Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
  A Flair for Living by Charlotte Moss October 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a great book with lots of ideas. It is definitely coffee table quality. Just delightful.
Charlotte Moss: A Flair for Living September 15, 2008
This is a wonderful book for design mavens like myself. Lots of eye candy for inspiration. Even though most of the decor is "over the top", I still never cease to discover lots of very proactical ideas for my home and for my table.
A lovely book for both the table and for the decorator's library.
 An assessment of Charlotte Moss: a flair for living August 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Visually, this is a beautiful book. The photography is excellent, and it is the pictures that provide value. The narrative has less impact, as little in the way of concrete information is given. In the end, however, the various rooms, inspite of their beautiful contents, leave an impression of emptiness. One cannot imagine people actually living in these rooms, and leaving any human imprint. The rooms are perfect as in a museum, but just as in that setting, no one may sit down.
Real Antiques, Faux Flair August 5, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Moss is really good at the visuals (and textures) of interiors, and she has what's clearly a reverence for the history of home and garden design. Both help create the richness of image and inspiration that are this book's primary appeal. Less attractively, she does seem out of touch, not only with ordinary folks but also with ordinary emotions. You'll get some gorgeous visuals for the steep cover price here, but be warned that there's nothing "lived in" about this "flair for living."
I don't think it is her wealth in and of itself that is the problem. Many home and garden writers (not to mention personalities in other fields) are wealthy and yet come across on the page as very emotionally present. (Plus, from the evidence within it Moss was already very well off when she created A Passion for Detail, her warmest and most generous book.) For me, the dollars and cents don't really matter.
What does matter is warmth, which this book never really offers. Moss uses the cataloging of antiques, objects, purchases, historic influences, travel, famous inspirations, etc., etc. etc. as a way to wall herself off--it's a lavish fortress of sorts, as is the home itself. It's hard to tell who or what she would be without all this. In the end, the weird part about this book is that even when I loved a particular room or grouping or object, it didn't make me aspire to the lifestyle illustrated ...the formality and elaboration and old fashioned feeling of it all weren't attractive even when the objects themselves were.
Her BEST book yet! July 31, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is filled with beautiful photos of the most superbly arranged and layered rooms that Charlotte Moss has ever done. Each page is loaded with visual ideas and requires careful study in order to see everything.
The text is very interesting because she discusses her inspirations and philosophies, which are not only interesting, but also a great source of inspiration in and of themselves. It has been one of my evening reads for over two months and I never tire of it. I have also given more than 12 as gifts and all recipients have raved about it.
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