But all of it, she maintains, is meant to please only herself and her family. And that's what she hopes her book will do for her readers -- inspire each of us to discover our own style. Living space, a la Seymour, should reflect the ever-changing theater of one's life. For her, home is a stage setting where rooms can be transformed at a whim to reflect not only personality, but moods.

Seymour goes on to discuss how to outfit spaces by their functions: family rooms, private places, creative outlets. She offers tips, color palettes, decor suggestions and enough gorgeous color photos to make a movie trailer or two.

But what I like best about the book is an early admission: When Seymour and her husband bought their California house, they hated it. It was "dark, depressing, somber and as James liked to quote, 'A great place for a suicide or a horror movie,' " she writes.

Where others saw baronial pretension, however, Seymour saw potential. She believed, she writes, that she could take the house from "Gothic meets Las Vegas" to a "beach house that would be full of light and love."

She did, and she chronicles how. And that is Seymour's best decorating tip: We can all bring sunshine into the dankest corners of our lives by turning our homes into havens that reflect who we are.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, that's uplifting.

-- RENÉE PECK

TIP FROM THE TOME

"Nothing is more appealing than different combinations of white flowers gathered together. Use roses, petunias, dahlias -- anything you want. The idea is texture. It's all the more lovely if you put them in silver or pewter vases because of the gorgeous way these gleaming surfaces reflect the pale flowers. Actually, most of the containers in my collection are water jugs, teapots, or perfume bottles that I use as vases.

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