Thanks NetGalley and Tiller Press for the ARC!
I love a good home and decor read. There’s something about the idea of everything being in place, but also matching my style that feels so incredibly satisfying to me. Being a Navy spouse has made me reconsider some of my loftier decorating goals, but I love that most home books include tips for renters or people who move a lot.
I’ll be honest, this is a pretty standard home and decor book. Geneva Vanderzeil breaks down each section of the home and gives her favorite tips and tricks to best utilize the area and make each space come to life. Vanderzeil is a little more thrifty and DIY than some other books I’ve read, but if you like this style of book, you’ll love this one as well.
One thing that I really loved about this book was Vanderzeil’s DIY projects places throughout the book. These projects all seem pretty easy and the materials are usually things that you already have or can buy relatively cheap. This is great for people who like to change up their style often or who move. It’s easier to say goodbye to things you didn’t pay tons of money on.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The images were fun and creative and Vanderzeil gave me ideas of projects I could undertake. I give it 4 stars.

Home Is Where You Make It is a tutorial, decorating, and ideas book for home decor by Geneva Vanderzeil. Due out 3rd March 2020 from Simon & Schuster on their Tiller Press imprint, it's 224 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is an upbeat DIY volume aimed at modern cottage style re-do's. There is a fair bit of content devoted to surface updates which would be particularly relevant to renters or would-be decorators on a strict budget. I liked the emphasis on upcycling and repurpose/repair. The author uses a room by room tutorial format which allows the reader to pick and choose menu style, or browse through the book cover to cover.

The chapter tutorials are interspersed with Q&A type sidebars with good short takes on particular decorating problems (what to do if others who share the space don't agree with design choices, how to redecorate on a severely anemic budget (or zero budget), how to pick small pieces (baskets, mirrors, framed art), and more.

I enjoyed reading the book and paging through the beautifully done photographs (seriously, the photos are wonderful). I found a few particularly good tips for my own use. The vibe of the book is younger and somewhat feminine and 'shabby chic/cottage'. There were some decidedly quirky and whimsical features (a half painted, half raw wood front door), but the whole book has a kind of bouncy upbeat vibe that it never degenerates into pretentiousness or stuffiness.

Four stars. Some good stuff here.

I enjoyed Home is Where You Make It. The aesthetic featured in this book is one that I really love, so I was inspired by the pictures and the overall vibe. I loved the concept of not having a home where everything is perfect and matching, and my crafty side was gleeful at the idea of creating something new from thrift store finds. I found the projects interesting and achievable, although I realistically would probably only try a few of them. The writing and tips were nothing groundbreaking, but it was a pleasant read and an even-better source of inspiration.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book!

This is a good book for anyone that is moving into a new home or apartment and has to decorate within a budget. I thought the author had some really good ideas and suggestions. I found out that she is a popular blogger and has quite a social media following. Not everything she suggested would work for everyone but I thought she had some solid ideas. I did enjoy the pictures and the friendly way she wrote, kind of like a conversation over coffee.

The author has great style and I love the beautiful photos in this book. I did find some of the advice repetitive but the DIYs seemed really creative and useful if you have the motivation to do them. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

A great book of simple tips and DIY projects for your home or apartment. The simple classic styling is inspiring and timeless. The DIY projects use materials you may already have or are easy to find at any hardware store. Overall, I found this book to be a great resource for refreshing any space on any budget!

I just loved this book! The photographs were beautifully done and the book is well written. It is full of handy tips to decorate your room with a handy checklist that highlights what would typically be in that room to make it functional. It also had a variety of DIY tutorials that are not in-depth but still have enough details to get the main idea of how to make the items.

I highly recommend this book because even if you have different tastes then the author it gives you ideas on how to maximize space and gave items a available you will want to use in that room. I recieved this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Home is Where You Make It gives readers insight and advice on creating a stylish and homie living space no matter your space’s size or your budget. Which is a skill that just about all of us could probably use some help with!

This book was filled with a lot of really amazing photographs, a bunch of great styling tips and some interesting projects. Although, I wish that each project had been given a little more focus. The book was filled with essential checklists for each room, which were helpful, but could have easily been cut down to focus more on the actual projects. As a beginner, it would have been more useful to have more dumbed down project steps and diagrams, and less reasons why plants and baskets are the best! (I mean, plants ARE the best, but baskets I’m not really on board with yet) It was very obvious that Vanderzeil knows what she’s doing. I just wish she had kept in mind that not all of us would know what pilot holes meant. Or have a working knowledge of upholstering.

That being said, I definitely finished the book with several fresh ideas floating around in my head and a new longing to finally create that gallery wall I’ve been toying with setting up for a couple of years now!

Home is Where You Make It by Geneva Vanderzeil is a great book of home decorating with easy diy projects and realistic suggestions, especially for renters who can't paint or have nails in the wall. Great color photos throughout. Very classic decorating choices with trendy designs mixed in. Great suggestions for decorating every room of the house.

I loved the ideas in Home Is Where You Make It. I don’t think the formatting worked well in the copy I received for review so I would love to see the photography in the final copy.
A lot of the projects were much higher level than my personal skills would have allowed and many were not of my particular taste but it is a great starting off point if you are looking to adapt to your particular style and situation.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This is a beautifully made book with tons of ideas. Everything seemed just my style!

This is the first book I have ever read on interior design. Having moved into a new home with my husband, it’s the first space that has ever been “mine.” This book helped me think through design challenges and get some great ideas for my house. It was basic information but helpful for me in my season

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my opinion!

loved the ideas it presented, but i ran into formatting issues when i downloaded it to my kindle that made it hard to read. I understand that will be fixed, but wanted to point that out,

I got a few good ideas from this book but it ultimately was not very useful for me. This is definitely a how-to book aimed towards young women who are decorating their new homes or apartments. The author is an Influencer type with a very popular blog and following, and the book only shows pictures of her bungalow style Australian home. She gives ideas on how to style each room of your house, with little how-to projects along the way for decorative objects. I don't think I'd put most of those in my home unless one of my kids made them, but they could be fun projects for people looking to personalize their spaces with handmade objects.

This is quite a one-note styling book, especially as it only features pictures of her home so it's only about her specific style. All of the walls are white and there are lots of baskets. There are lots of framed sketches and sayings, most of which seem to have been created by the author. Her rooms are very bright and well lit, which makes it easy to make any space look good.

I also always laugh at the way decorating books have something like 6 books in the whole house, and they're chosen because of their decorative spines. Where are the decorating books for families with 18 bookshelves and still no room for all the books they own? :) Likewise, when she writes of the need for a welcoming entryway I laugh because our entryway is an unheated Minnesota "mud room" that has to hold boots, coats and snowsuits for six people, the dog's harness and leash, hubby's tool chest, two freezers, and a ridiculous amount of odds and ends like metal detectors and rock polishing kits. Hope springs eternal and I keep reading decorating books, but I'm not quite the demographic for this one. It'll be a great book for others, though.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Do you like to shop at second-hand shops? Do you like to DIY projects? Do you like to make crafts? Then this book is for you! I loved all the examples she showed and then, she showed us how to make it ourselves! I thought this was an awesome book. I couldn’t get enough of this and I already have several projects I want to make on a snow day from this book.