Home Astrology: Creating the Perfect Home for Your Star Sign (Hamlyn Home & Crafts S.) [Illustrated] (Paperback)

The author Paul Wade claims that just by knowing your date of birth it is possible to understand your preferences and aesthetic sensibilities, all of which appear to reveal some surprisingly accurate, coherent guidelines concerning your decorative tastes at home.

So how does the book work, and what does it have to offer us that can in some way complement the feng shui analysis of a place?

With my curiosity aroused once I had read about the fundamental aspects of how astrology works, I discovered how my aesthetic make-up can be determined by planetary interactions, the twelve astrological houses and other prevailing aspects at the time of my birth.

Did you realise that colour and astrology are strongly connected? The four signs of Air, Earth, Fire and Water each have different individual characteristics that are reflected in the colours, which express them. So it follows that it helps to introduce into the surrounding decor, those colours that support and reinforce a person's natural astrological tendencies.

Through their evident power, colours in excess may become overwhelming to certain sensitive individuals. In such detrimental situations appropriate elemental colour combinations would be introduced to remedy the imbalance.

The book is generously illustrated with full colour images of rooms showing the tendencies of each of the twelve astrological signs. A useful reference alongside is the listing of several frequently ignored associations including lucky numbers, birthstones, metals, flowers and food.

The life priorities for each birth sign reveal certain obvious characteristics. More subtle and surprising are descriptions of the type of home to expect to find the different signs to be living in.

Dip into this delightful, rather novel book to see whether it works for you. If it does, then you will have discovered a new tool for exploring and analysing the tendencies of others too, another way to bring into their surroundings the balance and harmony that will help them to feel more happy, confident and contented with their lives.

There's certainly a wealth of inspiring and creative ideas contained in these tastefully designed pages, and although some of the themes were a little predictable, for example, Aries: lots of red, bold statements, sporty themes etc., each chapter contains thoughtful attention to detail that convinced me of the thorough research that must have gone into this attractive book.

The 12 signs are represented with glorious colour photographs of carefully chosen living spaces: bathrooms, bedrooms and living rooms, and these are combined with astrologically-suitable plants, ornaments, lighting, flooring etc. There's another nice touch where at the end of each chapter you can read how well you get on when sharing your living space with the rest of the zodiac signs.

Whether you follow the astrological advice or not, you will discover loads of inspiring ideas to make your home a more pleasant place to live and flicking through the pages will also help remind you what sort of designs you most enjoy.

This is a well-planned read that seduces you into reading it from cover to cover, if only to see a visual representation of how Aries rooms would differ to Piscean rooms. And though initially I was a little sceptical that Sun sign based interior designs could reflect my taste, as a Bull, I must admit the Taurean living room was one of my favourites.