Trading Spaces Color by Meredith Books (2003, Paperback)

I picked this book up because I am fascinated with anything to do with design, particularly color. I have to explain thatI don't have TV, so while I've seen the show once or twice, but I'm not overly familiar with it. My first impression, of the cover, was positive.The subtitle promises to punch it up with color the trading spaces way, and it -looks- punchy..lacquer red, black, white and a bit of honey. It's nicely lit and quite inspiring.
Inside the layout is frenetic, at times even messy. It can be difficult to see the point of some of the smaller photographs...it looks like they used stills from video footage, so there are a lot of color balance, focus and lighting issues.An example: One shot of a metallic paint transformation on a stove(pg 157 in the paperback edition) looked all the world like it was painted avacado green. Yoiks! They use mock "filmstrip" or "video camera" frames on these shots, but it doesn't help. Throughout the book there are cutout photos of the designers involved in the book, which I think I would appreciate more if I bought the book as a reminder or souvenir from the show...but since I didn't they end up being distracting. Some of the features of the book include questionnaires, which amazed me with their silliness.They are supposed to help you find your "style". Maybe you have to be a fan of the show and there is some inside joke to these, but I personally felt like I was reading Tiger Beat! ie "For Halloween,I'd like to dress up as a a) beauty queen, b) vampire c) a tube of toothpaste d) a fairy princess e)a sheriff from the Old West?" ... oh, please...
Tips, some were great, and then some made me cringe. "Make a lamp out of anything" was a scary concept,(having worked as an electrician) although I have to say that the instructions would help you to do just that. I worry about the lack of safety information in segments like these. However, like a lot of the other tips in the book, this one really had nothing at all to do with color.
Pages like 27 and 47 "coloring lessons" really needed examples of what was being expained in uhhhmmmm, color.
Overall, this is a fine book if you are a fan of the show. There is a lot of information in it for decorating references, and I'm sure if I had seen the episodes the pictures were from, everything would make a lot more sense. There is humor and quirkiness to be found here.However if you are looking for a color inspiration book , or reference, I feel there are a lot better titles out there!:) Happy decorating!