. Since the day we moved in 18 years ago my family room has been a puzzle. 5 doorways and a double window with a traffic pattern from the garage right through the middle of the room. I have finally been able to combine my focal points, Fireplace and TV, so it’s better. Not great though. Thanks Kate!

  351. I recently purchased a retirement home with a fabulous layout…at least I thought it was fabulous until I started decorating the open concept foyer, living/dining rooms and kitchen. I will need to place the TV in the living room without making it the focal point and furniture placement is a challenge. I want it to be PERFECT…so I am currently frozen with indecision. Help Stephen!!!

  352. I recently purchased new family room furniture which i love, but now the whole room seems ‘off’. as this is our family room i struggle with this the most as we spend so much time here. i’ve been working on it, but so far i’m still not feeling it. i love your blog, thanks for the giveaway opportunity!

  353. I struggle with our playroom/family room. It’s one large space and I can’t seem to figure out the best way to make it functional and look good.

  354. I’m actually struggling with the whole house! I need more storage and a more cohesive style that can hold up to four kids. I would love to transform my bedroom in to a blue and white santuary without spending a whole lotta money. Maybe this book could help me.

  355. Our spare bedroom has to be too many things to make it seem functional. It has to have bedroom-y furniture as a wall-bed is too expensive right now, but then it’s also a craft room, office, storage area…so it’s not as attractive as welcoming as I’d like it to be.

  356. I’m struggling with what to put on my walls. The main living area is all very open.

  357. Not really a room, but I am really struggling with what to do with our shoes. We usually use a side door and don’t have a traditional coat closet, except by the front door, which we never use. The shoes are usually lined up against a wall, but by the end of the week, there are about 15 pairs of shoes! Gotta figure something out!

  358. The living room/kitchen. It’s one big room. I have no idea how to make it all work together! BTW, thanks for such an easy “entry” for this giveaway. No liking on fb or commenting on a site and coming back to tell you I did it…I appreciate that!!

  359. I struggle with the kitchen — it’s the space we use the most and it needs an update but knowing where to begin seems so overwhelming.

  360. I struggle with my living room. Because we don’t have a foyer or another family/sitting room it has to really multitask, which it isn’t doing all that successfully right now.

  361. I have always struggled with our living room. I feel the TV and fireplace are always in competion. I also feel like it is so sparce. I hope I win!

  362. My kitchen! We totally want to remodel… but with so many options… Were stumped!

  363. I think that the area I struggle most with would be my little art corner… there is a computer there nestled into the closet and I really need to do something with it all.

  364. the office is my toughest spot right now. I’m soon to be moving and could use help with every new room!

  365. We struggle with ideas to finish our bedroom. We have several rooms to finish, kitchen, living room and dining area and would love the ideas to help!!

  366. Hello:

    My tiny master bedroom and bath–what to do?!? Thanks for sharing.
    Lisa

  367. I struggle with my tiny living room that has three doorways, a pass-through to the kitchen (what’s that about?!), a huge picture window, and is really unusable as a gathering space. It’s really a tiny little alcove off the hallway, practically, and I *want it to be an office, but that’s a tough commitment to make in the living room space.

  368. Our biggest struggle (yet to be completed) is our family room space in the finished basement. After 22 years (yikes!) we cannot agree on how to decorate the space.

  369. I struggle with it all really. I just can’t “see” it. Right now though, I am struggling with my family room which is completely open to my kitchen/eating area. It’s a beautiful space, but a wall of windows combined with the one big room thing kind of has me perplexed. I’m looking for ways to make it look as good as it’s potential!

  370. I have a very open living room and dining room area and do not know how to separate them and make them look complete. This book would be awesome!

  371. ugh, the living room has no symmetry! A large front window is offset from a fireplace on the opposite wall and there is no good arrangement for TV watching. The renovation tips would definitely come in handy, thanks for the giveaway!

  372. My tough spot is definitely the living room. I want it to feel homey and cozy, but can’t figure out how to finish it that way! The book would be so helpful!

  373. Thanks for the book review. Right now, I am struggling with the backsplash in my kitchen – open concept to the rest of the house. Do I make it a feature, or keep it quiet? Too much character, and it competes with the other features in the “living space”, too little and it disappears. And this is only one of several issues. Stephen Saint-Onge’s book would obviously come in handy, or, at least give me something else to think about. Thanks for the offer, and for your blog, which I am enjoying.

  374. I would have to say that my daughter’s bedroom is the biggest challenge for me right now. 3 girls , a hundred stuffed animals and all their clothes/toys/paraphernalia in one tiny bedroom is making me insane!!!!
    This book looks great, thanks for the chance!
    [email protected]

  375. My cavernous loft/attic/master bedroom is a decorating headache. Lots of unusable space around the perimeter and not much usable wall space to speak of in this huge room.

  376. I struggle with the finishing touches on every room. I can usually get the basics, but it’s the little things and the finishing pieces that I struggle with…the things that really pull a room together.

  377. Definitely my bedroom. It was poorly designed when the house was built making it incredibly difficult to decorate.

  378. Definetly the LIving Room/Family Room. We have four windows, two outside doors, a “nook” thingy, fireplace, a partial wall with a ac/heating return vent right in the middle of it, doorway to the hall, and a stair case. HELP!

  379. The dining room drives me crazy, I either have TOO much or not enough and the bathroom, I want warm and relaxing, it’s right and boring!

  380. In this house, definitely the living room. It is a huge L shaped room and I’m not sure what to do with all that space.

  381. My dining room is missing that “something” that would make it feel like the cozy gathering place that I envision.

  382. i haven’t finished our bedroom…we added an addition on our house (the master is in the new part) am working on the other areas (slowly but surely) but our bedroom unfortunately is last on the list…it just seem like a priority!

  383. I struggle with the final accessories for my living area because there is limited wall space and shelve space with so many windows.

  384. This book looks lovely…..I’m wondering if it could help me figure out how to decorate my master bedroom!?! It’s so awkward and I have such a hard time with it…I would love to check this out! At the very, I’m sure it would help me with the rest of my condo!!
    Thanks for the chance to win it!!

  385. My master bedroom is the room I struggle with the most. It is in desperate need of help.

  386. How beautiful are those photos? I struggle with my large kitchen that has very few actual walls, and the master bedroom which takes up half the second floor.

  387. I struggle mostly with our den/recreation room. That is the last room that we have to complete in our remodel, a room we haven’t even started! Really need some HELP!
    I would love to win a copy of this book…I love his style (and your blog too!!)

  388. i kind of am struggling with our whole home…We bought and moved into this smaller home while I was pregnant with my first son who turned 3 in December, son #2 is now 19 months. I have been so busy and things have changed so much since we moved in I have never been organized or decorated enough!

  389. Our master bedroom/ bathroom. It’s the eighties layout with the vanity open directly in the bedroom, yikes!

  390. I need help with my lower level family room, all that it has is our cast off furniture! Boring! It really needs a makeover and Stephen’s designs always look like spaces that real people live in.

  391. I struggle with our dining room. We live in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment, and the dining room somehow becomes every room that we wish we had – a sewing/craft room, an office, a hobby room…. I would love to read this book!

  392. Love your blog! Always great to find other people that are all about making homes better and being creative without having to break the bank! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about my book too…It was truly a book that I have been wanting to bring to life for a long time. I’m glad it is out there for everyone to experience and hopefully empower them to see their homes once again in new ways! Have a great one and be creative…

  393. I struggle with my bedroom! It’s the only place guests don’t see, so we continue putting off decorating it. Every time I walk into that room, I want to walk right back out and shut the door behind me!

  394. I need help with my dining room. It is beautiful to see but not functional and comfortable. I think this book would offer some fresh ideas that I could incorporate in this design.

  395. Surprisingly to me, my toughest space is my master bedroom. Two months ago I would have said my dining room, but I finally figured that one out with inspirations from blogland. I need my master to be a sanctuary and so far it isn’t!

  396. My living room – I love the living room he has done and will be taking notes!

  397. Right now, it’s the dining room! I’m trying to decide how casual I want to go since we rarely use it for formal occasions.

  398. I really struggle with making our family room what I would like it to be. Thanks so much for your fun and inspirational blog! I love it!

  399. Our bonus room, it is over our garage and has sloped walls and is longer and narrow…too long to be one space but with the sloped walls it is have to utilize it all. We would love to make it a toy room/games room but having trouble with how to set it up without tons of wasted space.

  400. bedroom… struggle with making it feel like home without making it look like a little kids room!

  401. Definately the kitchen/dining room. It’s the place everybody spends the most time in therefore stuff gets dumped on the island. I want inviting, peaceful and efficient.

  402. My living room is L-shaped and also doubles as our music room, so it contains a piano, organ,cello,violin, guitars and lots of music along with our seating. I need help managing it all in a not so big room.

  403. We just moved and I am digging into painting and styling the master bedroom. I could really use the advice about mixing fabrics and styling bookshelves.

  404. Definitely struggle with our bedroom, it still feels college dorm-ish to me no matter what I try!

  405. I’m looking into start interior design school right now and this is so inspiring!! I moved in with my parents after my divorce and I’ve struggled getting my room/craft space right. It’s hard to balance both in one space, but it’s a work in progress!

  406. my living room is in need of some serious help and we have a kitchen remodel coming up in the next two years or so and i have little idea of how i want it to look!!

  407. My L-shaped living area that has to function as living and dining room. I wish there was more definition between the zones but haven’t figured out a way to create it in such a small space. :-/

  408. I would love to redo my kitchen, the layout needs to be reworked. Would love help.

  409. Our biggest struggle is updating a 1970’s-dark-cabinet kitchen into something more modern and workable – on a budget, of course!

  410. Our kitchen. I have wanted to make some changes for quite some time but I’m not sure where to start.

  411. Honestly, I struggle with every room! We just built a new home (haven’t moved in yet) and it’s screaming for everything other than wall colour and flooring, ’cause that’s only as far as I’ve gotten! I so could use this and would love to win, thanks for the chance. :)

  412. Is is a cop-out to say I struggle with my whole house?? It’s a new house and like all others, it’s done in dark old-world style which I totally dislike but then EVERY new house is like that. Dark granite, black sinks, ultra dark hand-scraped wood floors. I guess people want to feel like they’re living in a gothic castle or Tuscan villa these days??
    So since my great room is the biggest I’ll way I struggle the most with that. Dark, dark, dark. Why did we buy it? If there was a house that was my style in the entire city, we would have bought it. Maybe Stephen St. Onge will tell me how fix it ? :)

  413. My great room is the most challenging for me. It is a lagre space and it long and narrow.

  414. Love following you
    via email. I am struggling
    to make my “creative”
    space somewhat inspiring,
    as it is our furnace room….
    No windows and exposed
    pipes and electrical, etc.
    The ultimate in industrial
    not-so-chic : ). I enjoy
    Stephen’s re-dos and would
    love to win….Thanks!
    xxSuzanne

  415. I’m a newbie to home renovation. Could really use some inspiration when I take my first baby steps. Thanks for the great giveaway!

  416. Struggling with my bedroom. Received a bedroom set from my in-laws as a wedding gift almost 5 years ago, but never really loved it and was discourage from a set I really liked bcs it was more money (Hard to be picky when getting free furniture). Since discovering your blog a couple of weeks ago (I have painted furniture, but not with the info. you offered), I want to take the challenge of sanding, priming (oil) & painting (and oil again) my wood bedroom set in the summer. Oy veh!

  417. My master bedroom needs help, its seems to be the last room to be renovated!

  418. I struggle with my bedroom. I want it to be comfortable yet beautiful. A place hubbylicious and I can come to after a long day of me planning weddings and him firing Army tanks and RELAX!

  419. I love Stephen….

    id say my whole house but you said one room so im going to say master bedroom…

    i can see the vision i want in my head but am having problem getting that to translate to the real world

  420. I’m struggling with my kitchen in this new house…too small, poorly organized…frustrating.

  421. I loved his monthly features in BHG. Right now I’m struggling with a bedroom we’ve turned into an office/den. It’s not easy being empty nesters for the first time. ;0) Thanks for hosting this.

  422. I feel like I struggle with every room. I think the living room and bedroom look fine. Right now I’m trying to work on our nursery/office.

  423. I struggle with my ‘bonus room’. Would love a new decorating book.
    Fun giveaway!! Thanks.

  424. I struggle with our family room. Nothing about it say comfortable family room.

  425. In a small apartment it’s hard to decorate the living room! I want to put so many things in a tiny space and it just looks cluttered! I need help!

  426. I struggle with our living room. There are too many blank walls that I don’t know what to do with and I can’t nail a perfect formal-yet-comfortable vibe in there.

  427. My biggest challenge at the moment is my long and narrow living room. I’m looking to create a fresh yet cozy, TV free lounge and dining space but not sure how best to pull it all together. Always looking for ideas especially on a budget!

  428. I struggle with my living/dining room which is really just one big, long room. I need to figure out how to make it feel like two rooms. Plus I feel like “decorating” is a major weak area for me. I feel decorating handicapped. So, I really feel like I could benefit from this book..I thought I would buy it and I probably still will, but how fun would that be to win it instead!

    Thanks for the info.

  429. I have a narrow room directly off of my entry way that is hard to furnish due to the two open walls that do not allow for furniture and then the other two walls across from one another with a walkway in the middle! I need some assistance!

  430. Mine is the “formal” living room… seems like a waste of space, but can’t wrap my head around how best to use it.

  431. I struggle with the study area. My husband just likes to pile up books, cables, disks, cameras and other junk onto the bookcases with no plan or organisation. I need to have some ideas on how to tame the junk monster in this area.

  432. What a great opportunity! I just bought my first townhouse and I want to do things right the first time! My biggest area of need is the front room (which is the family room too!). I want it to be warm, functional, and have a great design and layout.

  433. Our family room is an awkwardly shaped room, with multiple focal points that contradict each other and very little wall space. Furniture placement is driving me nuts!

  434. We are starting a renovation of our kitchen and I’m struggling with where to begin and how to turn it into a functional, yet stylish, space that we all can enjoy.

  435. I struggle with the spare bedroom/office/storage room. I want it to be useful not just for guests, but all year round.

  436. I struggle with our Master bedroom, I want it to be calm and peaceful and not too formal, but it ends up looking mis-matched and messy!

  437. I struggle with my kitchen. It is small and it seems that I always have clutter!

  438. I need help with my kitchen / dining room open floor plan. The rooms are so big and I haven’t a clue as to what to do with them. Thanks!

  439. I struggle with the basement family room. It’s dark and yucky right now, but I don’t know what to do to give it a face lift!

  440. My Living Room. I can’t seem to decide on what colors to add to the room that won’t be too distracting or clash with the kitchen design and colors.

  441. AFter moving into our home 2 years ago we attempted to make every room in the house cozy and perfectly decorated. Many of the original ideas we had still remain, yet much has changed. Except our master bedroom. We painted, bought new furniture and a lamp. I did, however, make our headboard for our king bed (had to have one, made it work).Other than that, its in need of some attention.

  442. Right now I am in a rental, and we may need to move soon, but I still want to kick up the style in my bedroom.

  443. Definitely the family room. It’s a weird shape, limited natural light and just … difficult all the way around.

  444. Family room- it is narrow and small, and there are 5 of us. Heaven forbid anyone else come over- where do they sit?

  445. I’m struggling with our dining room. It needs an update. It is currently a blank canvas and I’m just not sure where to begin!

  446. I’d love to have a copy of this book! The room I struggle with the most is the masterbedroom. It just doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves…..maybe because no one usually sees it? But I need to fix that space up to be a haven for me and the Mister :)

  447. My living room is not cutting it….it houses the piano and a sofa, but is not the functional, pulled together space I imagine it could be!

  448. what space DON’T i struggle with? i’m a renter, and am limited in what i can do with my TINY space… could sure use some inspiration! kristinmik at gmail

  449. My bedroom is a constant struggle, a long, narrow room with a “half” cathedral ceiling and a strange open hole above the wall-to-wall mirrored closet.

  450. I am struggling most with budget. There are changes I’d love to make, but $$ is such an issue. Argh. I’ll just try to be patient until we get there!

  451. I struggle with bathrooms! It’s hard to properly utilize such small space, yet make it feel large!

  452. I’m struggling with my family room. How do I decorate a room that’s so heavily lived in – especially by a 2 year old!?

  453. Can’t wait to get this book. Love the finished rooms. Thanks for the give-away!

  454. My entryway is my biggest struggle. It never seems to serve any purpose other than to collect piles of junk!

  455. I love the make over he did with the dining room. Not really a fan of yellow, but I really liked it! I struggle with my room because there is not a lot of room in there, but I need to store a lot of things

  456. My study or family room is the toughest! 3 doorways and not enough light, bet this book would help! Thanks for the giveaway!!

  457. My problem is my living/dining area…its one big open room and I want it to flow together…kid friendly but not childish….

  458. I cannot figure out how to work with beautiful windows overlooking a terrible urban view (driveway/neighbor’s house) in our living room. Combine that with some pieces that certain family members cannot let go of, like, ever, and you find me, in need of serious help!

  459. My living room has always been my greatest challenge: you can see it from the front door so I feel like it should set the tone for our home but yet I haven’t been able to get it all pulled together yet.

  460. would love a chance a this book since we are building a home. Help me!! Thanks

  461. I am in my late 20’s and newly married and I’m struggling with our living and dining room (which are next to each other). I want the comfort of a lived in house, but also a space more sophisticated than mis matched furniture. help!

  462. The office! Never ending trail of paperwork to file, cords to hide, stuff, stuff, stuff …
    Thanks for the inspiration and great giveaway opp!

  463. My problem spot is the master bathroom. It really isn’t a master, as it is standard size and we are getting ready for a redo which we hope will make it seem larger than it is. Sounds like there might be some interesting tips in the book!

  464. Our entire downstairs is open with the exception of a playroom and bathroom. I struggle with creative and unique ways to quickly store clutter that you can see from anywhere in the downstairs.

  465. I could really use help in my dining room. It’s the one room that makes me feel frustrated when I walk through the house!

  466. I struggle with my sons bedrooms (four of them!), keeping up with their interests in the decor, yet keeping them simple and clutter free!

  467. I constantly strugged with our great room. It’s wide, it’s open, I really love it, but…it has no wall space for beautiful pictures and it’s full of odd angles that make arranging furniture in it difficult at best. Would love to have a copy of Stephen’s book for inspiration!

  468. My family room, which is small and serves as a hang out space for TV watching but also play area for my son. It always seems so dark and dreary. It’s also part of a bigger room, which includes the kitchen and eating area.

  469. I struggle with my long kitchen/family room combo. I like the open floor plan, but very few arrangements of furniture/TV are possible due to windows and large fireplace, and no matter what I do it just looks like one long rectangle.

  470. My outdoor space…the deck is not covered so you are limited as to what you can use, not to mention all the “pollen” we have here in Georgia.

  471. The room that is most challenging in my house is the living room. The fireplace is placed in an awkward spot and its difficult to configure our furnishings in a functional yet aesthetically pleasing way. I could use help! Thanks!

  472. Thank you for the generous give-away. I can’t figure out how to make my laundry room look pretty yet part of the home. It is at the end of a hallway that leads to the bedroom and beyond, and is a very open space.

  473. Pretty much all rooms. I like so many different things that I often don’t feel like I have a plan or direction.

  474. Our struggle is the open kitchen, dining room & living room. I want them to flow as they are open to each other, but I want the decor to fit each space. Also, we have ALOT of windows … so not alot of wall space to work with. :(
    Thanks for a chance to win!

  475. I enjoyed his features in BHG. I’d love to win his book!
    I think my living room is my main struggle…it’s not very big and the front door opens directly into it.

  476. I really struggle with my kitchen – so much so that I don’t even like to spend much time in the room. (It could also be my aversion to cooking.)

  477. I struggle with the Living Room. Really only one wall for the large Entertainment center we have, stairs behind the sofa {it’s a Hi-Ranch}, the a big bow window on the other wall. The LR, DR & Kitchen are all completely opened to each other, so there is no 4 wall of any kind. This sounds like a great book to get some wonderful ideas from. Thanks for sharing!!!

  478. Oops, I hit sent too quickly. The space I have the most trouble with is my family room – 18 ft ceilings are torture to decorate.

  479. Sounds like a good book! I’m striving for a home that is welcoming to all that enter. I struggle with our family room–enough seating, wall hangings (pictures, artwork, etc.) and a balance between decor and functionality.

  480. i struggle with our home office. keeping it functional, uncluttered, AND a room i want to be in!

  481. I feel like I have been in a 2 year struggle. We moved 2 years ago and rented a house and began house hunting. In the meantime I bought things I wanted to redo and put in our “NEW” house and began cutting out pictures of inspirtaion of what I wanted “our house” to look like. Well, 2 years later we are still in our rental house and still looking for the perfect home for our family. I guess my struggle is making our rental home feel like our home without causing to much permanent damage :) but also letting my creative side come out.

  482. I struggle with pretty much every room in my house! :( I need some HELP!

  483. My dining room and living room both. But the bigger problem of the two would have to be the dining room. It has so Many widows that I struggle with where to put window coverings and where not to. I could use some good advise.

  484. I struggle most with my family room. For some reason, there is only one wall without windows or doorways, and that wall is only 5 1/2 feet long! It doesn’t help that the room is quite small, making the problem even worse. I loved reading Stephen’s articles in BHG and would love to have this book. Thanks for the giveaway!

  485. My large great room fireplace wall – it’s two stories high and the fireplace is too small.

  486. My husband’s man cave/my craft room. They are the same room, which is probably the reason it’s so difficult to make it work! Haha…

  487. Oh, i would so love to win this book. The room i constantly struggle with is the home office, trying to make it functional, but pretty at the same time and not too ‘officey’ like. We’re moving house in 1 month, after 24 years in our current home. I’m so excited and can’t wait to redecorate and just love ideas from books like this.
    Fingers crossed.
    Jane in NZ

  488. I struggle with our open space living/dining/kitchen room. We’re in a 1000 SF prewar apartment with 2 little kids, so our entire space is kid space. Decluttering…. I wish!

  489. I’m struggling with my craft room to find storage for everything, decorating it at the same time – beautiful and functional, it’s my goal!

  490. Oh boy, that’s easy…my kitchen. A small akward space that is most unaccomodating!

  491. I struggle with my bedroom….no matter what I do, it never seems to come together as that beautiful, romantic, grown-up space I imagine in my head :)

  492. The room I’m currently struggling with is my former dining room…we never used it as a dining room, so I got rid of the table and it’s supposed to be a “keeping room”…but we still never use it! It needs HELP!

  493. The great room in our house was once a carport. It was enclosed. It it opened to the dining area and the kitchen. I love the way it is all openened, however the den is a long narrow room and there are two steps that go up to the dining area and kitchen. It’s the problem room as far as arranging. It has higher ceilings that the rest of the house. Maybe this book would help to solve this problem. Thanks…love your blog!

  494. We have just bought a countryside house and trying to figure out the bedrooms without too much clutter is a problem for me right now.

  495. We have just bought a countryside house and trying to figure out the bedrooms – keeping it simple but country without too much clutter and overdoing it is the issue right now.

  496. My living room is the one room I struggle with…I will be asking for this book for Mother’s Day if I don’t win!

  497. I have a problem making my living and dining room to look homey and less out of sorts. I just can’t seem to find the balance it needs.

  498. I mostly struggle with my bedroom. I take time to take care of the living room/dining room and kitchen because, when I have guests, these are the only spaces they’ll most likely see. When it comes to my bedroom…well, it’s neglected.

  499. The space I struggle with the most is our whole space! Being married 1.5 years, we are still learning how to merge our things and make the space our own. We’re getting there, and seeing how you refinish pieces is definitley going to help get us there! I have a hutch re-do in my future . . .

  500. I have always struggled with my bedroom. No matter where I am in my life, it has always been neglected. I definitely could use some help!

  501. My bedroom! It ends up the dumping ground for anything that can’t find a place in the rest of the house. Not exactly restful!

  502. I struggle with my living room which seems to only accommodate one furniture layout. And then i read the post above about the bedroom becoming the dumping ground for anything you can’t find a place for. yeah. I’ve got that too.

  503. My bedroom is my decorating downfall! I’ve started off well with nice furniture but aside from a duvet and decorative pillows there is no decorative aspect. Nothing artistic, nothing pretty….it’s a blank canvas waiting to be hit with my inspiration. It’s summed up as white, taupe and cherry wood. Help!

  504. I am struggling with my family room-it open onto the rest of the house and I just can’t get it to flow with out blending ingto a beige blob…sigh… I just keep hoping the next iteration will be the right one!

  505. While I am very happy with all of the rooms in our house that we have decorated, I struggle with our 3 bathrooms that still reflect the previous owner’s taste and not ours. I would love to find a way to neutralize the floor-to-ceiling tile that they selected. Until we can afford to redo them, we are stuck with our boring bathrooms!

  506. The one space I struggle with the most seems to be our living/family room. It seems I am continually trying something new and it never feels just right! I did love Steven Saint Onge’s articles in BHG!

  507. I’m struggling with the open family room/kitchen/informal dining area & how to make it homey, organized, & functional, for us & the toddlers. Thanks!

  508. I’m struggling with the front living room/dining room. We have a number of family pieces that were passed down and I would like to keep a few but right now it looks like an elderly woman’s house, not the young family that we are.

  509. I would LOVE to win this book. I love that he wrote it like a friend giving advice rather than a designer. The room I struggle with most is our guest room. It’s a huge mess with my husbands bike gear, leftover wedding decor, and stuff that we just need to get rid of in general!

  510. I love love love the living room. I would really love to have some guidance to achieve such look.

  511. I am a virgin commenter!!! Love reading your blog. I am struggling with my family room, it is kind of there but not quite…cant put my finger on what is wrong, it just doesn’t tie together…oh well I will keep trying but the book would help. Do you send to downunder???!!!

  512. My living room, with it’s awkward corners, and basement door that juts out into the middle of the room creating dead space, is the room that gives me the most designing angst. I would love a design book that gives me form and functionality ideas!
    Jenny

  513. I need help everywhere, but the dining room/kitchen combo is screaming the loudest right now.
    Thanks for introducing us to this book!

  514. It’s a toss up…I struggle constantly with the room that is technically the dining room (which has never been used as one) and the bonus room which serves as bedroom for my middle child and a play/tv room for all my kiddos. Sadly, I have lived in this house for 11 yrs and have never done anything with either of these rooms. You’d think I would have made up my mind by now! :)

  515. Our office/playroom is the room I’m always fighting with. It’s been changed around the most in the 6 years I’ve lived in this house.

  516. My house is a ranch style…the previous homeowners knocked down the interior wall that separates the dining/formal living with the kitchen and den. It is a huge open space! I am struggling with how to separate the rooms without it looking awkward.

  517. We are looking into renovating our very tiny rancher’s bathrooms to make an accessible bathroom for our son. We have gotten estimates from contractors that made my hair stand on end and I’d love to try to tackle this ourselves, but we are afraid to start. Hubby is very handy, but a major reno like this is scary.

  518. Hi, Kate,
    I have a small house and for me, the living room, presents the biggest challenge. Thank you for this giveaway!

  519. The challenge room is the great room — four spaces in one (entry, living room, kitchen, dining room) — holytoledo! A designer’s paradise and my puzzle!

  520. I am struggling with the downstairs right now, we decided rather than move, cuz we like the neighborhood a lot and can’t find land to build anywhere near our kiddos school-we would redo the house. Trying to do it frugally and diy it, this space has potential-living, dining, kitchen, breakfast room, entry, but can’t execute my ultimate vision right now so have to figure out what would make me happy on my budget!!

  521. My bedroom! It’s the most important place so I have a difficult time deciding exactly what I want in there.

  522. I struggle with my mast bedroom the most. It’s a work in progress…
    – Danielle
    other-option AT hotmail DOT com

  523. Oh my, definitely my home office! With no personality or interest, it’s so easy to overlook in decorating (cleaning, decluttering, etc…) ug! Love Stephen’s House Calls in BHG and his approach to family-friendly living.

  524. I struggle with decorating my entire house, but particularly would like to get my living room in order since that is what people see.

  525. Since we’ve gutted and remodeled the kitchen/dining/livingroom, I’ve struggled with what to keep, what to get rid of and what to add. This book looks like the perfect inspiration for creating a family friendly space!

  526. In my apartment, my too large living room includes my kitchen, dining room and den. I have no idea how to tie it all together!

  527. We just moved into our home in December and I am having issues decorating the kitchen. I have hideous forest green countertops and have been searching for design ideas to save my space!

  528. My struggle space is my master bedroom. It’s not dramatically different from my college dorm room – just more furniture and a bigger bed. It’s a catchall for laundry, misplaced photos, and whatever other junk I can’t immediately find a home for. It’s the least restful room in the house, but it’s very low priority because no one sees it but me and my hubby. I would so love to have a cohesive, tidy, adult space to retreat to. Sigh.

  529. The area I have no idea what to do with is the entrance way. With no windows it’s a dark place.

  530. This book sounds helpful and fun. The room I struggle the most with is my house. I have a hard time committing to colors, layouts, and especially hanging up pictures.

  531. I struggle with my living room. It does not have any type of an entryway and the front door just opens up to the living space. I also have a ‘family room’ with a mounted tv and a fireplace so the living room rarely gets used and I live alone so having a family room AND a living room really feels like wasted space. The living room also flows into a open kitchen/dining area floor plan so I feel like it needs to have a cohesive feel to it. It also is the open area to the hall towards the bed and bath rooms so furnture placement is a problem.

  532. I struggle with my office believe it or not! Unfortunately it’s in the same room as our dining room (currently) so it’s hard to define each space and make them at least feel like they’re separate

  533. I struggle most with our bonus room… We want to turn it into a functional family room but we are not sure how.

  534. I struggle with my “formal” living room. It has a comfy couch and chairs and it is where we spend time as a family having deep discussions or making family decisions without distraction from the TV (as in the family room). However it is really bare as I have no idea how to style it. And it is the first room you see when you enter our home.

  535. We are struggling with a long narrow living room that includes a fireplace, large flatscreen and dogbeds that we are trying to decorate in a warm, inviting way. Also, we are fortunate to have furnishings and accesories that are of good quality and that mean something to us but often I can’t find a way to display them. It seems like this book might help with all my concerns.

  536. I would like some fresh ideas, new takes on decorating bedrooms, more specifically, Master bedrooms. I think it’s too easy to “do what everyone else does” in a bedroom, especially if you’re limited on space. I’d like to find a better balance between designing a functional, yet uncluttered, restful place. :)

  537. I would love some help with our open floor plan. I love that it’s spacious, but I long for coziness too!

  538. We’re completely renovating our house but the area where we need the most inspiration is the attic. We’re adding an entire master suite.

  539. After 45 years of marriage, my living room is a catalog of furniture styles, from antique family hand-me-downs, to Queen Anne dining furniture, to a Windsor sofa, to comfy, chunky reading chairs, to transitional tables–and the list goes on. I would love some help sorting out what should stay and what should go, and then finding a unifying element to tie it all together.

  540. I struggle most with our kitchen, which is a tiny and awkward space. I wish we could knock out a couple of walls, but our finances won’t allow that. So I continue to struggle. :)

  541. Would really love to win this…have been a fan of Stephen’s for some time:-) Thanks for the give-away!

  542. I struggle the most with the master bedroom. Every room in my house has had some sprucing up, but for the last three years, the most I’ve done in the master bedroom is change the bed spread.

  543. I struggle the most with my upstairs. It is a young teen hangout and gets a lot of abuse. I also like to redecorate other spaces frequently so I love all the inspiration I can get!

  544. I struggle with our main living area. It is really all one big room our kitchen, dining area, and living room. It is hard to make it “go together” but make each it’s separate interesting space. I feel like it’s too blah right now because I am afraid of it not “going” with the other spaces.

  545. I struggle with my office. I find it difficult to balance having a working office that is also a beautiful space.

  546. The sewing room/office which leads directly into the children’s playroom. This space drives me to distraction. In time the playroom will be the media room it was intended to be (no windows need I say more) but that is years away from now. My sewing/craft stuff is moving into a spare bedroom next week but that leaves a large room with a mess of an office used as a highway to the playroom. My lack of design skills are glaring upstairs!!!

  547. I’m struggling with our bedroom. I want a calm sanctuary to retire to at the end of the day, but I just can’t seem to make a start.

  548. The main floor of the house is a ‘mostly’ open floor plan of living room, dining room and kitchen. It’s where any entertaining would take place, if I could tie it together and actually have company over. I love color, and am looking for colors that will tie the space together.

  549. I struggle with our master bedroom. I never can quite give it the finishing touch. I can get the basics, but not the finish.

  550. I struggle with a living room that is a long, rectangular thoroughfare between a wide hallway and the kitchen. It’s a narrow room, but has both a sliding glass door AND a fireplace on the same wall, right next to each other. Am looking for a functional way to place furniture or an idea to repurpose this room into something more useful. LOVE Stephen St. Onge and love CG!

  551. I struggle with my living room/entry (there is no formal entry), and have since we moved into our home over three years ago. After reading this entry, I’m sitting here looking at these leather chairs in my living room that I hate and that are just too big for the space they’re in. But they were picked out by my husband (insert sigh here) and I just don’t know what to do with them …

  552. I struggle most with the garage.. it’s always a mess and my car remains out in the rain :(

  553. I struggle with my living room too. It has three doorways to other rooms, a coat closet, a fireplace and a large window with a radiator in front of it. It’s large but I can’t figure out how to make it anything but a long skinny hallway!

  554. My living room. It has three doorways to other rooms, a coat closet, a fireplace and a large window with a radiator in front of it. It’s large but I can’t figure out how to make it anything but a long skinny hallway!

  555. I would LOVE this book !!!!! Maybe it would help me with the upstairs guest room…..it needs help !!!

  556. As a new homeowner with limited funds, I’m having a hard time decorating my home. Everything is soo expensive nowadays that you have to resort to thrift stores and trying your hand at doing it yourself. If something fails, you just try again.

  557. What a fabulous giveaway!!! I would love to win this giveaway. I’m struggling a lot with my whole house. We built our home fourteen years ago and my style isn’t the same as when we built it. I’m ready to do some updating and redecorating. The room I’m really struggling with is my daughter’s bedroom. We are getting rid of everything except the furniture and starting from scratch.

  558. Our family room is the hardest room for me…. it is a converted garage, and mostly hand me down/c-list finds and toys! HELP!

  559. I’ve been trying to figure out how to create a look for my living room that’s both cozy and fresh — the shots of the blue and yellow dining room are quite an inspiration. This is quite a wonderful giveaway — thanks for the chance to win!

  560. What a wonderful giveaway, I am currently working so hard to revamp our home after becoming empty nester’s. We are making progress, but at times I do become empty-headed with more ideas or even making sure it all goes with my real personality I am trying to envoke to other’s who come into my home. I sure hope I win, I could use the help……

  561. I struggle with the WHOLE HOUSE!! :) but the room i struggle with the most… our family room. i’ve tried several different things… nothing seems to help! thanks for a great giveaway! :)

  562. I lived a house or two away from Stephen and grew up along with him. He was a talented artist, even as a small child, and I’m glad to see his book finally coming to fruition! I just got a copy of it as well, and love all the tips he gives. Great ideas!

  563. I lived a house or two away from Stephen and grew up along with him. He was a talented artist, even as a small child, and I’m glad to see his book finally coming to fruition! I just got a copy of his book as well, and love all the tips he gives. Great ideas!

  564. The room I struggle with most is my living room. Very long rectangle with windows on each end.
    Would love Stephen’s book – maybe will inspire me to tackle this room once and for all.

  565. Thanks for writing this review. I’ve been a fan of Stephen’s since I saw his columns in BHG magazine, and was wondering what his new book was like. Fingers crossed!

    The room I struggle most with is my kitchen — how to add personality but still keep it functional.

Leave a comment!

Keep the conversation going! Your email address will not be published.*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lately on Instagram (@centsationalstyle)