BOOK DESCRIPTION:
With The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking, it’s possible and even convenient to create an inviting space for living and entertaining on a budget. From unique decor ideas to growing strawberries on your fire escape, Kate Payne shares fun, low-cost (and often free!) creative solutions that will make anyone feel more accomplished in minutes.
Inside this savvy motivational guide filled to the brim with small-scale creative home projects, Kate’s tongue-in-cheek tone will keep you tuned in to her much-needed advice. In three easy sections, you’ll learn how to create a comfortable space while being time- and budget-conscious. Section One, Home-ify Your Pad, features quick, convenient ways to make your place cozier with low-cost, special touches to help you tap into and show off your inner artist. Section Two, Impressive Acts of Domesticity, teaches how to impress others (and yourself) with the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency—a first-time guide to cleaning, sewing, repairing, and other previously out-of-the-question tasks. Section Three, Life After Restaurants, frees you to release the take-out menu, avoid pricey bar tabs, and entertain others in the space you’ve so thoughtfully and gorgeously created.
User-friendly “how-to” sidebars, illustrations, and tips and tricks throughout the book offer easy-to-follow recipes and do-it-yourself craft suggestions for making your home hip, comfortable, and inviting. Keep in mind that this is not your grandmother’s handbook and it’s not the kind of wisdom your mom knows how to impart. Modern women need a modern approach to domestic pleasures—a guide to doing household things on our own terms, because most of this stuff isn’t as hard as we’ve been led to believe. Don’t worry, she’s not asking you to host Tupperware parties or iron your underwear. But as all beginning home keepers know, a sure fire way to feel bad about ourselves is to consult Martha Stewart. So ditch that 2-inch thick handbook, dust off your pots and pans, and join Kate on this journey to incorporating creativity and self-sufficiency on the home front.
MY RATING:3/5
MY THOUGHTS
This book is packed full of tips and tricks to help any young girl become more savvy in sprucing up her home.
The guide is broken into 3 parts; Room-by-Room guide to a Homey House, Impressive Acts of Domesticity, and After Restaurants.
Each section is broken into small parts that are short and easy to read. In the room guide for the kitchen she writes 5 brief sentences on how to decorate with food. Now, I know you are thinking that isn’t much, but quite honestly if you can say it in five, why use 10?
“What do you use in the kitchen every day? (Do you know yet?
Don’t fret if you’re new to the idea.)
Our countertop staples/decorations include salt, pepper, and
olive oil. We use them all the time and showcase them proudly.” (pg 6)
I think an assumptions is made in the book that you are already a bit creative and would know what to do and how to display items. The ideas are just noted to nudge you in the right direction.
I really like how the book is set up. I can pick it up and open it anywhere and read a section. It doesn’t need to be read front to back or chapter by chapter. Just open and glean some new tips and tricks.
However, I wish there were photos to go with some of the descriptions. Quite honestly, I would have bumped the rating up to a 4 or 5 if there had been.
This is a great book for someone who is just starting out on their own. I would gift it to those in their 20′s. In my opinion, anyone older than that should really have a good grasp on most of the ideas shared here. It’s timeless information though and I will be saving this to give to my daughter in a couple years.
Cheers,
Great review! I have been looking at this book deciding whether to buy it or not-you helped! I stumbled you too!
Thanks for posting this – Id love to read it! XO