"Confidence with pattern can be gained with experience," says the introduction to this gorgeous book, "but as very few people have the time these days to try out endless different combinations, I have tried here to gather together a host of decoration ideas based around the five main categories of pattern found in the home." Professional decorators seem able to combine patterns effortlessly, but for the rest of us it can be fairly intimidating. How do you choose from among a riot of color and design and not have your home end up looking like it was decorated by some demented thrift shop owner? Stylist Katrin Cargill tells us precisely how we can do it, in information-packed text and hundreds of great photos. Each of the book's five sections is devoted to one of her five pattern categories--texture, stripes, checks, motifs, and pictorial. We can easily put what we've learned into practice by trying out some of the 10 carefully explained step-by-step projects, including painting stripes or checks on walls, making bordered curtains, stenciling a floor, and covering a wall with fabric. --Amy Handy

FROM THE PUBLISHER