COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2014 by Steffans Publishing Enterprises, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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BenBella Books, Inc. 10300 N. Central Expressway Suite #530 Dallas, TX 75231 www.benbellabooks.com Send feedback to [email protected] |
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN: 978-1-940363-62-2
Proofreading by Clarissa Phillips
Cover design by Sarah Dombrowsky
Photos by www.shutterstock.com and Aristocrat Film
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: 800-343-4499
Fax: 800-351-5073
E-mail: [email protected]
This book is dedicated to all the single girls who believe in love and the importance of building a home and to the women who believe that traditionalism is not dead and modernism is not everything.
CONTENTS
Chapter 2: Introduce Him To the Curb
Chapter 3: Show Him the Door
Chapter 4: Let Him In
Chapter 5: Sit Him Down
Chapter 6: Make Him Look
Chapter 7: Service Him
Chapter 8: Give Him Space
Chapter 9: Put Him to Bed
Chapter 10: Notes on Food & Energy
Chapter 10.1: 70 Tips From the Text
Chapter 10.2: 8 Decor Tips for Every Single Girl According to Jeff Vioski
Decor and the Single Girl was, for eight minutes, a blog post. It came to me at a time when I struggled with the next move in my career and as I teetered between producing a book about something I care about versus what some readers and publishers care to read. I scratched that blog post the moment I named it Decor and the Single Girl, knowing I’d happened upon something special and very necessary. I’d like to thank my publishing partner, BenBella Books for understanding my vision and finding this guide as necessary as I do—for single girls everywhere and for me.
I was running out of time to find a new photographer and videographer after parting ways with my previous media men. It was at my friend Omarosa’s birthday/Super Bowl party that I met Qasim Clarke of Aristocrat Film. It took me about a month to figure out he was just the guy I was looking for and shortly after, we shot the cover for Decor and the Single Girl. I am grateful for him and his ability to see the big picture and for sharing my belief that it is more important to build relationships than to simply work together.
It was quite by happenstance I paired up with Jeff Vioski of VIOSKI Furniture for the cover of Decor and the Single Girl. Actually, it was Twitter. I was looking for the perfect showroom, one that was open uncluttered, modern and timeless. I needed color and clean lines and I needed it all in a matter of days. I was running out of time to create a cover when I received a follow from VIOSKI on Twitter. Two days later, I met Jeff and his energetic, insightful team and one day after that, we were shooting! They saved my hide and I made some pretty cool friends that day. I am so grateful. I’m looking forward to working with VIOSKI over and over again, personally and professionally.
It took a village to pull this guide together and I look forward to creating more guides like this for years to come. Thank you to everyone who supported this project and helped it along. It’s more than a decor and dating guide to me—it’s the beginning of sharing my passion, my knowledge as a Certified Interior Stylist, and my view on male/female interpersonal relationships with my readers. This book is a slice of my real life coinciding with my life as a writer and I am thankful to be able to conjoin the two. Finally.
When your decor is inspiring, you become inspired! When your kitchen is decked out with pretty dishes and service ware, you are excited to entertain. When your bathroom is luxurious and filled with the things guests need like mints, extra towels, and mini toiletries, you are more comfortable having them over. And, when your bedroom is decorated to your liking, and also manages to not scare men away with giant daisies or Hello Kitty prints, you will be more comfortable inviting him in and he will be at ease to stay.
What I'm saying here is, decorate your place, not according to the life you have today, but to the life you want tomorrow. The law of attraction is real and the care you put into your home and its decor, organization, and details will easily attract what you want and even who you want!
Decor is not just about aesthetics; it's also about the quality of your life.
Before you make another trip to IKEA to purchase yet another bookcase-in-a-box, let’s explore what your decor says about you, the kind of man you want, and what he is to expect of you and the life you hope to start with him. Let’s explore why, maybe, your current love interest isn’t comfortable at your place and how you can create a space that is inviting and comfortable for him, a space where he wants to spend a chunk of his free time, and a space that helps him see into the future—and, hopefully into a future with you.
As you read, I hope you enjoy, learn from, and apply everything in this book and I hope you are as inspired as I was when writing it! I wanted to create something that celebrated my love of decor, my passion for change, and my keen ability to know what men want, partly due to the fact that my closest friends are men. There’s a lot a girl can learn from listening to a motley crew of habitual bachelors and men who have taken the plunge into monogamous dating and marriage.
After touching on the subject in my third New York Times best selling title, The