Painted furniture and interiors expert Annie Sloan leads the enthusiast through a fully illustrated, international spectrum of decorative styles--American colonial, Dutch folk art, Irish vernacular, Scandinavian neoclassical, Oriental lacquerwork, German baroque and more--all achievable by collectors, decorators and do-it-yourselfers. For each enchanting room and object, the author reveals how the paint effect was achieved and how to recreate it in the contemporary home. A generous glossary of techniques describes the essential terms, from spattering and marbling to patinating and distressing. The book also offers a library of over 50 motifs, both classic and modern, for use as a fingertip reference or for on-the-spot tracing. The tradition of decorative painting has a long and rich history, spanning many countries and many styles, from the straightforward, large-scale designs of Sweden and the bold motifs of Pennsylvania Dutch to the intricate classicism of England's Robert Adam and the free-flowing brushwork of the Bloomsbury group. This guided tour of outstanding embodiments of the art form collects extraordinary walls, ceilings, beds, chests, cabinets, and other examples, grouping them by motif (fruits and flowers, figures and animals, classical, and abstract and geometric) and offering a very brief glimpse of the techniques used. A 16-page section at book's end breaks out some of the major motifs for those wishing to try this at home. Unless you're quite experienced in the field already, you're better off with one of Sloan's other books to learn the nitty-gritty; if you've already got a good dose of confidence in your painting ability, this is a nice reference for general inspiration. --Amy Handy Annie Sloan is one of the world's most respected experts in the field of decorative painting. She has written several best-selling books on paint finishes and techniques.