More than 7 million readers of Marni Jameson's weekly home design column have already discovered how Jameson entertains and inspires, while imparting well-researched and personally validated DIY advice. Now, in her first-ever book on home improvement, she offers a compulsively readable, zanily humorous, yet also completely practical guide to a headache-free home makeover for everyone decorating a new house or updating an old one. Jameson has designed, built, and decorated three homes from the ground up. In The House Always Wins , she brings us along as she decorates, furnishes, and landscapes her current home. Though rooted in her own experience, this is no navel-gazing memoir. Rather, Jameson is like a favorite sister who has learned it all the hard way and is now here to prompt and inspire you to figure out your own personal style, make a design plan, and create your (almost) perfect dream home--one step at a time. With Jameson as our guide, we navigate through the seemingly endless maze of choices and decisions every home improver faces: wall color, flooring, cabinetry, window treatments, furniture, bargain hunting, home accessories, rugs, kids' spaces, special purpose rooms (like the garage and guest, laundry, and mud rooms), landscaping, outdoor living spaces--and that's just to start. Along the way, Jameson injects insights into the relationships and realities that dog every home improvement project. She also pauses to share hard-won secrets and money-saving tips distilled from her own redecorating experience and from interviews with dozens of renowned home-design experts. For anyone dealing with budgets, time constraints, unreliable contractors, a cheap spouse, kids, and pets--and who would appreciate having someone to commiserate with about the unattainable perfection featured in glossy magazine spreads-- The House Always Wins will comfort (it can always be worse), inspire (who knew?!), and be absolutely indispensable.