A Romance of East and West: Interiors by Mona Hajj Hardcover – April 16, 2019

The photo captions for this book read like a "who's who" (or in this case a "what's what") of fantastic antiques. The photos are beautiful, but I can only imagine how expensive many of the antiques must be!!There are 5 main chapters, with photos in each chapter that showcase the design concept. I think most chapters had about 2 pagers of full text with photos between the two pages. The captions for each of the photos describes the contents in a good amount of detail. The chapters are:* Rugs: The Foundation* Textiles: Creating a Mood* Furnishings: Blending Antique and Modern* Collecting: Art and Decorative Objects* If it Feels Good, It is GoodThere are a lot of antiques throughout the book with a heavy influence from the East but nicely blended with the West. In my case, as I already have an established art collection and we are usually tweaking the design of our rooms and not fully replacing them, this book is more of an inspiration for how items from different cultures and period can blend together beautifully. Even if I was starting from scratch, I doubt I could afford many of the antiques represented in this book. Even so, the photos are beautiful, the color combinations are great, and I think there is still plenty to inspire. I enjoyed reading this book from start to finish.

I love everything about this book!!!It also thankfully arrived on time even though it was shipped via normal mail with no tracking number

I love antiques and oil paintings, and most especially antique Chinese porcelain, and it's not Mona Hajj's fault that her focus is principally on the Middle East of her birth and antiques and artifacts from that area, and I should have expected that. Nevertheless it made me slightly uncomfortable because I couldn't relate to these pieces on a deep emotional level, and I also missed the comfort of the English country house style of decor that marries furniture that you love to sink into, quite frequently in lively colors and patterns, with exquisite antiques and paintings. I also found the white walls boring, even when they were the backdrop to gorgeously colored rugs and textiles. The photography and overall appearance of the book are extremely well-done and satisfying. Ms. Hajj's aesthetic is of a very high caliber, and it is not her fault that it does not precisely align with mine. This might very well be a case of my horizons needing to be expanded, and I shall keep returning to this book in an effort to do so.

The photos are beautiful and the explanations of how to blend textures and colors as well as furniture styles was exceptional. My 11 year granddaughter loved it. She is going to redecorate her room for 12Th Birthday and she expanded her choices.

Good photography. Nice enough. I thought that too many of the rooms had white or cream walls. A bit forgettable afterwards I’m afraid.

Her style is a mix of US Colonial and Islamic and occasionally East Asian design. If you love textiles you’ll appreciate this work.-Art History Graduate Who Studied in Turkey

Very creative and breaking from the common mold of today's monochromatic and simple design. Loved the textiles, the pottery and porcelain, the mix of elements and styles and cultures. Very sophisticated.

This book is fabulous ! it is everything i was hoping for. Thank you