hether you re on your own tbr<br >the lit st time， about to share a<br >new apartment with a ti iend，<br >or starting over after years ot being<br >part of a couple， you re probably not<br >sure where to begin when it comes to<br >decorating your first apartment. It s<br >one of those things that you don t<br >think about until you re confi~onted<br >with an empty apartment--or a clut-<br >tered one that you realize needs im-<br >proving. Suddenly dozens of choices<br >haxe to lie made: how to select a color<br >scheme， create a l]oorplan， or find the<br >right soth.<br > Dccoratiug Your First Apartment<br >has been designed to help you over-<br >come these problems. This guide<br >starts with the assumption that vou<br >want to decorate your studio or one-<br >bedroom apartment tastefully--with<br >the nmmnum amount of money m the<br >shortest period of time and with the<br >least amount of trauma. Decorating<br >}bur t:h sl Apartment is a handbook<br >that will ~uide you through each of the<br >decisions that you ll be making--and<br >will show you how to enjoy the process<br >of making a new home!<br > I ve been the decorating editor for<br >Cosmopolitan， Esquire， and American<br >Home and have helped hundreds of<br >people who are starting out. I know<br >where the trouble spots are， and I ll<br >help you avoid them. When you re<br >buying paint， do you know whether to<br >ask tor latex or an oil base? Do you<br >know the least expensive way to install<br >track lights? Whether to buy a Mur-<br >phy bed or a convertible sofa? These<br >aren t things anyone is born knowing.<br >Wherever possible， I ve anticipated<br >your questions. Instead of letting you<br >worry about whether a sofa will be the<br >right size tor your room， 1 show you<br >how to do a floorplan that will give you<br >confidence in your choice. And<br >throughout the book， I show dozens of<br >different floorplans of rooms that are<br >similar m size and proportion to yours.<br > The biggest problems in decorating<br >are taste and money. Not a surprise，<br >right? But just when you most need<br >advice about style and keeping costs<br >down， you often can least afford it. For<br >this book， I ve interviewed ten top<br >decorators who plan the kinds of apart-<br >ments you dream about. Ordinarily，<br >their prices might be outside your<br >range， but here， you ll be getting the<br >advice they give to clients who are pay-<br >ing top dollar. I ve asked them the<br >questions you would ask， and in these<br >pages you ll find their answers.<br > What separates the amateur decora-<br >tor ti om the protbssional is the plan-<br >ning process. The protessional always<br >looks at the overall apartment and<br >needs of his or her client and rarely<br >starts a .job until every detail is<br >planned. The amateur can t wait to get<br >started and buys each piece praying<br >tbr the best. When you have profes-<br >sional help， you ll begin to see the im-<br >portance of planning. You ll also learn<br >how to balance aesthetics against<br >practicality.<br > Developing a decorating plan is a<br >