Meghan Method - Tapa dura

And that's exactly what I'm giving you.

I boiled decorating down to it's very basics to create an easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipe that allows anyone - on any budget - to find their true style and decorate the home of their dreams.

In this book, I walk you through the entire decorating process. Along the way, you'll discover how to:

• Draw flawless floor plans.
  
• Mix patterns, incorporate textures & create perfect color schemes.
  
• Stay on budget and still get the room of your dreams.
  
• Score the best deals and find those one-of-a-kind, show-stopping items.
  
• Choose furniture, add accessories and select lighting.
  
• Hire professionals and tackle DIY projects.
• And much, much more.

By the time you're finished with this book, you'll have created the perfect room for you, custom tailored to the way you live.

I'm Meghan.

And it may come as a shock, but I didn't go to school for interior design. I haven't even worked as an interior designer. And thank God. If I had, this book never would have been written.

Instead, I attended Ohio University and graduated summa cum laude with two degrees: public relations from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and economics from the college of arts and sciences. Both of which I figured at the time had absolutely nothing to do with interior design, which was a problem. Because by the time I graduated, that was what I wanted to do.

But it would have taken another five years to get a design degree from the school I wanted to attend, which to me would have been downright frivolous. So I decided to put my journalism degree to work interviewing industry experts across the country. I posted the videos and articles from my travels on my website, AsktheDecorator.com.

But during the journey, I didn't learn what I expected. I thought interior design would be like cooking once you knew the standard recipe, you could put together any room. But there was no recipe at least not that I found. And e-mail after e-mail from hundreds of viewers only confirmed it. They were confused. Lost. And all the advice they'd heard only made things more difficult.

So after much frustration, I decided to make that recipe for them, which is how this book was born. And guess what? Those two degrees I didn't think had anything to do with interior design ended up being exactly what I needed to distill decorating into a step-by-step method. But you'll have to read this book to see why.

If you want to read more of my story, visit: MeghanCarter.com