Creole Thrift: Premium Southern Living Without Spending a Mint

by Angele Parlange

New Orleans designer Ang le Parlange shows readers how to transform their homes and lives in true "Creole style"-creating modern beauty out of personal heritage without breaking the bank. Southern... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060788062
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 2.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 0.8" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Creme de la Creole!

The written portion of this design book keeps you turning the pages as if it's a well-crafted novel. Add in beautiful photos, innovative decorating tips, and you've put the author's Creole Thrift principles into practice by getting a lot for your money in her book.

Creative and charming!

This book is a really fun read: I buy design books constantly, and confess that I usually completely disregard the text. This book was the exception: I found it extremely entertaining, and actually read the entire thing, cover to cover. One of the main criticisms I've seen leveled at it is that most people don't consider the ideas thrifty. As an interior designer with a busy Chicago firm, I can understand both perspectives. By "thrifty", Ms. Parlange does not mean cheap. What she writes about is achieving a luxury result with far less expense than the usual routes. What this book does is essentially walk you through the steps of contracting a custom job yourself, rather than paying a designer $150 an hour to do it for you. In that sense, it's far less expensive than a custom job could run. I would also like to note, for those of you intimidated or overwhelmed by the custom world, it's truly not as daunting, and also often not as expensive, as you might think. If you can find somebody local, particularly somebody who works on the side or out of their home, rather than a large company, custom can actually be very reasonable and accessible. For example, there are many extremely talented seamstresses who work informally while their children are at school, or once they've officially retired. Custom will almost always be more expensive than walking into Target and buying pre-made draperies, or a generic mirror. However, it can be extremely gratifying, not to mention, often much more beautiful and appropriate to the space, to design something yourself and see it brought to fruition. Although most of these projects are a little on the "crafty" side, they could easily be dressed up or down. In short, this is a great, creative book about obtaining a luxurious result in a way that brings it into the realm of possibility for people who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

Loved it!

I'll probably never attempt any of the clever design projects Miss Parlange so creatively describes in her charming new book, but the stories that go with them are well worth this read. Her breezy, conversational writing style is captivating and I would recommend the book alone for its sheer entertainment value since I don't even own a glue gun! I hope we hear more from this new author.

loaded with humor, style and unique wit

This book is not only a pleasure to look at but a pleasure to read. Parlange captures the dubious and the delicate with her witty, story-telling style and the visual presentation of her delightful home furnishing ideas are captivating. Filled with wonderful pictures and antidotes, you feel like you've met a fast new friend after spending time with this lovely book. A creative triumph that will surely be the gift item of this season. This book is a pleasure on so many levels and a cultural journey of a time quickly evaporatin from our culture.

southern ingenuity

This is a very pretty book and it would be tempting to treat it like a coffee book and put it down and viewing the gorgeous pictures. You would be missing out. The essays are funny and touching. They depict a world of manners, characters and eccentricities- the world of the rapidly vanishing south. Each essay is a little gem, charming and witty. Think Eudora Welty meets Hints from Heloise. A great read and look.