A compulsively readable, zanily humorous, yet also completely practical guide to a headache-free home makeover for everyone decorating a new house or updating an old one

More than 7 million readers of Marni Jameson’s weekly home design column have already discovered how Jameson entertains and inspires, while imparting well-researched and personally validated DIY advice. Now, in her first-ever book on home improvement, she offers a compulsively readable, zanily humorous, yet also completely practical guide to a headache-free home makeover for everyone decorating a new house or updating an old one.Jameson has designed, built, and decorated three homes from the ground up. In The House Always Wins, she brings us along as she decorates, furnishes, and landscapes her current home. Though rooted in her own experience, this is no navel-gazing memoir. Rather, Jameson is like a favorite sister who has learned it all the hard way and is now here to prompt and inspire you to figure out your own personal style, make a design plan, and create your (almost) perfect dream home-one step at a time. With Jameson as our guide, we navigate through the seemingly endless maze of choices and decisions every home improver faces: wall color, flooring, cabinetry, window treatments, furniture, bargain hunting, home accessories, rugs, kids’ spaces, special purpose rooms (like the garage and guest, laundry, and mud rooms), landscaping, outdoor living spaces-and that’s just to start. Along the way, Jameson injects insights into the relationships and realities that dog every home improvement project. She also pauses to share hard-won secrets and money-saving tips distilled from her own redecorating experience and from interviews with dozens of renowned home-design experts.For anyone dealing with budgets, time constraints, unreliable contractors, a cheap spouse, kids, and pets-and who would appreciate having someone to commiserate with about the unattainable perfection featured in glossy magazine spreads-The House Always Wins will comfort (it can always be worse), inspire (who knew?!), and be absolutely indispensable.

"I highly recommend The House Always Wins for anyone contemplating a move or a remodel. It is chock full of expert advice, interjected between real world stories of Marni Jameson's venture into finishing a house she and her husband bought in its `skeleton' phase. I know of no other book that's such an entertaining read while teaching what to do and what not to do to make your dream house a reality. As Marni so wisely advises, take your time--and I would add: put this book at the top of your to-do list."—Sarah Susanka, FAIA, architect and author of the Not So Big House series and The Not So Big Life

"Stack the deck in your favor with the best how-to decorate book of the century!"—Betty Lou Phillips, award-winning author of Villa Decor and other home design books

"The only question to ask after finishing newspaper columnist Jameson's highly personal, achingly realistic, and snickeringly funny introduction to home decorating is, Why is she read by only seven million readers in 30 markets? Through a series of real-life scenarios and authentic conversations with husband Dan and a host of interior-design experts, the author investigates every aspect of buying then transforming a house into a home. Along the way, she destroys such myths as "It's not your grandmother's wallpaper," or "Why your house will never look like a model and still look great." She dispenses lots of practical advice, such as knowing when the repair is a job for someone else and avoiding builder gouges on upgrades. She offers a wealth of creative solutions, whether starting a vision bag (which gathers magazine decorating clippings in one place) or providing ideas for holiday ornaments and designs. Her easy-to-read sidebars are generously situated throughout the text, capturing how-to's in one place. Pragmatic humor is no longer an oxymoron."—Booklist, 3/1/08

“Hilarious Jameson, whose uproarious voice recalls Erma Bombeck’s, dishes out home advice in witty essays You don’t necessarily have to be in the middle of a remodel or redecorating project to appreciate the laughs but anyone on the rocky road to making a house a home will find Jameson an especially charming companion.”—Bookpage

"A Hilarious Home Book That Tells It Like It Is….While reading Marni Jameson's new book, The House Always Wins during my kids' piano lessons, I laughed so hard that their teacher had to stop the music…Jameson's book is bursting with so many practical insider tips — some from experience and some from interviews with experts — that it's worth reading even if you only plan to renovate one room at a time with a modest budget."—Hartford Courant

"Reads a bit like a novel…By going through the trials and tribulations of making a perfect home, Jameson can teach some valuable lessons and how to laugh. Because she is a columnist, each chapter reads like a column, easy for those who are overwhelmed by many of the detailed real estate and decorating guides out there…A memorable book with useful tips surrounded by a funny, relatable story."—Newsday

"Jameson, whose uproarious voice recalls Erma Bombeck’s, dishes out home advice in witty essays on choosing paint color, hanging drapes, shopping vintage and more…You don’t necessarily have to be in the middle of a remodel or redecorating project to appreciate the laughs in The House Always Wins, but anyone on the rocky road to making a house a home will find Jameson an especially charming companion."—BookPage

"Marni Jameson chronicles, in her self-deprecating manner, the process of building, decorating and landscaping her Colorado dream home, one agonizing decision at a time. The book is a compelling mix of humorous anecdotes and useful information."—Calgary Herald

“This author…is smart, seasoned, savvy and unwilling to settle for anything less than ‘just right.’ In the end, the true test of a home-design book is whether it propels the reader to action. Jameson propelled me to stop midway through her book to rearrange my furniture. And I've got plans. Big plans.”—Los Angeles Times, 5/11/08

“By detailing real-life scenarios and experiences, Jameson shares her point of view in a humorous yet straightforward fashion… the funny interactions with her spouse, irritated neighbors and others provide enough color for you to keep turning the pages.”—Orlando Sentinel, 5/11/08  

Marni Jameson is a journalist and syndicated columnist who writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times (for which she has written more than 200 feature stories), Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Fit Pregnancy, and other national and regional magazines. Her syndicated weekly home design column appears in more than 30 newspapers throughout North America. Though not an interior designer by profession, she is a serial home improver who has built and decorated three homes from the ground up. Jameson lives in her current home improvement project in Castle Rock, Colorado, with her amazingly tolerant husband and two daughters.

Imprint: Da Capo Press
Distributor: Perseus Books Group
Publication Date: 03-03-2008
Pages: 320
Measurements: 9.00in X 6.00in